Grandson of the founder of Bultaco motorcycles, Sete Gibernau made his premier-class debut on a Yamaha run by triple 500cc World Champion Wayne Rainey in 1997. A renowned wet weather rider and skilled rear-wheel slider, his most consistent season was 2003 aboard a Honda with four wins and five second place finishes, earning a total of 277 points - the 2nd highest ever total not to win the title. In 2004 he finished second to Valentino Rossi after a season long battle for the Championship that went down to the penultimate race. Gibernau joined Factory Ducati in 2006, though announced his retirement at the end of the season. He made a short-lived comeback in 2009 aboard the satellite Ducati Grupo Francisco Hernando team, but the team withdrew after just six races. Retired since, Gibernau makes a high-profile return to racing in 2019 in MotoE™ - putting his leathers back on to compete with Pons Racing.