beating his best-ever performance in Germany earlier in the season. Gibernau finished 13th in the championship with 56 points, 284 points behind the champion Mick Doohan and 141 points behind runner-up Tadayuki Okada. Honda (1998–2000) 1998 With a good performance in 1997, Gibernau was brought to Honda to replace the unfortunate Takuma Aoki, who became paralysed below the waist after a crash in winter testing, on the privateer Honda NSR500V v-twin motorcycle. Gibernau started the season off well by finishing in tenth at the opening round in Japan. In Malaysia however, he would retire from the race after an accident, before finishing in the points for the next three races: 12th in Spain, 14th in Italy and 10th in France. At round six of the season in Madrid, ridden on the Jarama circuit, Gibernau took his first ever podium spot. Despite his bike lacking the power of the four cylinder bikes used by the factory Honda team, he still managed to score a podium place in the form of third place, after fighting hard with Norifumi Abe and fellow Spaniard Carlos Checa, who went on to win the race. After finishing third in Jarama, retired in the next three races held in the Netherlands, Great Britain and Germany, but recovered well and finished inside the top ten at the next three consecutive races—sixth in the Czech Republic, eighth in Imola and fourth in Catalunya. At the penultimate round of the season in Australia, Gibernau would crash out of the race after just two laps and finished the last race of the season in Argentina in ninth. Gibernau finished 11th in the championship with 72 points, 188 points behind the champion Mick Doohan and 136 points behind runner-up Max Biaggi. Gibernau also teamed up with fellow Honda rider Alex Barros to finish second in the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race held in Japan. 1999 In 1999, Gibernau remained with the Repsol Honda team and started off on the Honda NSR500V. At the opening round in Malaysia, Gibernau would start his season off in good form by finishing tenth at the new Sepang circuit. At the next race in Japan, he improved his result, finishing in fifth place. When five-time 500cc world champion Mick Doohan broke his leg in several places, but also his collarbone and wrist when he crashed during a very wet qualifying session at the Spanish Grand Prix.