On his return from the races at Sachsenring and Laguna Seca, the Spanish rider discovered a problem with the titanium plate inserted in his left collarbone. Gibernau’s participation in the next MotoGP race at Brno is probable but not certain. The first corner crash at the Circuit of Catalunya on June 18th was the start of a difficult period for the Catalan rider, who is encountering further obstacles on his return to full fitness. Sete broke his left collarbone in the crash, which occurred in the first of 5 races to be held over a period of 6 weeks. He underwent an operation at Barcelona’s Dexeus Hospital where surgeons Xavier Mir and Ignacio Ginebreda removed the plate that had remained from a previous incident and replaced it with a larger titanium one. After going through the necessary period of convalescence and receiving the OK from doctors to race again, Gibernau returned to the track on his Desmosedici GP6 to take part in the German and US GPs. On both occasions Sete realised that his left shoulder was weak, but as he didn’t feel any pain he continued to stoically ride through practice, qualifying and race on both weekends. As soon as he returned from the USA, Sete went to Barcelona for a check-up and an X-ray scan revealed complications, caused by a weakening of the plate itself. To avoid any further problems, Mir and Ginebreda decided to strengthen the main plate bolt and boost the bone healing process with injections of ‘growth factors’ extracted from the rider’s own blood. Yesterday (Wednesday 26th July) Gibernau again underwent an operation on his collarbone and was able to return home today. Gibernau’s convalescence should be quicker than the one following the first operation and Dr. Mir maintains that Sete will be able to take part in the next race but only a medical check scheduled for Wednesday 2nd August will establish whether or not the Ducati Marlboro Team rider can race in the next round of the MotoGP World Championship at Brno, Czech Republic on August 20th.