Manuel " Sete " Gibernau Bultó (born 15 December 1972) is a Spanish former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who is a 9-time 500cc/ MotoGP race winner and a two-time overall runner-up in 2003 and 2004 . His racing career spans three different eras of motorcycle racing , beginning with the two-stroke -dominated period prior to the 2002 season, and the four-stroke MotoGP era. He returned to racing in 2019 to compete in the electric-powered MotoE World Cup . Gibernau was one of the top riders in Grand Prix racing at the beginning of the MotoGP era.
43-554: Gibernau is the grandson of Francisco Xavier "Paco" Bultó , the founder of the Spanish Bultaco motorcycle company. He began his competitive careers in observed trials competitions. After trying many different bike categories, in particular those built by his uncle, Gibernau finally turned to road racing in 1990. In 1992 , he competed in the Spanish 125cc Gilera Cup championship and entered into his first Grand Prix race at
86-698: A one-off race at the same venue as last year, the European Grand Prix in Catalunya . This time he rode for the Honda Pons team, run by Spanish former world champion Sito Pons . He would not finish the race. Gibernau started his full-time Grand Prix career in 1996, riding a Honda NSR250 for the Axo Honda team. He retired at the opening round in Malaysia , and failed to score any points in
129-535: A podium at the season opening race in Japan . Despite starting strong, setting multiple fastest laps and climbing up to third position, he lost the front end of his bike and crashed out of contention on lap 12. At the following round in South Africa , he finished in 16th place and failed to score any points since the 1997 Dutch TT in his 250cc days. Gibernau initially started well, moving up from tenth to fifth on
172-687: A respectable seventh position, scoring his first points of the year. However, bad luck would continue to plague Gibernau at the next two rounds. He crashed out of the Japanese GP and did the same in Spain . This was his first back-to-back double DNF since 1998. After the bad results in Suzuka and Jerez, Gibernau went on to score points again at the French and Italian rounds when he finished 15th and 10th. At round seven in Catalunya , Gibernau retired for
215-471: A very wet qualifying session at the Spanish Grand Prix. Gibernau replaced him from this round onwards when Doohan subsequently announced his retirement. Now competing with the top-tier Honda NSR500 four cylinder race bike, he took full advantage and immediately scored his first third-place podium at only his third round of the season in Spain . He continued this good run by finishing just off
258-480: The 1992 250cc Spanish Grand Prix . In 1992, Gibernau participated in his first-ever Grand Prix motorcycle race. In the 250cc class, he participated in the fourth round of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix. He participated as a wildcard rider for the Wayne Rainey Yamaha team and finished in 27th position. In 1993, Gibernau participated in another race, this time at the last race of the season at
301-576: The Austrian race, Gibernau retired for the second time this season. In France , he finished 13th but a 19th-place finish at the next round in the Netherlands meant that he failed to score any points. After Assen, Gibernau went back to scoring points by finishing in 11th at Imola and seventh in Germany —his then highest finish of the year, as well as his career. The good fortunes would end after
344-804: The British round. After his DNS in Donington Park, Gibernau scored another consistent set of points in the following five races—ninth in Germany , tenth in the Czech Republic and Imola , ninth again in Valencia and sixth in Australia . Sixth was also the time Gibernau qualified at the Phillip Island circuit on Saturday. His best result of the season came at the inaugural South African race. On Saturday, Gibernau qualified within
387-581: The Czech Republic , eighth in Imola and fourth in Catalunya . At the penultimate round of the season in Australia , Gibernau would crash out of the race after just two laps and finished the last race of the season in Argentina in ninth. Gibernau finished 11th in the championship with 72 points, 188 points behind the champion Mick Doohan and 136 points behind runner-up Max Biaggi. Gibernau also teamed up with fellow Honda rider Alex Barros to finish second in
430-641: The FIM round in Jarama , this time riding for the Kenny Roberts Yamaha team. He failed to finish the race. In 1994, Gibernau would once again participate in a one-off race, and it would once more be the last round of the season, this time at the European Grand Prix in Catalunya , riding once more for the Kenny Roberts Yamaha team. He finished in 21st place, over a minute behind race winner Max Biaggi . In 1995, Gibernau once again participated in
