Anthony Gobert, who has a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on his ass, never looks at his Vance and Hines Ducati's data acquisition system's data. He never looks at track maps. His talent is so great that he just rides the bike and tries to let his crew make it better. He's Good Will Hunting in a helmet, able to do things he can't explain, and without nearly the same preparation as other riders. Gobert's 1998 season was tumultuous to say the least. Tossed from the US World Superbike round for testing positive for marijuana, Gobert then found himself tossed from the AMA series when he flunked drug screening tests. Only quick work by his attorneys, led by Willow Springs fast guy Stephen Hewitt and his team of legal experts, and a well-timed appeal put Gobert back in the series at the end of the 1998 season. 
Ducati's racing manager, Davide Tardozzi, gives his viewpoint on Gobert, he says, " He realizes that to be a champion he needs to change his off-track ways. Because he is a talented guy, no doubt, but he is still not a champion. He is very good on the track, very good. But it is not enough. To be a champion means different things. You must go fast, be a serious rider and be professional with the team. I think that after the mistakes he has made in his career the last couple of years, he realizes very well that this is one of the last chances he will have. I think that he wants to change enough to become a champion. Ducati trusts him a lot and they want him for the future." Vance and Hines Ducati rider Anthony Gobert won three US Superbike races in 1998 and became the most talked about rider in the series. He'll be back for more in 1999.

Q. How do you look at your 1998 season?

A. It had a lot of happiness for me here and there. But when the incident (at World Superbike) happened, it certainly put a big damper on the season for me and it made me have a big think about what I needed to do to get the ball rolling again. Everything seems to be back in the right direction at the moment I couldn't be happier really, so everything seems to be good. The team has actually gotten stronger now and that makes me a lot more confident. I'd like to thank Terry Vance for having the faith in me to hire me again. And Ducati as well. They've treated me better than any other team I've ever ridden for in my life. I'm sorry I hurt them and the chance at the championship. I think 1999 will be good for me and Ducati because I already know most of the racetracks and I have a year with the machine so that helps my confidence too. 

I'm just trying to put this year's season behind me and start fresh, so to speak, and just sort of move on. I have to try to forget about what happened and just put it down as a learning experience.

Q. Ducati has never really wavered in their dedication to you. That must make you feel good.

A. Yes, it does. I am very fortunate, and I feel very fortunate to have their support behind me. I'll tell you a little story, When I rode for Kawasaki in World Superbike we went to Misano for the first round and one of the head guys from Ducati was giving all the Ducati riders a bit of a pat on the back on the grid of the race. I thought then, and believe now, that the Ducati family would be a good family to be a part of because of the support that they give you. They really make you feel welcome. Ever since then I have wanted to ride for Ducati. The bike was so superior then, I wish I had ridden it right away. The others seem to have pulled up with it but I'm sure the Ducati will still be competitive for a long time. Ducati says that they are disappointed in me and disappointed in themselves too, because they didn't show me how much of a part of the family I was. Now they're trying to show me how much a part of the family I am and how important it is for us all to work with. Dave Tardozzi, the team manager for Ducati's racing worldwide, came to the test at Daytona to help us with the new bikes, and I think to show how keen Ducati is on me and how important this whole deal is to them. Hopefully there won't be any problems from now on.

Q. How would you describe the time you spent in the clinic for chemical abuse last season?

A. It was hard, really. A bit tricky. I learned quite a bit there. I tried to take it all in, everything that they had to teach me. I treated it like a race: I went there and tried to absorb everything they had to tell me, and use what I could from it. They have a lot of really useful stuff that they try and do; it was a good experience. 

It wasn't fun and it wasn't easy but I knew that once it was finished that I'd appreciate it, and I do. Honestly, the hard bit was just trying to get up at six every morning. I am not a morning person, nor have I ever been a morning person. So that was a bit of a killer for me. I actually trained them a little bit and they didn't bother me until 9:30am the last two weeks I was there, because they realized that if they got me up that early, the first two thirds of the day were just shot. But if they let me adopt my normal sleep patterns, then I was fresh and ready for the day and paid attention and learned things. A few times they let us bend the rules and jump in the surf when we walked to the beach, things like that. We had one really good lady there who would turn her head a little bit and we'd all run out and jump in the water. I learned a lot there.

