Sete: Honda must understand the threat.

Sete Gibernau was a frustrated man at Catalunya on Sunday, the home hero having lost out in another epic encounter with Valentino Rossi - but was equally concerned at being the lone Honda in a Yamaha dominated top four.

Catalunya was always likely to be a race that determined whether Rossi's title challenge had real substance, being on Gibernau's home ground and featuring a 1km 'Honda horsepower' home straight. With two wins apiece, both riders were also fighting to secure an early season advantage.

The Telefonica Honda star was again strong in qualifying, but knew grip was a major issue, and so it proved as Rossi seemed to get better drive in the closing stages of the race - when it really counted.

That apparent extra grip accelerated the Gauloises Yamaha run Rossi to victory by just 0.159secs, with the pair finishing a massive 14secs ahead of third placed Marco Melandri. However, the next best Honda after Gibernau was fifth, a worrying 21secs Rossi.

"I said that tyre wear would be the big factor," reflected Sete. "And we knew that the Yamaha had better traction so I used a slightly harder tyre. Yamaha has done a good job here - no other Hondas were close to me. There's only one winner here and that's Vale so congratulations to him."

Despite his sporting comments, Gibernau seems to feel he can no longer be expected to carry Honda's title challenge without HRC's full backing. After all, Rossi's got the whole of Yamaha behind him - and his M1 is quickly becoming a match for the RC211V.

"I hope to have a chat with Honda about how we can improve the situation and do everything I can to make them understand that we have to face up to Valentino and Yamaha, who are improving a lot," Gibernau revealed.

"I don't feel as though I lost today - as far as I am concerned we have won because I am getting 100% out of what I have at every race," he added.

Heated debate remains as to the level of factory support Gibernau, a satellite rider, is getting from Honda: Many insist his machinery is almost identical to official factory riders Nicky Hayden and Alex Barros (effectively out of the title chase), but that Sete needs more set-up and human HRC support to get the most from his RCV.

After five rounds, Gibernau now leads Rossi by five points in the world championship standings.