Alex Gobert

[elephino]

Found this in Motorsport News, early December issue.

Alex Gobert's Honda Deal

Teenage sensation Alex Gobert has signed a two-year deal with Honda Australia to race a CBR600 and the new fuel-injected CBR900 FireBlade in the Australian Road Race Championships.

Gobert, who only turned 16 several months ago, will also race in selected rounds of the Formula Xtreme Tri-State alongside incumbent Honda team member, Adam Fergusson.

The announcement was made by Honda Australia race manager Mick Smith, who said Gobert is a long-term project of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer.

"We have set out a schedule for Alex, and we are working towards buiding a long-term association with him. It's a similar program we had with Daryl Beattie when we signed him in 1989 - to take him from domestic to international racing," Smith said.

"It'll be Alex's first year on the big four-strokes so we want to expose him to as much local racing as possible."

Gobert raced to great success in the Moriwaki 80cc c;ass in 1998 and '99 and recently won the New South Wales 250 Production Championship on an Aprilia RS250 from reigning Alstralian champ, Broc Parkes.

Before that, he took out the annual Stars of Tomorrow race for C-graders at Phillip Island on a Mobil Honda CBR600.

With his senior road racing career barely underway, the youngest Gobert has already shaded his 18-year-old brother Aaron, while 24-year-old Anthony observed at the 1999 Australian Grand Prix that Alex had the potential to be faster than him.