Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

be in a hurry beca use I h ave a lot of things that I have left to do." That Gobert is racing World Superbikes again, and again for the Muzzy Kawasaki team, came as something of a shock to many after the 1995 season. Gobert was openly derisive of the team last year and fielded offers from a number of other teams, only to land back on the Muzzy Kawasaki. Much of it had to do with money: No one could offer him what Kawasaki could. But pride played some part in it also. "I believe that I can win a championship on that bike. Not saying anything bad about the machine or anything, but it is u nderpowered (a fact made painfully obv ious on the lo ng str a i gh ts a t Hockenheirn) and does make u s at a d isad van ta ge. An d I do feel that the Ducati has such an incredible advantage that it is just ridi culous: If you stand on the side of the track and jus t wa tch, it's just a. joke." It ' s an ol d saw played by anyone wh o has to com pete against th e potent Italian V-twins, but played by him it has a certain resonance. "I had the oppo rtunity to ride for eithe r of the Du cat i teams and I just felt tha t if I do ride for Ducati tha t at the end of the year if I won the championship I would n't be able to look back and be able to say that I wo n the championship. I'd be able to say tha t I rode well, but this bike is so good it wo n the thin g for me. "The p er fe ct th in g is to look at Dou g Polen or even Fogarty. It's a whole different ba ll game riding a Du cati to a fou r-cylinde r. I was sort of wai ting for Carl to d o something like this:' he said, later adding, "To be hones t, I do n ' t eve n see anybo dy out th ere riding a Du cat i to its potential. You' ll occasionally see a little black line from the rear of one of them. But none of these guys are really will ing to twist th e throttle. I believe that if somebody got on a Ducati and really wanted to push it to its potential. it's still open for some remarkable results." Like the D ucati riders, Gobert has had a hard time getting the most out of the Kawasaki, but for a totally different reason . Unlike man y of his more experienced peers, he isn't techni"cally savvy and is reluctant to make an y changes to the motorcycle. Last year they did very little to the bike but change the fork oil for the first half of the season. And therein lies the heart of his dispute with the team. He gets frustrated when things aren't going well and he doesn't have the expe rience to communicate the problems to the crew. Experience comes with time and nothing can rush it. This year, however, has been better. Gobert has pu t some measu re of confidence in Jon Cornwell, the forme r AMA 250cc Grand Prix racer who now works the Worl d Superbike circu it for Ohlins, "To me, I do n't trust anybod y and I very rare ly have confidence in peo p le as . well. Peo ple generally have to prove it to me before I unders tand that. Wh en I first ca me to th is scene with th e n ew mechanics and everything, and new guys like the Oh lins people, I never had any of that in Australia. I've got all these different guys trying to tell me what to do to the bike and I don't know what's going on myself. I don't know what a click of preload is here or a bit . of rebound there. I didn't have a clue. I still don't have a clue what it is. I'm sure that as the years go on there will be a da y when I'll be able to say that I want a click of preload here or whatever. But until that da y comes, I'm not really too concerned about it. I believe if it was going to be a major, major factor in me winning a race, then I would probably sit down and take a little bit more time to know. I'm the kind of person that when it comes to the race, I'll be there no matter what, just through my determination." The obvious question is, "Wouldn't it be easier if the bike under you was working better?" " It would, yeah. To be honest, I enjoy knew it would," Gobert recalls, despit e the bike being set up for the smaller and lighter Capirossi. "I was just loving it. Some of the .comers I was 15 kph (9.3 mph ) faster than Loris through the corners. I only did about 16 laps and I was only a second off Mick's fas test tim e from the last GP there:' and tha t despite being on the less predictable but grippier Michelin tires for the first time. Because Gobert brakes so hard, he had to come in for a new set of brake pads. When he went back out, his times continued to drop on th e first flying la p, th e n he crashed on the still-cold tire. "It's a challenge that I'm looking forward to." Gobert had hoped that cha llenge wo uld come sooner. Afte r winning the 1994 Australia n Supe rbike Championship aboard a Hon da, Go be rt h ad h op ed