Q. Do you feel that you are an alcoholic?

A. They classified me as one. Simply because when I drink, I tend to drink a lot. I drink to excess. I don't just have one or two after dinner and leave it like that. I go weeks between taking a drink, or if there's a race meeting coming up, then I lay off until the race meeting is over, and then I have a drink. 
A lot of people have one or two beers every night, a lot of people get drunk every night. I don't. I usually drink after I race, after the weekend is over, and in the off-season. I do it to celebrate the performance I had... I get drunk. So, I don't fancy myself as an alcoholic or an addict, because I don't drink every night and I don't get drunk every night. I don't drink for weeks on end, you know? 

I understand that everyone's view is different on the matter, but I don't feel that there is any problem on the matter. 

Getting back to the rehab experience, I am glad that I did it, and it was a good thing. I went there initially because I felt if I did that the AMA would be a little more lenient on me, and let me come back from my suspension early. That turned out to be the case, and it got me back on the track sooner. That's what it was all about. I never felt that I had a drug problem or anything like that.

Q. Do you feel that part of the problem is that you were simply born into a politically correct era in racing? Nobody ever sent Gary Nixon or Wayne Gardner (two renown party boys) to treatment.

A. I think a lot of my problems are that I grew up in that era. I grew up watching all those guys ... I'm not saying that I watched them and did the same; I'm being myself. But my dad has been taking me to races since I was a few years old. 

When I was about five years old they used to have the Bathhurst (a racetrack in Australia) Easter weekend races, and everyone was always drunk and just yahoo-ing it all the time, really. That is what I grew up with, seeing guys like Mal Campbell, Robbie Phillis and others in that condition after they raced. That's kind of the Australian way. So, yeah, it's pretty natural for me to be that way. But the way that the sport is going and even the world in general, everyone is trying to impress somebody else with this false plastic image. I think that I'm the only guy here that's himself. That sort of frustrates me, that all these other guys are so plastic, and away from the track, they're a lot different, take it from me, they are. You would not believe how these goody-two-shoes at the track are once they get away from the track. 

I don't see any problem in being yourself. Unfortunately, those in the hierarchy sort of do. One thing that bothers me is that when the FIM got done judging me, they were all sitting around drinking wine before and after making the decisions. So that's sort of strange, I feel. Like you say, I guess I was born in the wrong era.

Q. Do you have an early racing memories beyond that, from being at the track before you were five?

A. I used to not even watch the races. I used to play with my toy trucks and play with them in the paddock and not even watch the races. I used to build tracks and sit under the grandstand and not even watch the bikes go by. But I can remember watching the races later, when I was seven or eight, and wanting to be a world champion.

Q. How do you like living in America?

A. I enjoy America a lot. I grew up watching American girls on the television and I had a bit of a liking for them, so it's been good to catch up with some American girls. In general, I have become quite a bit more worldly, living here. Now I've lived in Europe three times and lived in America, it's been good. When I first came here, it was definitely a place where I wanted to spend more time. 

I went to Europe and had enough of that in about a month, but when I'd come to America it was like I was counting the days until I could come back. When I come back after Christmas I'm going to buy a pick-up truck and I've already got a motocross bike here and I get to ride with some friends in the motocross or Supercross world a lot. I'll be doing a lot of training and riding with them before the season starts so hopefully I'll be strong for Daytona.

Q. What do you think of American racetracks?

A. I love them, actually. I hate that they're so dangerous, but on the actual layouts and things, I love them. I can't get enough of them, really. I wish we got to race more, really, because as a rider it's really frustrating only racing like fourteen times a year. It seems like kind of a waste really. 

