Former Ducati MotoGP rider Sete Gibernau has been lined-up for another test with the World Champions at their chosen testing venue of Mugello next week.
Having not sampled a MotoGP bike since his retirement from riding for Ducati in the premier class in October 2006, following meetings in his native Barcelona on the Catalunya GP weekend Gibernau successfully completed a three-day test last week at Mugello, where he rode the Desmosedici GP9.

Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP project director, said of Gibernau´s additional, forthcoming test opportunity, `He will be on track again at Mugello again from 1st-3rd July. As we said after the first test we were happy and we were thinking about doing something else, so here we are.´

When pressed on the subject of whether the 35 year-old Spaniard might be lined up for a sensational return to racing this season Suppo replied, `At the moment there is still no plan. Of course the situation is not easy, everyone knows what we are talking about, with Marco (Melandri). But at the moment I still believe Marco can do it and the next two races are at Sachsenring and Laguna where he has always done well.´
`He was struggling with the 800cc Honda last year and then at Sachsenring and Laguna he did very well, so I think we should wait and see if he can find a solution at a circuit he likes.´

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Race winner Dani Pedrosa and his fellow podium finishers all faced the cameras after the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya to give their thoughts on the Barcelona showdown.

Dani Pedrosa – Race Winner
`I don't know where the pace came from. It was a fantastic race, amazing to win. I won in 125cc and 250cc here, so now to win in MotoGP is great. The other two were pushing hard. I went to a different setting than yesterday, and it worked.´

Valentino Rossi – Second Place
`What a race! I´m very happy; I had a lot of fun with overtaking. I´m pleased with 20 points, but knew that if we were going to beat Dani then we´d have to start at the front. It was a great battle with Casey, which I enjoyed a lot.´

Casey Stoner – Third Place
`For some reason we had no rear feeling entering the corners from the first lap. I lost a lot of confidence because in these corners you need hard braking as you´re cornering. Generally I wasn't happy at all with my riding today. In the end it was just a battle with Vale at the end; he was close to me a few times, I could feel him. I have to be happy with a podium in any case.´

Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP qualification times from Barcelona on Saturday

1. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 1min 41.186secs

2. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 1:41.269

3. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 1:41.437

4. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 1:41.571

5. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 1:41.609

6. James Toseland (Britain) Yamaha 1:41.820

7. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 1:42.053

8. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki 1:42.365

9. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 1:42.427

10. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Honda 1:42.580

Taking the lead from 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner on the fourth lap, Rossi then set about creating a gap between himself and the chasing pack. He did so with a series of increasingly faster times, and eventually crossed the line with a comfortable advantage for Mugello premier class victory number seven. His rivals must now wait another year to attempt to dethrone the `King of Mugello´.

The supporting cast to the Rossi show was headed by Ducati Marlboro racer Stoner, on the podium at Mugello for only the second time in his Grand Prix career. The result helps Stoner make up ground in the MotoGP standings, in which he maintains fourth place but narrows the gap between himself and Jorge Lorenzo.

Second in the World Championship, Dani Pedrosa completed the podium places, having got off to a fantastic start courtesy of his Repsol Honda RC212V launch control. The Spaniard will next week be chasing victory on home soil in Catalunya.

A best result of 2008 for Alex de Angelis was another reason for Italian fans to be cheerful, with the San Carlo Honda Gresini man taking fourth place. The San Marino-born racer was riding what as effectively his home race, and had shown his cards early with the fastest time in the morning warmup.

Before the halfway point there were a number of racers withdrawing from the action. First out were Marco Melandri and Randy de Puniet, both sliding off track whilst battling amongst themselves. They were followed by Kawasaki rider John Hopkins and, in a blow to his world title chances, second Fiat Yamaha rider Lorenzo.