to race a 500 in the A ll Japan Cha m pio nshi p. Th en th at series it sliding around. And as I do get a little bit more experience with road racing. I seem to want to be a little more in line. " I' ve noticed that a lot in the 500 class. They certainly don't seem to slide it. I feel that all that stems through the fact that you have guys like Rainey and Schwantz there, they're guys that are push ing you. I believe that the guys that are there now aren't pushing Mick at all. The reason that I' m so kee n to get on one is that I believe that my style sui ts a 500." Gobert found ou t firstha nd just how well he cou ld go on a 500 when he tested Loris Capirossi's Pileri H o n d a NSR500 last season at Misa no . The test was do ne during the year, with Muzzy's permission, and th e results were enco uraging. "It felt like home. It just felt like I switched to Superbikes and Gobert was offered a Superb ike ride in Japan or America. Neither of those ideas interested him very much and when Muzzy offered him a World Superbike ride for the final round of the 1994 season, he jumped at the chance. Team orders prevented him from passing Scott Russell in the first leg. but in the secon d one, "whe n I coul d ru n loose," h e says, "I proved th at I was gone." Th at led to a Muzzy Kawasaki con tract for the 1995 season, wh ere he finis he d fourth, an d the con tract w as renewed for 1996. Gob er t knows th a t Muzzy was taking a chance after only wa tching h im aboard a Ho nda in the Japanese World Superbike race, just prior to the final round at Phillip Island, and he wants to repay him by winning a championship. "I feel that th a t wou ld be th e bes t way to say thanks for th e opportunity, here' s your w orld cha m pionship, now it' s time for me to move on. Rob knows that I wan t to go 500 racing. everybody knows tha t. Unfortunately, he d oesn 't have a SOO team and Kawasaki doesn 't make a 500." . H is first choice is H on d a. Not so much because .the machine is all-powerful. bu t he still feels a certain loyalty to the bra nd , despi te his havi ng be en shunned in 1995. He's kept an eye on the GP scene and h is second choice would be Lucky Strike Suzuki, followe d by the Roberts Yama ha team, th ou gh he's still open-minded . "Robe rts only co mes in as sort of a th ird ch oi ce because of the fact th a t th e m achi ne s don't always seem capa ble. But, getting to so me thi n g I said ea rlier, I need to learn about the teams becau se it's hard to tell wh ether it' s th e rider or the bike a t so me tim e s . Luca Cada lora comp lained a lot about the Yamaha, wh ere Ra ine y didn 't seem to b e com plainin g as much. He just seemed t o keep h is h e ad down and do the job that w as at hand." The job at hand for Gobert is t o wi n the tit le. Fai li ng tha t, it's to w in races, and it's no t going to be easy. N ot only d oes he not wa n t to be racing World Superbikes, he doesn't much like th e environment. "To be honest, I... Actually it's h a r d to say, but I hate Eu ro p e, rea lly. I ha te every m inu te I' m in th e co u n t ry, any cou n t ry t o d o w ith Europe. I like Australia much better. I only realized wh en I was away las t yea r fo r so long h o w good A us tra lia wa s. To be h on est , th e only two pl aces I can spen d an y len gth in is Au strali a or Am eri ca, due to the fact tha t America ' s essen tia lly the sa me a s A us t r a li a, excep t more advanced. It' s on ly a t the en d of the d ay that I sort of s tand back an d lo o k around and I might hear people talking German or something and I th ink, T d like to be at horn e.:" He re a li ze s, however, that this is where the job is and has steeled himself to being away from his home and family in Oakdale, New South Wales, Australia. He admits he hasn't trained as much lately as he should have, and it shows in the snugness of his limegreen leathers. "Like I said, I get fru strated being here because it's som ew h e re t h a t I haven't wanted to be. It's something in my life that was not planned. I like to have p lans in life, which is why I love it when a plan comes together:' he said, and his p lans are grandiose. "I know that with a 500 you can't expect go and wi n races straight away. Even if you know you're a better rider th an some of the guys. There's jus t so much to le arn wi th th e b ik e. You've got to b e realist ic an d kno w tha t it' s goi ng to tak e time. Everybo dy says like how good Mick Dooha n is. Th ere are not man y peop le who rea lize that it 's ta ke n hi m seven years to be wor ld cha mp ion . (Editor 's no te : It t o o k Doohan six years). That's a long time." And fo r An thony Gobert the clock is 0 ticki ng . 21

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