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.

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.

The good fortunes would end after the German round for Gibernau, with four consecutive retirements at the Rio de Janeiro, British, Czech Republic and Catalan grands prix.

[1] Gibernau also teamed up with fellow Honda rider Alex Barros to finish second in the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race held in Japan.

When five-time 500cc world champion Mick Doohan broke his leg in several places, but also his collarbone and wrist when he crashed during a very wet qualifying session at the Spanish Grand Prix.

[3][13] 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.

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[14] and Imola,[15] ninth again in Valencia[16] and sixth in Australia.

Initially, he started off well when he took his first ever pole position at 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.

Tragically, his Japanese teammate Daijiro Kato died on the same race after he collided with the barriers at the Casio Triangle chicane at high speed.

Confusion reigned supreme before the race had even started, due to the post warm-up downpour and the track drying up not long after, forcing the riders to gamble on their tyres and set-ups.

Biaggi would make up some of the lost time, but by lap eleven Gibernau started to pull a real gap, being two seconds faster than anyone else on the track.

With Rossi seemingly wanting him to lead, he let him through, only to then shadow him in the following laps and make almost continuous dummy overtaking maneuvers to unsettle Gibernau.

"[2] There was much anticipation surrounding the 2004 championship as Valentino Rossi had made a shock move to the Factory Yamaha team and, Gibernau's preseason and early season speed would indicate he was in a good position to win the title.

[93][94] On Sunday, Gibernau and Rossi dominated the top positions after briefly disposing of a well-starting Carlos Checa until lap ten, when Alex Barros Repsol Honda caught the pair and surprised Rossi by overtaking him on the start/finish straight, only to fall a lap later when an apparent mechanical failure locked up his rear wheel on the entry to a high-speed right-hander, handing the battle for the race win back to the Spaniard and the Italian.

[96] On Sunday, despite making a poor start, Gibernau was in the leading group of riders and had just passed Rossi when his Honda's front end slid out from underneath him on lap two and crashed out from sixth place.

[102] When the lights went out on Sunday, Gibernau briefly battled with Bayliss' Ducati before building a one-second lead that he maintained until lap seven, when a four-man group of Rossi, Biaggi, Barros and Nicky Hayden caught up to him.

At the Qatar race, their previously good-natured rivalry spilled over, as Rossi accused Gibernau of pressuring officials to disqualify his qualifying result for allegedly later tampering with the track patch from which he started, to get better grip off an unusually dusty surface.

The security camera tapes showed Rossi's team tampering with the track, doing extended burnouts on his starting zone which embedded rubber across it and provided better grip.

With the race declared 'wet' minutes before the start, Gibernau went from fourth to seventh on the opening lap, with Rossi losing the lead and ending up sixth as well.

With the front trio trading positions frequently, Gibernau made a mistake when he clipped Melandri's rear wheel under breaking for a tight left hander on lap three, causing him to run wide and lose second to Rossi.

However, after a heavy highside threw John Hopkins off his Factory Suzuki on lap six, the marshalls waved the red flags and restarted the race.

On lap twelve, Rossi retook first place when he burst past Gibernau on the brakes into the final chicane, just missing Sete's knee in the process.

[143] However, Gibernau retired on lap two when he raised his hand at the exit of a turn to signal mechanical problems - later identified as electronics issues - on Sunday, marking it his first DNF of the season.

[162][163] At the following round in Australia, Gibernau led the race for some time after rain forced riders to swap bikes, but a wrong tyre change saw him drop to fourth after Rossi snatched third place from him on the final corner of the last lap.

[164][165] In Japan, Gibernau finished fourth once more, despite being involved in a late-race collision with the Kawasaki of Shinya Nakano when he tried to overtake him at the downhill right-hand turn, at the end of the back straight.

[167][168] Gibernau suffered a broken fifth metacarpal in his hand and re-bent one of the titanium plates in his collar bone, causing him to miss the Valencian Community race - the final round of the season - due to being unfit to ride as a result of the injuries he sustained.

Despite positive results, Ducati MotoGP Project Director Livio Suppo was unwilling to confirm any definite future for Gibernau with the team.

We spoke a little bit in the summer when he was thinking about coming back and I'm looking forward to racing him again.”[178] At the opening round of the season in Qatar, Gibernau finished in thirteenth place, scoring three points.

Gibernau missed the French and Italian grands prix due to a broken collarbone he sustained during a practice session at the Bugatti Circuit.

[181] On 12 July 2009 the Grupo Francisco Hernando team announced that they would withdraw from the MotoGP championship due to financial constraints, leaving Gibernau without a ride for the remainder of the 2009 season.