In the Czech Republic, Gibernau took pole position ahead of Hayden, Capirossi and Rossi on Saturday. On Sunday, Gibernau converted his pole into a turn one lead when the riders behind him fought for positions. With Rossi emerging as the winner of the fight, he then surprised Gibernau by forcing his way inside him with a tough move to take the lead on the second lap. Gibernau settled into second for the next two laps before repassing Rossi briefly into the final turn - Rossi slipstreaming back into the lead into turn one. Gibernau again fought back and outbraked Rossi into the fast chicane that followed, ultimately taking the lead. On lap twelve, Rossi retook first place when he burst past Gibernau on the brakes into the final chicane, just missing Sete's knee in the process. With a few laps to go, Gibernau eased past Rossi through the last of the downhill turns and quickly built a six-bike-length lead. But it would count for nothing when he ran slightly wide at the penultimate uphill chicane, making him lose his advantage. At the start of the last lap, Rossi made a late dive on Gibernau through the fast left-right switch to retake the lead once more, then pulling a 0.5 second gap to escape Gibernau. Gibernau then tried closing in, until his RCV bobbled and a fuel-supply problem forced Gibernau to retire with just two 'S' bends to go. This retirement saw him slip from third to fifth in the championship standings. In Japan, Gibernau would crash out of the race on lap twelve. In Malaysia, Gibernau was eliminated at the end of lap one when he collided with Shinya Nakano whilst trying to overtake him for third into the final hairpin.