On 23 April 2000 the Australian Sbk driver trimmed 30 seconds with the Bimota to a phenomenon like Fogarty. Spectacular and exaggerated, he beat Kocinsky, Haga, Corser, before the problems with alcohol and drugs
Gianluca Piperno
10 May 2022 | 13:54 (edited May 10, 2022 | 14:16)
– Milan
Anthony Gobert was one of the most spectacular and talented riders in the history of Superbike, a rider who went through the golden years of production derivatives, able to make the then commentator Giovanni Di Pillo lose his voice, and to jump on the chairs those who saw him produce heart-pounding overtaking against phenomena such as John Kocinsky who saw him pass inside at the “corkscrew” of Laguna Seca after he had been paraded outside a curve that was impossible to go through at Misano . But even drivers like Chili, Slight, Corser, Haga know something about the Australian’s overtaking, just to name a few.
who is gobert
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Australian, born in 1975, Gobert started off-roading and landed on the track immediately winning a lot in the national championships. The first to notice him is Honda, and in Tokyo they must really have been amazed by the boy’s talent if they decide to enter him as a wild card in the home GP in Sugo, even riding an official Honda RC 45! Anthony immediately shows off with a sixth place in race 1 and an eighth place in race 2, among very aggressive Japanese drivers who know the track by heart. He, on the other hand, riding a bike he doesn’t know, on a track he had never seen before, amazes everyone. Unfortunately, however, it is not enough, the first intemperances of the boy emerge immediately, not very accustomed to the rules and to the form to which the Japanese especially care a lot. The Honda leaders show that they do not like certain over-the-top behaviors, immediately giving him the well-served.
gobert and drugs
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We are in 1994 and Anthony Gobert already seems to have lost the opportunity of his life when, thanks to the Superbike championship formula, which included some national riders registered as wild cards at each stage, right at the last appointment of the season on the Phillip home circuit Island, debuts on a Kawasaki ZXR 750 R. And while there is also the signing of pole position, third place in race 1 and victory in race 2, placing behind Fogarty, Russel and Slight, respectively first, second and third in end of the season. Until then it had never happened to see anything like this. The following year he was confirmed in Kawasaki and closed his best season in Superbike, riding the ZXR 750 R he will finish the 1995 championship with a fourth place in the final standings, thanks to two wins and six podiums. Akashi’s idyll with the bike continued in 1996, when on the new Kawasaki ZX-7RR he hit a double podium in Donington, a victory at Laguna Seca in race 2, and a double at Phillip Island, on his home circuit. He will finish eighth at the end of the championship, and will pack his bags to land in the premier class of the world championship, riding an official Suzuki Rgv 500. What seems like a dream for any driver will soon turn into a nightmare for the Australian. Gobert, in the meantime nicknamed by fans as “Go the Show” as we have seen, lives on the edge even off the curbs, loves to party, drinks and uses marijuana. Although he is called to ride a bike that is certainly not easy, the placings in the race arrive, but Suzuki does not like the behavior of its rider outside the circuits and in the paddocks, to the point that it requires an anti-doping test for its rider, which I found positive. he fired him on the spot “in the best interests of the team, of sport and of all competitors”, as stated in the official press release which sanctions the separation between Gobert and Suzuki.
new chance in ama sbk
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If we weren’t talking about Anthony Gobert, this story would probably end here, instead the Australian’s parable continues, for better or for worse, thanks to the interest of the “Vance & Hines” Team who fielded him in the American AMA Superbike championship, riding to the Ducati 996. Late in the season the Australian is second in the championship, and thanks to three wins he is in contention for the final victory, everything seems to be going well, at least until July 1998. The Superbike world championship arrives in Laguna Seca , circuit where the driver has already taken many successes, it is obvious to enroll Gobert as a wild card, unfortunately, however, the Australian falls back and is caught positive at the doping control wanted by the international federation: marijuana. Just as he seemed to be regaining his career, Anthony Gobert was disqualified, initially for the whole competitive season, then his penalty was reduced to just three stop races. It is not over yet for Gobert to whom, despite everything, the team renews its trust, for the 1999 season. Again in AMA Superbike and again wild card at Laguna Seca, in the World Superbike round. This time he is “clean” and wins in race 1. In that season he also disputes three GPs in the 500 class, riding a Muz Weber, also obtaining 6 points in the final standings. But then, at the end of the season, he was again found positive for doping controls.
