After riding in the first two rounds of the 2006 World Supersport championship, as a stand-in for the injured David Checa at Yamaha GMT 94, it has been officially confirmed that Anthony Gobert will step up to the Superbike class as a wild-card at round three, Valencia, on April 23.
The former 500GP rider and eight-times
WSBK race winner qualified 17th and finished 12th at the Qatar season opener, before putting his R6 seventh on the grid for his home round at Phillip Island. Unfortunately, Gobert was forced to retire from the race, but had already secured a ride in the Spanish Superbike Championship for the rest of the season - and will be on a GSX-R1000 for his new Coronas Suzuki team (not related to the Corona Extra Alstare Suzuki team) as a wild-card at Valencia.
31-year-old Gobert's last World Superbike championship outing came in October 2000, when he rode a Yamaha YZF-R7 at Brands Hatch. Four Spaniards and an Italian will join Gobert on the SBK wild-card list at Valencia, while two local riders will take part in the Supersport class.
The full wild-card line-up can be seen below:
Superbike: #27
Anthony Gobert AUS (Suzuki GSX-R1000) Coronas Suzuki Motorrad
#32
Javier Del Amor SPA (Honda CBR1000RR) Honda BQR
#33
José David De Gea SPA (Honda CBR 1000RR) Honda BQR
#34
Josep Monge SPA (Yamaha YZF R1) Promoracing
#35
Sergio Fuertes SPA (Suzuki GSX-R1000) Coronas Suzuki Motorrad
#66
Norino Brignola ITA (Ducati 999RS) Team Guandalini
Supersport: #33
Victor Carrasco SPA (Honda CBR600RR) Honda BQR
#35
Jordi Torres SPA (Yamaha YZF R6) Speed Moto