If not for bike problems, Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert might be neck-and-neck with Suzuki’s Mat Mladin in the AMA Superbike points battle. As it stands, Gobert has struggled with mechanical problems, but has stood on the podium three times (with two victories).
This weekend at Road America, for instance, Gobert took second place in Saturday’s dry Superbike race, despite being noticeably down on horsepower and top speed to the Suzukis and Hondas. On Sunday, despite a dangerous trip into the gravel trap, Gobert convincingly won a wet race over Honda’s Miguel DuHamel.
When his R7 is right (and even when its not exactly right), Gobert is at the front battling for the win. Yamaha’s challenge is to give Gobert a mechanically sound machine the rest of the season, and find the added horsepower necessary to give Gobert a fighting chance at those tracks where horsepower rules. Gobert seems ready to do the rest.