For me, when I was younger, I used to race motocross and then later I'd race motocross and dirt track, both, during the season. I'd be racing just about every weekend of the year and it was easy to stay in shape. So, now it's boring for me. I think that's why what has happened to me has happened to me. I turn to other things to keep me entertained. 

Now I've had to change my living a little bit, to adapt to the rules. People ask me why I like the tracks here and it's because they kind of suit me. I like hills and bumpy surfaces, the turns are either kind of slow or really fast, and those are my best too. The tracks in Europe are flat and smooth, a lot of straights. That makes it pretty hard to pass, and as riders go, they're easy to ride. Tracks here are not easy to ride, if you ask me. You have to be really good on the brakes and have to really be aggressive to win. The tracks over here sort the men from the boys right quick, I think.

Q. One particularly impressive feat you pulled off is learning the entire Road America racetrack in just two practice sessions. It can take new riders--even Grand Prix riders-- days to learn that place.

A. Thanks for noticing that, because I have been feeling pretty good within myself as to how quickly I picked up that circuit, and Vegas. I think because I have picked up the circuits so quickly, people tend to forget that this is my first year at almost all of them outside of Daytona and Laguna Seca. Even at Vegas I was impressed with myself because I had been off the bike for so long, I missed Thursday and Friday and only had Saturday to ride. And I hadn't been on the bike since June. It had been three months or so. 

I have enjoyed all of the AMA tracks this year but I think that Road America is probably my favorite. I love that track. Actually I'd have to say that Laguna is probably my favorite track in America, with Road America a very close second. 

Honestly, I can't decide now that I think about it between Phillip Island back home, Road America and Laguna Seca. They're all just awesome racetracks. They're by far the best I reckon in the world. Phillip Island hasn't quite got the layout that Laguna does but with the Ocean and the scene at Phillip Island kind of make it better. Road America is so awesome because there's so many turns and every corner is different; actually comparing the front from the back, it's like there's two different racetracks there. There's so many variations, I just had a ball there. I think that's got something to do with me learning the circuits pretty quick, that I'm just having a ball on the bike. The whole place just brings a smile to my face. That makes my job a lot easier.

Q. That must have been a very satisfying win for you, then. To beat DuHamel at a track you'd never seen before is hard.

A. I feel that is one of my most satisfying wins ever. In fact, I think my World Superbike wins at Phillip Island in 1996, and the Road America wins are the best of my career.

Q. How do you go about learning a racetrack so quickly? Do you study the track map on the flight up, or ask other riders, or what?

A. I never look at a track map. I never ask anyone. Even on the last laps of a race, I'm still kind of lost, cresting some of the hills at Elkhart I was wondering which way the track went. I have found that it helps me to not look at a track layout, or even cruise the track on a scooter, because that seems to confuse me a little. I just pull on my leathers and start riding. If the track is something that I like, I just ride, try not think about it and the track comes to me. I try not to follow anyone to learn the track, because all you really learn is their lines. That means you can only go as fast as they do. 

I think my talent is in learning tracks. I'm fortunate in that way, I guess. And one thing that helped me was racing Supercross in Australia, where you'd turn up at the track on Friday and get two eight lap sessions to learn the track and then race on Saturday. You have to be able to learn quickly to race Supercross.

Q. Do you see a return to World Superbike in the future?

A. Yes, if there's no problems in the 1999 championship, I'm pretty sure that I'll be riding World Superbike for Ducati in 2000. And possibly 2001 as well. The plan is to hopefully be champion here in 1999, then hopefully move on to World Supers in 2000 and win that. I believe that within myself I am capable of that. I'd like to win the Grand Prix 500 championship after that.

