Gibernau happy to see end of Qatar GP
Added on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Gibernau happy to see end of Qatar GP
Sete Gibernau claimed that he was happy just to reach the end of the opening race of the 2009 MotoGP season.
The Spanish veteran, who rejoined MotoGP this season with the newly formed Fernando Hernando privateer team after two years away from racing, has struggled with injury in winter testing this season and had doubts over his ability to guide the Ducati through the 22 lap event.
But the 36-year-old made a points-scoring return to premier class racing under the lights of Qatar, guiding his Desmosedici home in 13th position – just one place below factory Ducati rider Nicky Hayden.
“It was a hard race for us,” admitted Gibernau. “We didn’t know if we could go the whole distance so I want to thank the team, as they did a great job and they really helped me a lot. I’m satisfied because beforehand I didn’t think I would be able to finish the race and we even got some points so I couldn’t ask for more!
“I can’t say I was really comfortable on the bike as I was really struggling with the pain but I’m really happy to have got a result that was much better than expected. Now, before the next race in Japan, I want to be at home and train a little bit, perhaps on one of my bikes, so that my physical condition improves further.”
Speaking about his first competitive run with the GP9, he added: “There is no point assessing the performance of the Ducati yet because I just wasn’t in the right shape to push at 100%. Obviously I was a bit tense before the start of the race but once we got started I took things calmly because I just wanted to make sure I finished.”
