penultimate round of the season in Portugal, he was riding in fifth place when Casey Stoner crashed in front of him, too close to avoid and brought Gibernau down with him. Gibernau suffered a broken fifth metacarpal in his hand and re-bent one of the titanium plates in his collar bone, causing him to miss the Valencian Community race - the final round of the season - due to being unfit to ride as a result of the injuries he sustained. The Ducati team replaced Gibernau with Casey Stoner for the 2007 season. He turned down offers from Kawasaki, Sito Pons and the Ilmor team and decided to retire from motorcycle racing, saying at a press conference on 8 November 2006, "If I had accepted the offers to continue just for the sake of carrying on then it wouldn't have made me happy, especially if it was just for money." Gibernau finished thirteenth in the championship with 95 points, 157 points behind the champion Nicky Hayden and 152 points behind runner-up Valentino Rossi. Comeback Return to Ducati (2009) Gibernau returned to action on 17 June 2008, testing the Desmosedici GP9 at the Mugello Circuit, in a three-day test session alongside official test rider Vittoriano Guareschi. There was speculation that he could replace the uncompetitive Marco Melandri aboard the second Factory Ducati for the later races in the 2008 season. Despite positive results, Ducati MotoGP Project Director Livio Suppo was unwilling to confirm any definite future for Gibernau with the team. Sete again tested the Desmosedici GP8 and GP9 on a three-day test beginning on 1 July 2008 at the Mugello circuit. He recorded a best time of 1´50.5 on board the GP8 on race tyres, just a few tenths off this year's race record at Mugello set by Casey Stoner. He clocked a 1´48.9 on 30 July at Mugello on qualifying tyres which would have placed him seventh on the starting grid for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. After a few months of speculation, on 23 October at Valencia, it was officially confirmed that he would return to race in the 2009 season with the Onde 2000 team, a Ducati satellite team run by Ángel Nieto. The squad is backed by Onde 2000, a Spanish building concern. With number 15 taken by Alex de Angelis, a new figure has been used for Gibernau's comeback campaign. Gibernau chose 59, in reference