As MotoGP arrives in Brno for one of the favourite races on the circuit, we relive what happened in a classic Czech GP round from eight years ago.
Back in ’03, Valentino Rossi had already won back-to-back championships on the factory Honda, and his chief rival that year was Spaniard Sete Gibernau. Determined to succeed after the tragic death of his Gresini Honda team-mate Daijiro Kato in the season-opening Japanese Grand Prix, Gibernau, sporting Kato’s number alongside his own #15 on the bike, ran Rossi so close throughout the season that the Italian later called it, “the year of Gibernau… it was hard until the end.” The 2003 race in Brno was no exception. With Gibernau having taken his fourth win of the year in Germany in the previous grand prix, the pair served up a real treat in the Czech Republic, with Vale beating Sete by just 0.042 seconds in a thrilling climax.
'The year of Gibernau… it was hard until the end' – Valentino Rossi
The 2003 250cc race was another incredibly close affair, with Randy de Puniet beating Toni Elías and Manuel Poggiali, the trio separated by a mere 0.951 seconds at the chequered flag.
In the 125cc race, a fresh-faced 17-year-old named Dani Pedrosa took the win, but the race is remembered as much for the terrifying crash of Pablo Nieto’s Aprilia that saw Thomas Lüthi following helplessly through the carnage, his Honda bike catapulting through the gravel, much to the excitement of the Italian commentator on the below clip.
Where are they now?
Valentino Rossi is, of course, now a seven-time MotoGP champion with both Honda and Yamaha, and currently graces the Italian factory Ducati Desmosedici as he fights to recreate past glories. His big rival Sete Gibernau finished second behind him in the 2003 standings with a massive 277pts, and again the next year, having avenged the previous year’s result with a win over Rossi at Brno in 2004, though the pair, always friendly rivals, had fallen out over an incident in Qatar too. He retired in 2006, but made a surprise return to MotoGP at Qatar in 2009, where he and Rossi were reconciled, before quitting again mid-season.
Randy de Puniet, of course, is also in the elite series, this year with Pramac Ducati. Toni Elías later had five seasons in MotoGP before moving back to Moto2, where he won last year’s championship with seven victories. Manuel Poggiali won the 2003 250cc category, but never reached the same heights again, eventually retiring in 2008. Having won the 125cc championship in 2003 and then the 250cc series in both 2004 and ’05, Dani Pedrosa is now a worldly-wise 25-year-old MotoGP winner with Repsol Honda, most recently at the Sachsenring this year. Thomas Lüthi now competes in Moto2 for Daniel Epp’s Emmi Caffè Latte team on a Suter, currently sitting sixth in the standings. Pablo Nieto retired in 2007 after a 10-season career in 125s, becoming a manager for the Onde 2000 team run by his brother Angel Nieto Jr (named after the pair’s multiple race-winning father Angel Nieto Sr), with Sete Gibernau the team’s rider until they had to withdraw in mid-2009 for financial reasons…
Want more?
Comments
Add a comment