Sete Gibernau kept his promise of turning his season around at the Sachsenring circuit as he stepped up to the second step on the podium in the German Grand Prix.

Only a mistake under braking in the first corner of the final lap denied the Spaniard victory in a race he had led with authority from the third of a 25-lap second race after the planned 30 laps were interrupted by the red flag, caused by a crash for John Hopkins.

Sete started the second race with a new lap record (1’23”705) and held his concentration to lead a group of five riders. Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi both applied the pressure until the final lap, when the Italian made the most of Sete’s mistake to take victory. However, second place for last year’s World Championship runner-up represented his fourth podium of the season and lifts him to third place in the championship standings.

Marco Melandri set the best time in the morning warm up but his rhythm was broken by the interruption after five laps. Marco then became embroiled in a fight in the second group with Capirossi, Nakano and Edwards, overcoming his difficulties to pick up valuable points that see him hang on to second in the championship over the summer break.

SETE GIBERNAU (2nd): “I’m really happy to have been fighting to win again – this should be our natural habitat and I promise it will continue to be so after the holidays. It has been a good weekend and it almost ended with a perfect race, it was just a shame that I made a mistake on the final lap. I got distracted and lost a precious tenth of a second that cost me victory. The important thing is that we are on our way back and this weekend I had fun on the bike once again. I can guarantee that I will win races this season.”

MARCO MELANDRI (7th):  “We found a good set-up in the warm up and that gave me a real boost ahead of the race. I was relaxed at the start and held on to fifth place but I just didn’t feel as comfortable in the second race – I didn’t have the same level of traction. I didn’t want to force the pace because my objective was to finish the race as high as possible. Now it’s time for the holidays, which are always nice, and then we’ll get ready to get back on the podium at Brno.”

GERMAN GP

1. V.Rossi (Ita/Yam) 35’04”434
2. S. Gibernau (Esp/Hon) + 0”685
3. N. Hayden (USA/Hon) + 0”885
4. M. Biaggi (Ita/Hon) + 2”365
5. A: Barros (Bra/Hon) + 24”855
6. S. Nakano (Jap/Kawa) + 4”557
7. M. Melandri (Ita/Hon) + 12”269

MOTOGP STANDINGS

1. Valentino Rossi 236 points
2. Marco Melandri  116 points
3. Sete Gibernau 115 points
4. Colin Edwards 114 points
5. Max Biaggi 113 points
6. Alex Barros 101 points
7. Nicky Hayden  101 points