Gibernau replaced him from this round onwards when Doohan subsequently announced his retirement. Now competing with the top-tier Honda NSR500 four cylinder race bike, he took full advantage and immediately scored his first third-place podium at only his third round of the season in Spain. He continued this good run by finishing just off the podium in fourth at the next round in France and sixth in Italy. Gibernau continued to impress when he took his first ever fastest lap and scored his second podium of the season in Catalunya and then repeated the feat at the next round in the Netherlands, finishing both races in third position and making this his first ever back-to-back podium finish streak. After his great run of results, Gibernau did not participate in the British round. After his DNS in Donington Park, Gibernau scored another consistent set of points in the following five races—ninth in Germany, tenth in the Czech Republic and Imola, ninth again in Valencia and sixth in Australia. Sixth was also the time Gibernau qualified at the Phillip Island circuit on Saturday. His best result of the season came at the inaugural South African race. On Saturday, Gibernau qualified within the top five by finishing fourth and third in the first and second qualifying sessions. On Sunday, he rode a strong race to finish ahead of championship contenders Àlex Crivillé and Tadayuki Okada and finish in second place behind race winner Max Biaggi. He also picked up his-second fastest lap of his career. After finishing second at Welkom, Gibernau qualified in second on Saturday at the penultimate round in Rio de Janeiro. On Sunday, he struggled and lost to Biaggi, title contender Kenny Roberts Jr. and Alex Barros to finish fifth. At the final round of the season in Argentina, Gibernau qualified outside of the top ten on Saturday but recovered well to finish sixth on Sunday. Gibernau finished fifth in the championship with 165 points, 102 points behind the champion and Repsol Honda teammate Àlex Crivillé and 55 points behind runner-up Kenny Roberts Jr. 2000 After a strong 1999 season, expectations for Gibernau to perform better were high in 2000. Initially, he started off well when he took his first ever pole position at the season opener in South Africa on Saturday, beating 1999 runner-up Kenny Roberts Jr. and champion and fellow Repsol Honda teammate Àlex Crivillé in the process.