Sete Gibernau completes first MotoGP test since 2006 - with Ducati at Mugello - further tests could follow.

Former double world championship runner-up Sete Gibernau, who retired from MotoGP at the end of 2006, completed a three-day test for Ducati at Mugello on Thursday.

After two days of changeable weather, the sun finally stayed out for the final day - allowing the Spaniard and regular Ducati Corse test rider Vittoriano Guareschi to get through their entire programme of work with next year's GP9, which features a radical carbon-fibre chassis.

Gibernau had clocked a best lap time of 1min 53.7secs on day one, reduced that to a 1min 52.1secs on day two, then produced a 1min 51.7secs during his 50 Thursday laps of the Italian Grand Prix circuit.

World champion Casey Stoner took this year's GP8 to a new race lap record of 1min 50.003secs on his way to second place in the Italian GP, earlier this month, but the next fastest Ducati race lap was a 1min 51.181secs by Stoner's factory team-mate Marco Melandri.

Gibernau's lap time with the experimental GP9 effectively equalled the best race lap by Alice riders Toni Elias and Sylvain Guintoli - suggesting that the former Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Ducati grand prix rider still has world championship pace.

Whether the test will lead to some sort of comeback remains to be seen, but Ducati would surely benefit from having a test rider of Gibernau's speed and experience. Both sides will now sit down and discuss the possibility of future test appearances.

"I want to say thanks to Sete, who over the past two days has helped us get through a huge amount of work on the GP9 alongside the irreplaceable Vitto," declared Ducati Corse's Filippo Preziosi, his words clearly aimed at extinguishing rumours that Gibernau might replace Guareschi.

"Despite a long period of inactivity [Gibernau had not ridden a race bike since October 2006] he's adapted quickly to the unusual role of test rider and put himself through a lot of the toil that we usually reserve for Vitto!

"Now we'll sit down with Sete and evaluate whether there'll be another opportunity to test together," Preziosi concluded.

"This has been a really wonderful gift from Ducati!" added Gibernau. "It has been a real pleasure to get back on a MotoGP bike and over the past couple of days I've had first hand experience of what a tough job Vitto has and realised just how good he is at it.

"Now I want to go home and reflect on how I feel about things. Then, together with Ducati, we'll see if [we] want to arrange another test," declared the nine-time MotoGP race winner.

Gibernau raced for Ducati during his final 2006 season, but bad luck and injuries prevented a podium finish.