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Round 12: Phillip Island, Australia the throttle," the diminutive Italian said. "But to be quite honest, I was very pleased to get the bike stopped a few kilometers further without any personal damage." By this time, Promotor Ducati's Mike Hale had also stumbled upon some bad luck. "I hit a false neutral a few times, which was pretty scary," said the Texan, who had lost most of the second timed session the day before due to a gearbox. problem. "At one stage, I got off the track and it took forever to turn around." Hale resumed the battle in around the 25th place. In front, things were starting to heat up: Slight was anxious to get some riders between himself and Corser, and was in a battle with Gobert up front the pair exchanging the lead. At the halfway stage, Gobert was back in front, and a small gap was forming behind the leading group - a pack consisting of Gobert, Slight, Crafar, Corser and Fogarty. Mladin started struggling wi~ his rear tire, and had to let go of Reynolds in their battle for (Left) Anthony Gobert (17) leads Troy Corser (11),.Carl Fogarty (1) and Aaron Slight (3) during World Superbike action in Australia. (Below) Fogarty tries to hold off Corser and Brit John Reynolds (33) in their battle for third place. By Johan Vandekerckhove Photos by Gold & Goose ~ 'e I.!') 0\ ~ PHIL IP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA, ocr. 29 s expe.cted, the homeboys dominated the last round of this year's World Superbike Championship. Anthony Gobert was out to repeat his _ _ performance of a year ago, when he took his factory Kawasaki to victory (only days after having signed a contract with Rob Muzzy). For Troy Corser, the stakes were much higher. With Aaron Slight breathing down his neck in the point standings, he simply had' to get as many points as possible in Phillip Island. Winning seemed to be the only option for these guys. In the first race it was Corser who grabbed the victory and the 25 points that went with it. But it was Gobert who had been leading, only to retire with tire problems. In the second race, Gobert took his revenge - only hours after officiallY announcing that he will be back on the green Kawasakis again for 1996. RACE ONE World Champion Carl Fogarty got the holeshot to lead the field in the first race at the scenic Phillip Island, but his tenure out front was short-lived. After only three corners, Gobert got by and started to show him the way around the island. Behind him, the series protagonists took their positions in a race that promised to be hard on tires. . Fogarty was quickly losing ground, with Slight getting past him under braking before the hairpin; O):le lap later, Corser also shot by the Brit, with his pass coming on the front straightaway. After five laps, Gobert was still leading from Slight, Corser, Fogarty and Honda-mounted Simon Crafar. Australian Mat Mladin was a distant sixth with John Reynolds dropping back to 'seventh and Pier-Francesco Chili struggling on his Ducati to get back to eighth. Ducati-mounted Freddie Spencer was making up for his poor performance in Indonesia and was battling it out with Fabrizio Pirovano for 10th place. This duel was cut short on the seventh lap when the throttle on Pirovano's Ducati stuck wide open. . "I managed to stay on the track using sixth. Spencer was sitting pretty comfortably in 10th position, with Hale storming back to the point-scoring positions. The race now seemed to settle in before the fina I attacks were expected to .be launched. But suddenly Gobert started to slow down, only to pull off one lap later. "The rear tire overheated," he