473-660: The Netherlands , 11th in Great Britain , tenth in Germany and eighth in the Czech Republic . At the Portuguese round, Gibernau retired for the second time this season. When Norifumi Abe crashed, he collected Àlex Crivillé , Alex Barros and Gibernau in the process. However, Gibernau would surprise everyone when he won the Valencian Community race. Before the start of the Grand Prix, rain made
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#1732787760292516-475: The factory Honda team, he still managed to score a podium place in the form of third place, after fighting hard with Norifumi Abe and fellow Spaniard Carlos Checa , who went on to win the race. After finishing third in Jarama, retired in the next three races held in the Netherlands , Great Britain and Germany , but recovered well and finished inside the top ten at the next three consecutive races—sixth in
559-642: The 2001 season, replacing Nobuatsu Aoki . After his switch from Honda to Suzuki, Gibernau continued to struggle with the underperforming RGV500 machine compared to the stronger Honda and Yamaha bikes. At the opening round in Japan , Gibernau retired after crashing out of the race. After his misfortunes in Suzuka, Gibernau consistently finished in the points on the next nine GPs—tenth in South Africa and Spain , ninth in France , sixth in Italy , fifth in Catalunya , ninth on Saturday qualifying and seventh on Sunday in
602-618: The German round for Gibernau, with four consecutive retirements at the Rio de Janeiro , British , Czech Republic and Catalan grands prix. However, he finished the season on a high note by finishing the last two races of the season in the points, by taking eighth in Indonesia and sixth in Australia , beating his best-ever performance in Germany earlier in the season. Gibernau finished 13th in
645-568: The Spanish government demanded some cuts from industry, and Permanyer wanted to abandon the sport-bike branch. Bultó coined his famous motto "market follows the chequered flag" and left the company. Together with some former employees, he started his own venture called Bultaco. The first model, Bultaco Tralla 101, came to the market 1959. The bikes were manufactured at Bultó family farm, and his children acted as test drivers for all prototypes. Francisco Xavier Bultó died on 5 August 1998, at age 86. This business-related Catalan biographical article
688-500: The champion Max Biaggi and 248 points behind runner-up Ralf Waldmann. After a rollercoaster rookie season in 1996, Gibernau moved up to the 500cc class with the official Team Rainey team for the 1997 season. In his first ever 500cc race, Gibernau finished in ninth place at the Malaysian round. In Japan , he recorded his first retirement, but bounced back well to score two consecutive ninth-place finishes in Spain and Italy . At
731-418: The championship with 56 points, 284 points behind the champion Mick Doohan and 141 points behind runner-up Tadayuki Okada. With a good performance in 1997, Gibernau was brought to Honda to replace the unfortunate Takuma Aoki , who became paralysed below the waist after a crash in winter testing, on the privateer Honda NSR500V v-twin motorcycle. Gibernau started the season off well by finishing in tenth at
774-476: The fifth time this season when he crashed out of the race. In the next three races, Gibernau would again bounce back from bad fortunes. At the Valencian Community round, he qualified ninth on Saturday and finished eighth on Sunday. In Rio de Janeiro , Gibernau finished seventh and at the inaugural Pacific Grand Prix, he finished 12th. At the final round of the season—the Australian race—Gibernau retired for
817-538: The final race in Rio de Janeiro . Gibernau finished ninth in the championship with 119 points, 206 points behind the champion Valentino Rossi and 100 points behind runner-up Max Biaggi. The 2002 season would mark the beginning of the MotoGP era as, rule-changes instituted by the F.I.M. saw the introduction of four-stroke machines of up to 990 cubic centimeters in engine capacity. Suzuki's new GSV-R would lag behind those of its competitors with only Akira Ryo taking
860-499: The final round of the season in Argentina , Gibernau qualified outside of the top ten on Saturday but recovered well to finish sixth on Sunday. Gibernau finished fifth in the championship with 165 points, 102 points behind the champion and Repsol Honda teammate Àlex Crivillé and 55 points behind runner-up Kenny Roberts Jr. After a strong 1999 season, expectations for Gibernau to perform better were high in 2000. Initially, he started off well when he took his first ever pole position at
903-463: The following two races in Indonesia and Japan , finishing 17th and 20th. At round four in Spain , Gibernau scored his first world championship points with an 11th-place finish. At the Italian GP, he finished 24th and once again failed to score any points. Gibernau retired in two consecutive races— France and the Netherlands —before finishing in 19th place in Germany , once more outside of
