Updated Post: Anthony Gobert To Replace David Checa In First Two World Supersport Rounds, Will Race Full-time In Spanish FX Championship

Updated Post: Anthony Gobert To Replace David Checa In First Two World Supersport Rounds, Will Race Full-time In Spanish FX Championship

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Gobert to make world championship comeback In a surprise announcement, Australian Anthony Gobert has confirmed that he will compete in the opening two rounds of the 2006 Supersport World Championship in Qatar (February 25) and Australia (March 5). The immensely gifted 30-year-old, whose victory in the 1994 Australian Superbike Championship first propelled him onto the world stage, will deputise for injured Spanish rider David Checa, aboard the all-new Yamaha YZF-R6. The New South Welshman, whose battles with alcohol and drugs over the years have been well documented, is ecstatic about the opportunity afforded him by the French-based GMT 94 squad, and is hoping to really put some runs on the board in his home round at Phillip Island. “The whole deal came together really quickly,” said Gobert. “The GMT 94 team manager rang me over the weekend, and before I knew it the ride was locked in. “There’s no doubt I’m going to be on a steep learning curve at Qatar, but by the time I get to Phillip Island I hope to have everything sorted and put on a really good show. “And I reckon I’m on the best Supersport bike at the moment in the new YZF-R6. And one of my bikes will be straight from the Yamaha factory which I didn’t expect, but I’m delighted with!” Gobert already knows the fast way around Phillip Island, having won five of his eight World Superbike races at the iconic Victorian circuit. Gobert, who will turn 31 during the Phillip Island weekend, still longs for a full-time return to the international arena after a couple of season spent back home in Australia. “I’ve been travelling since I was 20, and to tell you the truth I’m getting a little bored back home in Oz,” said Gobert. “I would dearly love to race in another world title of some description, and if I do well I might be asked to complete in the rest of the Supersport World Championship. That would be awesome.” However, even if world title incumbency doesn’t eventuate in 2006, Gobert will still compete outside of Australia in the Spanish Formula Extreme Championship, and he’s also struck a deal to compete in the famed Le Mans 24-hour endurance race alongside the rehabilitated Checa. GMT 94 is an endurance specialist, having won the 2004 world title. “Yep, the Spanish deal is there, which would see me riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000 for one of the top teams (Austin Suzuki) in the Formula Extreme Championship,” continued the former 500cc GP rider. “I have always loved Spain, and I’ll base myself in Madrid during the season.” In the meantime, the Losail circuit in Qatar beckons, where Gobert will be joined on the grid by four countrymen: Yamaha Motor Germany pairing Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes, both on YZF-R6s; 2005 Australian Superbike and Supersport champion Josh Brookes (Ducati SC Caracchi 749R); and the UK-based veteran Dean Thomas (Team Gil Motorsport Kawasaki ZX-6RR), who will be replacing the injured Stephane Chambon. Meanwhile, in the top flight world Superbike division, reigning world champion Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSX-R1000) will lead the Aussie assault in Qatar, as he strives to move clear of a deadlock with American Colin Edwards on the all-time world Superbike winner’s list. Corser, who won his first world Superbike title in 1996, and Edwards currently reside on 31 wins apiece, behind four-time world champion Carl Fogarty (59). Corser won race one at Losail in 2005, before going onto win five of his next six outings including a superb double at Phillip Island. Meanwhile, 2001 world Superbike champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox 999F06), after three testing years in MotoGP, makes a welcome return to the production-based class at Qatar, while former world Supersport champions Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1SP) and Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) will be eager to hit the ground running after solid rookie years in 2005. The final Australian in action will be Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas Racing FP1), entering his sixth year of world Superbike competition. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha GMT94 has signed Australian rider Anthony Gobert to ride its YZF-R6 in the opening rounds of the Supersport World Championship. The eight-time world superbike race winner will substitute for the injured David Checa. Checa crashed in testing last week and broke his arm, forcing him out of the opening races in Qatar and Australia. After undergoing a successful operation on Friday the Spaniard is expected to return to the saddle by the end of March, leaving the team needing a replacement rider for the opening two races. Gobert, who celebrates his 31st birthday on the day of the Phillip Island race, rocketed onto the world superbike scene at the end of the 1994 campaign – taking pole position and a win at the Australian round. After three years in the championship ‘The Go-Show’ moved to 500cc Grands Prix before returning to the world superbike series in which he made his name in 2000. His win on the underpowered Bimota, again at Phillip Island, was as memorable as the race six years earlier and showed his undoubted natural talent as he won by almost 30 seconds in a wet race. His last world championship outing came in October 2000 when he rode a Yamaha YZF-R7 at Brands Hatch. In the intervening years he faced well-documented personal problems while racing in American and Australian national championships, but Anthony says he is fit and ready to race in what will be his debut world championship supersport races. “I’m really happy to have the opportunity to get back into the world series with a good team and bike,” he said. “I took a few years out to work out what I wanted to do and I’ve realized that it is to get back into racing. I raced in Australia last year and it looked like I might be doing that again, until this offer came to ride in the first few races. At first I was approached for the Phillip Island race but I really wanted some time on the bike beforehand, so the team invited me along to Qatar as well. “The first race will really be a test for us. I raced supersport for Yamaha US in 2001 and 2002 but the bikes have changed a lot since then. It’s a new track, team, tyres and bike for me and I haven’t ridden for five months, so the goal in Qatar to get a good set-up and hopefully a top ten. If we can get into the groove in Qatar then there’s no reason why we can’t be aiming at the top five in Phillip Island.” Round one of the Supersport World Championship takes place at the Losail circuit in Qatar this Saturday with round two at Phillip Island taking place eight days later.

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