Anthony Gobert - Superbikes/Supersport

Superbikes/Supersport

In his teens he was a successful motocross racer, winning national classes in Australia, before moving to road racing and winning the Australian domestic superbike championship. He first earned international notice as a wild card at his home Superbike World Championship round at Philip Island in 1994, taking pole position, a win and a third place. Racing full-time in the championship for Muzzy Kawasaki in 1995, he became team leader after Scott Russell's abrupt departure and finished 4th overall, winning races at Laguna Seca and Philip Island. He was 8th in 1996, with 3 wins and 3 other podiums, after missing much of the season through injury.

For 1998 and 1999 he competed in the AMA Superbike Championship on a Vance & Hines Ducati, with some success, including a win as a WSBK wildcard at Laguna Seca. A win in the second race was within reach, until an unforced crash at the final turn, onto the main straight. The second race was won by his team mate Ben Bostrom.

For 2000 he returned to WSBK on a Bimota SB8R. With the race number 501, he won a wet race at Philip Island and generally did better than expected on the machine, before the team folded, due to lack of financial backing. Bimota named the SB8K Gobert bike after him. Three British Superbike meetings (substituting for Steve Hislop at Team Virgin Mobile Yamaha) followed in late 2000.

For 2001 he was back in the AMA championship with Yamaha, spending two years racing the YZF R7 in the superbike class and the YZF R6 in the supersport class respectively. This was followed with a brief dalliance with Ducati in 2003. After some time back in the Australian Superbike series he did two rounds of Supersport World Championship at the start of 2006, replacing the injured David Checa. In 2006, he raced at the Valencia Superbike World Championship round (making him the first rider to have wildcard rides in three different countries), alongside some rounds of Spain's Superbike series. For 2007 he returned to Australia Superbikes on a Kawasaki.