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#1732787760292946-464: The fourth consecutive time this season. On Saturday, in tenth position, he barely qualified. but would crash out of the race once again on Sunday on a wet and slippery track. At the next four races, things would improve for Gibernau. He finished seventh in the Netherlands , eighth in Great Britain and Germany and sixth in the Czech Republic . At the inaugural GP in Portugal , Gibernau retired for
989-470: The gravel. Rossi went on to win the race, with Checa second and Ukawa in third. At the following round in Rio de Janeiro , Gibernau went on to score points again by finishing in eighth place, before he retired for the seventh time this season at the Pacific GP, this time due to engine issues when the exhaust of his factory Suzuki stopped in a cloud of smoke. Gibernau would finish the last three races of
1032-462: The lead of the race, Gibernau taking the lead from Rossi on lap eight and holding it until Barros pushed past on lap 13. The Spaniard and the Brazilian swapped places on multiple occasions on lap 20, until Sete made the best use of his slick tyres on a drying track and ducked underneath Barros on lap 29 to retake the lead for the final time. Barros, whose intermediate front tyre was completely ruined,
1075-413: The only way for him to win would be to force Gibernau into a mistake, which arrived on lap 25 when the rear of the number #15's factory Suzuki swung round on the entry to the chicane, throwing Gibernau hard onto the tarmac before slowly sliding into the gravel with four laps to go. It looked like he could remount to finish the race, but the fall—combined with his disappointment—meant that he lay motionless in
1118-425: The opening lap after a great start, but a trip into the gravel made him lose a lot of time, as well as various positions which he never managed to recover. At the next two races in Spain and France , Gibernau finished in the points for the first time by finishing in ninth and 12th position. In Italy , Catalunya and the Netherlands , Gibernau suffered three consecutive retirements. In Catalunya, he crashed out of
1161-405: The opening lap after a great start, with Rossi, Roberts and Ukawa following him on lap four. With Gibernau becoming more and more comfortable with the conditions, he set fastest lap after fastest lap and increased his gap to 3.5 seconds on lap 10. With Checa—who had fought his way back up to second—and Rossi trying to close the gap (which was nearly six seconds at one point) in the closing stages of
1204-451: The opening round in Japan . In Malaysia however, he would retire from the race after an accident, before finishing in the points for the next three races: 12th in Spain , 14th in Italy and 10th in France . At round six of the season in Madrid , ridden on the Jarama circuit, Gibernau took his first ever podium spot. Despite his bike lacking the power of the four cylinder bikes used by
1247-438: The podium in fourth at the next round in France and sixth in Italy . Gibernau continued to impress when he took his first ever fastest lap and scored his second podium of the season in Catalunya and then repeated the feat at the next round in the Netherlands , finishing both races in third position and making this his first ever back-to-back podium finish streak. After his great run of results, Gibernau did not participate in
1290-444: The points. At the British round however, Gibernau finished 11th for the second time this season to score points yet again. In Austria , his 18th-place finish meant he finished outside the points yet again, but he recovered well by scoring points for the third time in his rookie season by finishing 14th at the Czech Republic race. In Imola , he finished outside of the points with an 18th-place finish. With three races left to go, he
1333-690: The prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race held in Japan. In 1999, Gibernau remained with the Repsol Honda team and started off on the Honda NSR500V. At the opening round in Malaysia , Gibernau would start his season off in good form by finishing tenth at the new Sepang circuit. At the next race in Japan , he improved his result, finishing in fifth place. When five-time 500cc world champion Mick Doohan broke his leg in several places, but also his collarbone and wrist when he crashed during
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1376-469: The race at turn one when he had just started his sixth lap. He was in fifth position at the time, ahead of his teammate Roberts. In Assen, Gibernau crashed out of the race at the final right-left chicanes in the final sector. At the British round, Gibernau went back to scoring points when he finished in sixth place, but retired once again at the German round when he crashed out. He achieved his best result of
