Gibernau takes victory in Le Mans

Spaniard Sete Gibernau has won the French GP, benefitting from new rules which have abolished combined, overall times, and resulted in a 13-lap dash to the finish.

He battled hard with reigning champion Valentino Rossi, who had been leading the race until rain forced the race to be restarted. The Italian narrowly missed out on the win, swapping places with Gibernau several times in the last few corners.

Brazilian Alex Barros finished third on the Yamaha M1 in a depleted field with only 16 finishers.

Jeremy McWilliams was another rider to benefit from the weather, with an impressive sixth on the Proton KR machine. Marco Melandri, however, was running as high as third in the opening dry race, but eventually finished fifteenth in his second MotoGP after opting for a rear cut slick for the restart. Non-finishers included both the Ducati works riders, Carlos Checa, and Nobuatsu Aoki.

MotoGP results:

1) Gibernau. 2) Rossi. 3) Barros. 4) Jacque. 5) Biaggi. 6) McWilliams. 7) Ukawa. 8) Haga. 9) McCoy. 10) Edwards. 11) Abe. 12) Hayden. 13) Kiyonari. 14) Nakano. 15) Melandri. 16) Roberts.

Non-finishers:

Andrew Pitt, John Hopkins, Makoto Tamada, Troy Bayliss, Loris apirossi, Carlos Checa, Nobuatsu Aoki.