I wish now that I had not signed with Suzuki in GP when I did, because I was a bit younger then and all I had burned into my brain was 500s. I wanted to win the 500 championship. I always wanted to beat Rainey, Schwantz, Lawson and Doohan. Then the others guys dropped out, and Doohan was the only one, so I wanted to go and get him before he dropped out. So I was on a fast track to GP racing. As it turned out, just as I signed with Suzuki to do GP, and the very same week, Castrol Honda called and said that they'd like to talk to me about a ride with them. They wanted me to replace Fogarty on their team. But it was too late and I signed with Suzuki. I regret that, because that was the ride that Kocinski got, and then he went on to be the World Superbike champion, and then got the Honda 500 ride. I felt that with that Honda I could have done the same. I try not to think about that period too much, because it makes me sick to my stomach. 

At the very least, if I had went with Honda, I feel that by now I could have been at least a two-time World Superbike champion now. Live and learn, I suppose.

Q. Do you think that Doohan is the best rider in the world, at the moment. Many people say that. Do you agree?

A. At the moment, yes. But he's not the best ever or anything like that, anybody can see that. To be honest, I think as a rider, Max Biaggi is probably the best right now. If I had to rate them right now, I would say Biaggi in number one, and Doohan is number two. But now that Biaggi is going to Yamaha, I'd have to say that Doohan will have a clear road ahead for 1999. It will probably take Max a bit to get to terms with that bike ... because that bike will be a bit different. 

That's the thing in 500s, equipment means so much, I learned that. Because on a Honda, I look at Nobuatsu Aoki, who was on the podium a few times on the Honda twin and almost won some races. Then he gets on the Suzuki and he's backpacking it (at the back of the pack) and every time he tries to ride harder the bike bites him and he's hurt. It goes to show you what machinery does for you in 500 racing.

Q. Your advantage two or three years ago was that you were the best guy in the world on the brakes. That has kind of been equalized in the last season or so. Is that because the braking technology has improved, or that braking ability by the rider has improved?

A. Jesus, you know me better than I know myself. I'd agree that my ability to out-brake people was about the best a few years ago. But that has gone away because everyone sort of realized where the new limit was once they saw me go past them. I think that changed a lot of guy's perception of actually how hard they can push on the brakes. Before, I used to have quite a bit of an advantage on everyone and I'd almost laugh when some guys would start braking and turn the bike in. I'd kind of laugh and just go by them, you know? 

I can still do that now, but not nearly as much. Guys like Ben Bostrom, I think, have really started to do well on the brakes. Mainly Ben, I think, if you watch him he's really good on the brakes and so is DuHamel. I think another strength I have is that I'm strong and able to really flip the bike around, and put the bike anywhere I want it on the track. A lot of guys tend to kind of go where the bike takes them. I really try to muscle the bike and put it where it needs to be. I noticed that at Daytona (Dunlop tire test) that because I didn't train, that the bike was really hard to muscle around. I won't make that mistake again.

Q. What's your financial situation? If you just decided to go live on a beach for the rest of your life tomorrow, could you afford to do that?

A. No, not at all. If I hadn't have made those two mistakes that I did in the last two years, then yes, I'd be pretty much set for life. I was right on the brink of making, really, a lot of money, I mean, a lot of money. But then I had a few problems and that didn't help matters from a financial standpoint. That set me back a long ways, and really, right now, I'm just sort of right on the surface. 

I've still got a bunch of assets and retirement investments, but as far as money in the bank, I have pretty much zip at the moment. I'm just in the process of getting my first sum from Ducati, so that'll give me some spending money over the off-season. If I didn't get that money then I would be borrowing some money from my parents. My mom says that she's been paying a lot of my bills this year anyway. 

Everything is taken care of for the future, I'm just a little cash poor at the moment.

Q. How much spending money does a guy like you need? Can you scrape by on twenty or thirty thousand for a year if you're not riding?

A. No. Six hundred thousand minimum. (laughs) I'm bad with money. I spend it like it's going out of fashion. What the hell, you're only young once, the way I figure it. 

I am becoming more aware, especially with some of the tracks that we have to go to in the AMA series, that something could happen and I wouldn't be able to ride for the rest of my life. So I'm protected if that happens.

Ends