gobert’s last turn
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But it is right now, however, that history becomes a legend. We are in 2000, Gobert is without a motorcycle while on the other side of the globe Bimota decides to reappear in the Superbike world championship. Given the competitiveness of the twin-cylinder engines in the race, it was decided to use a motorcycle with an engine of this type. The choice of the Rimini company falls on the SB8R equipped with the powerful 996 cc twin cylinder from Suzuki of the Tl 1000R. The Japanese company, despite having designed this twin-cylinder engine with the intent of competing in Superbike, continues to race with its GSX 750 R, equipped with the traditional 750cc in-line 4-cylinder which still proves to be competitive. The result is the Bimota SB8K, produced in a very limited series of only 150 units, as required by the Superbike regulations. If already in the road version the SB 8 makes you dream, in the Racing version it is capable of enchanting: aluminum and carbon fiber for the frame, an accredited V-twin engine in the race version of over 160 HP and entrusted to the expert care of Franco Farnè, ex rider and superfine technician from Ducati. The management of the Team, on the other hand, is entrusted to Virginio Ferrari and at this point it is interesting to note two things: his past in Ducati and the fact that in his brilliant racing career, among the many successes, the victory of the “TT F1” world championship stands out in the 1987, conquered with a Bimota, the YB4R. Championship that laid the foundations shortly thereafter, at the Superbike World Championship. At the end of his career as a driver, Virginio Ferrari had embarked on another one, equally brilliant and full of successes, as team manager at Ducati. One who knows a lot about riders, for Bimota’s new adventure in the Superbike world championship, he chooses Anthony Gobert.
regenerate gobert
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Virginio Ferrari immediately marks the Australian very tightly, who under his guidance gets thinner and gets back in psychophysical shape. It was April 23, 2000 when the second race of the Superbike World Championship was staged on the Philip Island circuit. Rains. Bimota in its debut in South Africa collected a retirement and an eleventh place. The cabal repeats itself and in race 1 the Bimota number 501, in deference to a sponsor who will never appear on the silver fairings of the SB8K, is eleventh on the starting grid. At the start the track is flooded, Gobert dances on the water among the puddles, overtaking opponents who seem to be standing still. the falls follow one another, but with his fast laps he seems to be driving on dry ground. A perfect race, which highlights his spectacular driving style, made up of accelerating drifting and “braking” to the limit, with the bike sideways. Gobert overtakes everyone and is the first to cross the finish line, trimming almost half a minute behind the second, that Carl Fogarty world champion in charge on Ducati, who in race two, unfortunately, will fall remedying the injury that will end his career. . All this happened eleven years after the last victory of a Bimota in the Superbike World Championship, when Giancarlo Falappa on the Paul Ricard circuit led a Bimota YB4 750 IE to success, covering the last 3 laps with the half handlebar broken, holding the handlebar directly. from the steering plate and arriving first at 33 cents from the second. Phillip Island will remain the last winning appearance of the beautiful and unlucky Bimota SB8K, which disappeared from the World Superbike scene after the Hockenheim race, when the MVR Bimota team will be overwhelmed by financial problems.
the end
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Gobert, on the other hand, will continue his season on a private Yamaha R7. Then in 2001 and 2002 he will race in the US superbike and supersport championships always with a Yamaha. His career will continue until 2007, between brief appearances as a wild card in various series derivative championships, while his private life took over the competitive one, between license suspensions, alcohol abuse and possession of small quantities of drugs, he will arrive upon his entry to the clinic to detox in 2011. The news will speak of him again in 2019, when outside a club, during a fight, he will be brutally beaten and reduced to death one of the most talented pilots ever seen: Anthony Gobert.
May 10, 2022 (change May 10, 2022 | 14:16)
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