After all the flack Gobert took in the press this year (including some from our site), he’s proving, once again, what a tremendous talent he is.
Sure, his win in race one at Phillip Island can be written off for a number of reasons. First of all, it was his home track. Second, it was raining, and he was the only top rider with “full wets” for tires. Third, he guessed right, and it rained enough during the first race to be to his advantage. Nevertheless, he proved that the Bimota can win, and he can win.
He has backed up that win with some impressive results for a new bike, and a new rider on a new team. With almost no testing before the start of the season, he finished DNF/12 in round one, and 1/9 in round two. That’s pretty impressive.
Perhaps the biggest question mark with the Bimota team is the Suzuki TL1000R-derived motor. Reliability problems plagued that motor when it was raced one year in AMA Superbike competition. Nevertheless, Superbike rules allow extensive modifications, including strengthening of the cases of the big v-twin, and most other engine parts (as long as displacement remains below 1000cc for a v-twin).
Bimota’s team is run by Virginio Ferrari, former head of the Ducati factory team. Ferrari is a proven winner, and he has brought with him an extremely talented v-twin tuner, former Ducati factory mechanic Franco Farne. Together with Gobert they are proving the critics wrong. Just how good can this team get? Time will tell.
