That win marked Gibernau's fourth victory of 2003, confirming him as the new man of the moment, but tension grew between the title rivals due to their different level of status within Honda. Rossi, as a full factory rider and the reigning world champion, was naturally given priority in terms of parts and developments, but Gibernau in turn was naturally pushing to have as much HRC support as possible to boost his own title hopes.
Rossi became increasingly sensitive to any suggestions that he had a machinery advantage over Gibernau, claiming there was little difference between their bikes, and was even rumoured to have considered riding Gibernau's RCV to prove it. When Rossi moved to Yamaha the following season the debate over factory support continued, with Gibernau still riding a factory spec Honda for a satellite team while Rossi had the full support of Yamaha.
The hostilities reached a climax at the 2004 Qatar Grand Prix - the scene of Sete's final
MotoGP victory - when Rossi was demoted to the back of the grid after his team was 'caught' illegally cleaning his grid spot the night before the race. Rightly or wrongly, Rossi blamed Gibernau for this 'unsporting' protest and, after the race, furiously declared that Gibernau 'would not win again'. Although relations between the pair subsequently improved, Rossi's 'curse' was never lifted.
Gibernau's 2006 season, and MotoGP career, ended prematurely when he hit
Casey Stoner's fallen Honda at the penultimate Portuguese Grand Prix - another piece of bad luck that was magnified by further damage to his still healing collarbone, ending his season one round early. In his absence,
Troy Bayliss took Gibernau's Ducati to victory at Valencia, while Stoner has ironically taken Sete's ride for 2007.
