DOHA, 3 October 2004 — Spaniard Sete Gibernau won a controversial inaugural Qatar MotoGP yesterday after multiple world champions Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi were forced to start from the back of the grid.

Gibernau, second in the World Championship behind Rossi, closed the gap on the Italian to just 14 points with three races left as he clocked 44 minutes 1.741 seconds in sweltering conditions at the newly built Losail circuit.

American Colin Edwards, Gibernau’s Honda team mate, was second, 1.315 seconds back, with Ruben Xaus of Spain third on a Ducati.

The 25-year-old Rossi appeared set for an extraordinary ride as he stormed through the field and reached fourth place after four of the 22 laps only to crash out.

Seeking a sixth world title, he had been shunted back from eighth on the grid to 23rd after his Yamaha team, seeking to improve his start, were found guilty of laying down rubber on his grid position with a scooter.

They were accused by the Repsol Honda team. Rossi moved from Honda to Yamaha last year. “He didn’t deserve to go to the back on the grid,” Gibernau said of Rossi. “I wanted him to be in the race. He is the world champion and I think I can still learn a lot from him. It’s unfortunate that something like that happened.”

Biaggi, third in the championship and who had qualified in 12th, was also relegated to the back after his Honda team were accused of washing his grid position. He finished in sixth after a fine ride.

Rossi, who has 229 points to Gibernau’s 215 and Biaggi’s 168, jumped back up to eighth after a brilliant first lap, then bumped into Alex Barros’s bike, raising his hand in apology immediately, as he cut through on the inside to surge up toward the leaders.

But soon after, pushing hard for the podium, he fell as his bike spun off. “I saw bikes flying, as Rossi crashed out first and a couple of others too went off the track to the gravel,” Edwards said.

“There was someone in front whose engine blew up, leaving a lot of smoke and I had to ride through.”

Argentine Sebastian Porto, meanwhile, beat championship favourite Daniel Pedrosa of Spain to win the 250cc race. Porto, on his Aprilia, timed 41 minutes 17.343 seconds, 1.614 seconds ahead, after starting on pole. Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan was third.

Pedrosa, with Honda, is in his first season in the 250cc class after taking the 125cc title in 2003.

Yesterday’s 125cc race was also a thriller, with Spanish teenager Jorge Lorenzo beating championship leader Italian Andrea Dovizioso in an unprecedented photofinish. Neither knew who had won but the Derbi rider was awarded the title, with both riders given the same time of 39 minutes 11.620 seconds.

The next grand prix is on Oct. 10 at Sepang in Malaysia.