With his date of birth recognized as March 5, 1975, former Ducati, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda rider Anthony Gobert turns 40 today.
Gobert is a former World Superbike, US Superbike and Grand Prix rider famous for his beautiful riding style, wild off-track antics and rivalries with fellow riders. A former Supercross rider, Gobert, at one time or another defeated almost a who’s who of 1990s racing from Mat Mladin, Miguel DuHamel, Nicky Hayden, John Kocinski, Aaron Slight, Colin Edwards and many others.
Stories about Gobert now slip from murky ‘did that even happen?’ legend to almost myth: the time he showed up at Daytona too heavy to fit into his leathers yet went faster than anyone; the time in qualifying when he mis-judged where the finish line was at Daytona and sat up a hundred feet early, yet still broke the track record; the time he crashed out of a Superbike race at a Mid-western track, and Yamaha had to organize a search party to find him. They did, still in his leathers, sitting with fans, drinking beer and talking racing.
After bombing out of racing because of chemical dependency issues and the death of his fiancee, Gobert slipped back into private life in Australia. Anyone who knew Anthony hopes he has found peace.
