ASBK, What Racing Used To Be

Australian Superbike is a lot like the racing of old. Small teams and working out of vans is almost exclusively what you see. There are no multi-story hospitalities or paddock scooters racing around with personal assistants, instead it’s a small team of mostly family members that help with the set up of the bike and cleaning leathers. Subsequently everyone is incredibly close. In GP there is a sense of family, almost everyone has been in the paddock for years and knows each other to some degree. But at ASBK it is taken to extremes, at the Eastern Creek round there were several teams who, for a variety of reasons, had a spare bike, bikes that they happily leant to competitors. Imagine Lorenzo lending Cal one of his M1s after Cal broke both of them.

Despite the small scale ASBK is highly professional. Frequent warning horns blast across the entire paddock, warning fans and staff that bikes are on the track and to be careful in pit lane. It’s grassroots racing at its finest. With a huge variety of classes from 250cc production bikes to Superbikes there is always a race or practice session on, it’s almost too much. The majority of races are also incredibly exciting because machinery and teams are on such a limited budget that it creates a very level playing field.

The level of access fans can get is also unrivaled. There’s no paying $500 for a paddock pass, the paddock is freely open to anyone. All the riders and team members are also extremely friendly and open to chatting and in some cases even showing fans around the pit box. This is a polar opposite to the strict rules fans must follow at a GP event and the teams who are too busy to talk to anyone. This open and friendly environment was more reminiscent of a local club race than a national series that produces world champions such as Mick Doohan.

ASBK is much more raw than MotoGP, it’s more pure. It might not have the big names that MotoGP has but ASBK was just as, if not more enjoyable. The racing was close and fierce, the riders all had personalities that were distinct and funny. Going to an event like this makes you think about why you watch the bigger series, is it for the racing, the personalities, the drama or a combination of all three? All of these can be found in national championships and on a much smaller, more personal level. This environment made for a much better overall experience than the somewhat sterile paddock that one encounters in MotoGP.

There's also the bonus of seeing the brothers, sisters and kids racing each other around the track and the paddock. Many a Goberts were seen, but sadly THE Go-Show was absent.

There are obviously advantages and disadvantages to smaller national series, but if you can’t attend a GP a local series, especially ASBK, is a great alternative and gives you a taste of the backstage action without the pressures of the more corporate and high tension Grand Prix circus.

The Australian Racers' Guide To Retirement

Australia has a proud history on two wheels: Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner and Casey Stoner are all, even now in the case of Wayne and Mick, household names. But beyond these champions there is litany of other Australians who have fought for wins and championships in GPs and WSBK. Yet many of them, such as Garry McCoy, have faded into a quiet existence on Australia’s Gold Coast, well, most that is. Anthony “The Go-Show” Gobert has taken his retirement a little differently to the soft-spoken McCoy.

Garry McCoy was, and still is, a quiet man, more timid than you’d expect from someone known for slides that would make even a Japanese street drifter think he was crazy. McCoy burst onto the GP scene in 1992 in the 125cc class, having only been road racing for four months. The four years of 125s was McCoy take two victories and six podiums, enough to gain himself a ride on the big 500s in 1999. His impressive style earned him three victories, nine podiums and a truck full of burnt up tyres. The switch to MotoGP saw McCoy struggle aboard a variety of different bikes such as the Aprilla, Kawasaki and even the Ilmor, eventually landing in WSBKs on a Ducati where he won his home race at Philip Island. An ill-fated stint with Foggy Petronas saw a brief stint to supercross. Triumph then offered him a lifeline in WSS that saw McCoy score several podiums and dramatically improve the Daytona 675.  

            Despite this McCoy found himself without a third year on the Triumph and instead McCoy found refuge, all be it brief, with the FB Corse Team. The team, and the deal, fell through, leaving the once mullet graced McCoy without a ride. Then there was nothing, no one really heard from McCoy.  The Troy Bayliss Classic saw McCoy return to some form of racing and public venue. Since his stint in WSS it seems that McCoy has opened his own race school and has coached several younger Australian riders, although probably with less emphasis on being sideways as often. The combination of his school, general track days and being Australia’s Pirelli representative seem to be keeping McCoy’s head well above water as he quietly enjoys his retirement.

            Of all the Australians at the Troy Bayliss Classic there was one 'old-timer' who was a notiveable absence. The Go-Show was perhaps as far away from McCoy in attitude as anyone could get. The youngest ever WSBK winner, Gobert burst onto the international racing scene as the hottest property in a long while. His win and third place at Philip Island in 1994 on the Kawasaki was one of the most impressive rides around the world famous track. It was a strong enough result to get Gobert a fulltime Kawasaki WSBK ride in 1995, where he yet again showed strong results and finished 4^th overall. The ‘96 season was trickier, but a double win at Philip Island earned him a spot on the Lucky Strikes Suzuki 500cc squad.

             Unfortunately this is where things began to nose dive for the wild Aussie. Injuries interrupted the start of his season and the drug abuse began to become more apparent. He once famously showed up after the Brno test with nothing but the ripped leathers he had crashed in. The combination of this saw Suzuki remove him from the squad. 1998 and 1999 saw Go-Show go State side and compete in the AMA, and a WSBK round at Laguna, which he won. Gobert gave the world stage one last try with a Bimota in 2000, yet again winning at Philip Island. But the drug battle continued and the once young talent returned to Australian Superbikes with mixed results. Gobert had one last flash before fading away; he got arrested for stealing 50 Australian Dollars off a pensioner, and it apparently wasn’t the first time. In court he said he had applied for a job at Subway, he didn't get it.

              McCoy and Gobert both had careers that saw them ride in almost every championship around, and both had their ups and downs. Each rider overcame injuries and battled with demons, it’s greatly saddening that the Go-Show’s final episode was such a long way from his where he’d debuted. Chris Vermeulen is another Australian talent who is in limbo between retirement and racing. Currently he races in Triathlons at a very high level, waiting for a testing ride to appear. Luckily it looks as though he’s learnt from Gobert and McCoy and is spreading his post-racing career net wide, hopefully to avoid having to steal handbags from grannies.