Gibernau thrives in tough conditions to win Dutch Grand Prix

Sete Gibernau, riding a Honda, took advantage of wet conditions to win the MotoGP race at the Dutch Grand Prix here on Saturday.

The Spaniard came home in 42min 39.006sec, more than 10 seconds ahead of Max Biaggi of Italy. Valentino Rossi, of Italy, was third. It was the third victory of the season for Gibernau, who is second in the championship, 38 points behind Rossi. "It would have been much harder, for sure, in the dry," said Gibernau.

The race was delayed when a downpour interrupted the warm-up lap and riders had to switch to full wet tyres. Rain reduced visibility during parts of the race to a few metres.

The Australian Anthony West, riding an Aprilia, won the 250cc race, which was the first victory of his career. West won in 41:57.413, ahead of his team-mates, Franco Battaini of Italy and Sylvain Guintoli of France, the victory lifting him to sixth in the championship.

Another Aprilia rider, Manuel Poggiali of San Marino, leads the standings by 15 points from the Italian Honda rider Roberto Rolfo after they came fourth and sixth respectively.

In the 125cc race, Steve Jenkner of Germany, on an Aprilia, secured his first grand prix win in 42:25.609. Jenkner remains second in the championship,behind Daniel Pedrosa of Spain. Two other Spanish riders, Pablo Nieto (42:36.798) and Hector Barbera (42:50.292), finished second and third respectively.