Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Spaniard Sete Gibernau increased his MotoGP Championship point lead with a win Sunday in the French Grand Prix at Le Mans. It was Gibernau’s second win of the 2004 season, the seventh of his career and his second consecutive win at Le Mans.

Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha’s Carlos Checa took the holeshot and led the first 11 laps over Gibernau, but one small mistake, running wide at the exit of a right-hander, gave Gibernau the only opportunity he needed. Gibernau drove past Checa and held on to win by a small but stable margin.

Late in the race, Checa came under pressure from Camel Honda’s Max Biaggi, who grew stronger through the race, passing Checa’s teammate Valentino Rossi for third on lap 13.

Pressure from Rossi, a few mistakes and lapped riders in the final corner of the race inhibited Biaggi from taking second place from Checa.

Rossi rode hard, swapped position with Biaggi several times (nearly making contact with his rival more than once) but made mistakes of his own that prevented him from doing better than fourth.

Gibernau’s Telefonica Movistar Honda teammate Colin Edwards finished fifth after passing Checa’s young teammate Marco Melandri in the fast first part of the track late in the race.

American Kenny Lee Roberts finished eighth on his factory Suzuki GSV-R.

Respol Honda’s Nicky Hayden ran off the track once during the race and struggled to finish 11th.

Kurtis Roberts scored his first-ever MotoGP points with 15th, one lap down, on the Proton Team KR V5.

D’Antin Ducati’s Neil Hodgson crashed on the first lap, taking out Suzuki’s John Hopkins and Yamaha’s Norick Abe, according to Abe.

According to an incident report issued by MotoGP, Hopkins suffered a fractured left thumb, and Hodgson broke two ribs, in the crash.

Gibernau’s win extends his MotoGP World Championship point lead to 10 over Biaggi.

MotoGP Race Results:

1. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 28 laps, 44:22.750
2. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, -1.671 seconds
3. Max BIAGGI, Honda, -1.908 seconds
4. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, -4.272 seconds
5. Colin EDWARDS, Honda, -15.755 seconds
6. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, -18.225 seconds
7. Alex BARROS, Honda, -27.656 seconds
8. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, -31.530 seconds
9. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, -33.164 seconds
10. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, -39.512 seconds
11. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, -47.625 seconds
12. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, -72.140 seconds
13. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Aprilia, -83.391 seconds
14. Ruben XAUS, Ducati, -1 lap, crash
15. Kurtis ROBERTS, Proton, -1 lap
16. Michel FABRIZIO, Harris WCM, -1 lap
17. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, -1 lap
18. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, -12 laps, DNF
19. Chris BURNS, Harris wCM, -14 laps, DNF
20. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, -23 laps, DNF
21. Norick ABE, Yamaha, -28 laps, DNF, crash
22. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, -28 laps, DNF, crash
23. Neil HODGSON, Ducati, -28 laps, DNF, crash

Note: Hodgson crashed on the first lap, knocking down Hopkins and Abe.

MotoGP World Championship Point Standings (after 3 of 16 races):

1. GIBERNAU, 66 points
2. BIAGGI, 56 points
3. ROSSI, 51 points
4. BARROS, 38 points
5. CHECA, 36 points
6. EDWARDS, 29 points
7. HAYDEN, 27 points
8. CAPIROSSI, 20 points
9. TIE, MELANDRI/TAMADA, 15 points
11. TIE, Kenny ROBERTS/ABE, 12 points
13. NAKANO, 11 points
14. BAYLISS, 10 points
15. FABRIZIO, 6 points
16. HOPKINS, 4 points
17. TIE, McWILLIAMS/HOFMANN, 3 points
19. TIE, XAUS/AOKI, 2 points
21. TIE, Kurtis ROBERTS/Shane Byrne 1 point