That HRC support began to increase after Rossi defected to Yamaha at the end of 2003 and Gibernau began 2004 with two victories from the first three rounds, but Rossi caught the Catalan at the top of the championship standings by round six and by the time the now infamous Qatar Grand Prix, round thirteen, the Italian held a dominant 39 point lead.
Gibernau went on to win that race, but the big news was that Rossi (and Honda's Max Biaggi) had been dropped to the back of the grid for illegal grid cleaning overnight. Members of Rossi's Yamaha team were seen laying rubber on his grid slot with a scooter, and were reported to race control by the Honda and Ducati teams. Rightly or wrongly, Rossi blamed Gibernau for this 'unsporting action' and, after then falling from the race, furiously declared that Gibernau 'would not win again'.
Rossi later said that he was referring to that season, but 'the curse' - as it came to be known - was never lifted and Gibernau went on to suffer extraordinary bad luck the following season, which started with fireworks when Rossi brutally pushed Gibernau out of the lead at the very last corner of the
Jerez season opener.
In all, Gibernau suffered seven DNFs that year - due to both accidents and technical problems - but at least underlined his continued speed with five pole positions, helping him secure a factory Ducati ride for 2006.
Unfortunately, Gibernau's bad luck followed him to the Desmosedici and, although he led 18 laps and put Ducati on pole position for its home Mugello round, Sete suffered repeated injuries, missed races as a result and ended the season without a podium.
It now remains to be seen what his plans will be for 2007, but retirement seems the most likely, since the #15 has shown little interest in switching to another championship and will not be willing to make up the numbers on an uncompetitive machine.
Sete's only slim hope of racing next year will be if the Pons team can secure the funding and motorcycles needed for a return to
MotoGP, after sitting out the 2006 season.
