World Superbike News

Anthony Gobart, one of Australia’s most talented motorcycle road racers, with a promising career ahead of him in the World Superbike Championship, is now in a personal struggle with drug abuse.

Gobart began his career on motorcycles as a teenager starting with Motor-cross before progressing onto road racing, winning his first World Superbike race as a wild-card rider in 1994 at Phillip Island.  He then rode full-time for the Muzzy Kawasaki team in the 1995 championship where he ended the season fourth overall.  In 1996, he finished in eighth place overall after spending the majority of the season with injuries.

In 1997, the Australian joined the Suzuki Lucky Strike team where he replaced the number one man Scott Russell, which is where his problems first came to light.

Gobart was dismissed from the team midway through the season after failing a drugs test, he returned to the AMA Superbike Championship for the following two-years riding for  Ducati.

In 2000, Gobart returned to the World Superbike series on a Bimota SB8R, with the  number 501, and looked as if he could be back on form after winning at the Phillip Island round.  Unfortunately, the team later folded due to lack of funds.

Gobart returned to AMA Championship again in 2001 with the Yamaha team before moving to the Ducati camp in 2003.  In 2006, he rode as a replacement rider for the injured David Checa in the Supersport World Championship, he then went to the Australian Superbike series for Kawasaki in 2007.

From then until now, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse and in May 2008 he was charged with two counts of stealing.  He allegedly stole two $20 notes out of the hand of a 70-year-old man before snatching a woman’s purse on the street the following day.  Read the story below;

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,23703499-3102,00.html

Bimota even named the SB8k Gobart after the rider, such a waste of talent!

Here is a clip of him leaving court, apologies for the poor sound quality;