1419-487: The race, Gibernau had begun to pin back his throttle a little bit more at every corner and succeeded to halt the assault of the Honda riders by setting a new fastest lap of his own to keep the gap stable at around five seconds. With Rossi and Gibernau evenly matched for much of the race, Rossi closed in slowly to get within three seconds of Gibernau but realised that he could not win the race by closing in alone. He decided that
1462-466: The season on a more positive note, finishing the Malaysian , Australian and Valencian Community rounds in the points—namely 14th, 12th and 13th. Gibernau finished 16th in the championship with 51 points, 304 points behind the champion Valentino Rossi and 164 points behind runner-up Max Biaggi. Francesc Xavier Bult%C3%B3 Francesc Xavier Bultó Marquès ( Barcelona , 17 May 1912 – Barcelona, 3 August 1998), popularly known as Paco Bultó ,
1505-479: The season opener in South Africa on Saturday, beating 1999 runner-up Kenny Roberts Jr. and champion and fellow Repsol Honda teammate Àlex Crivillé in the process. However, Gibernau would retire from the race on Sunday which was won by the Australian Garry McCoy . In Malaysia , Gibernau would perform better. He qualified outside of the top 10 on Saturday but bounced back on Sunday to finish in
1548-542: The season when he took fourth place at the Czech Republic GP. Gibernau came very close to his first victory of the season in Portugal . In the morning, heavy rain soaked the Estoril track for all of the three classes. Gibernau had only qualified ninth on Saturday, but knew his underpowered Suzuki GSV-R had a fighting chance in the rain. When the red lights went out on Sunday, he shot up from ninth to first on
1591-414: The sixth time this season when he stopped in the pits. Gibernau finished 15th in the championship with 72 points, 186 points behind the champion Kenny Roberts Jr. and 137 points behind runner-up Valentino Rossi. After the disappointing and struggling season Gibernau had in 2000, the Repsol Honda team decided to drop both Tadayuki Okada and him, to which he signed with the factory Suzuki MotoGP team for
1634-557: The top five by finishing fourth and third in the first and second qualifying sessions. On Sunday, he rode a strong race to finish ahead of championship contenders Àlex Crivillé and Tadayuki Okada and finish in second place behind race winner Max Biaggi . He also picked up his-second fastest lap of his career. After finishing second at Welkom, Gibernau qualified in second on Saturday at the penultimate round in Rio de Janeiro . On Sunday, he struggled and lost to Biaggi, title contender Kenny Roberts Jr. and Alex Barros to finish fifth. At
1677-409: The track very wet, but once the rain stopped and temperatures started to increase again, the circuit started to dry up. However, the race direction declared the race to be a "wet race", meaning that the race would not be stopped in the event of more rain. With the track drying up, there would be a big chance that the circuit would eventually be too dry for wet tyres. Initially, all the riders opted to use
1720-453: The wet tyres, but Gibernau chose to use the slick tyres instead, as did his teammate Kenny Roberts Jr. and several others. As the race went on, Rossi—who had built up a commanding four-second lead at one point—was quickly swallowed up as his gamble to use the wet tyres did not pay off and was overtaken by Gibernau, Roberts and Alex Barros , who was riding with an intermediate front and a slick rear tyre. Both Gibernau and Barros battled hard for
1763-476: Was a Spanish Catalan businessman, founder of Montesa along with Peter Permanyer , and of Bultaco. He was born into a family of Catalan bourgeoisie dedicated mainly to textiles. He is known as a motorcycle engineer and designer. In the first company, Permanyer was the businessman and manager, and Bultó had experience with motorcycles. They produced light bikes with two-stroke engines , which outperformed heavier English bikes with four-stroke engines. In 1958,
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1806-485: Was all over the back of Gibernau on the final lap of the race but could not overtake him, allowing Gibernau to win his first ever 500cc race in front of more than 120.000 Spanish fans. He also scored his third fastest lap of his career. After scoring his first ever win, Gibernau continued to score consistent points in the final four rounds of the season—ninth in the Pacific and Australia , eighth in Malaysia and 12th at
1849-519: Was hired by former world champion Wayne Rainey 's Yamaha team to replace Tetsuya Harada . He retired from the Catalan round, but finished in eighth place at the penultimate round of the season in Brazil —his highest classification of the season. At the final race in Australia , Gibernau retired for the fifth time this season. Gibernau finished 22nd in the championship with 20 points, 254 points behind
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