Ex-works, Anthony Gobert, 2000 Bimota SB8K World Superbike Championship Racing Motorcycle

• Bimota's only World Superbike race-winner
• On display since 2000
• Present ownership since 2017
• Bimota letter of authenticity

"Ever since his first amazing World Superbike win in 1994, Gobert has been hitting headlines, hitting Gazza-esque personal and professional highs and lows, hitting track barriers and pretty much hitting anything else unwise enough to cross his path on the wrong day." - Julian Ryder, World Superbike Winners.

The machine offered here holds the unique distinction of being the only Bimota ever to have won a World Superbike Championship event: race 2 at the Phillip Island round in 2000. The rider was Anthony Gobert, motorcycle racing's 'bad boy', a troubled individual as popular with the fans as he was detested by the WSB paddock.

Winner of the Australian Superbike Championship in 1993, Gobert was drafted into the Muzzy Kawasaki team in 1994 and duly won race 2 at Phillip Island, the last round of the season. Over the next few years Gobert was hired by and sacked by a succession of top-flight race teams, usually for failing drugs tests or simply not showing up to races. Not to mention the occasional brawl.

In 2000 he was signed by Virginio Ferrari's newly formed MVR Bimota team (surely the triumph of hope over experience on their part), which was running the Italian frame-maker's Suzuki TL1000-R-engined WSBK contender, developed by legendary former Ducati engineer, Franco Farné. The team ran with '501' branding on the bike as Ferrari was hoping to attract sponsorship from Levi's jeans.

Gobert finished 11th in race 2 at the opening round in South Africa, and then won the first race at the next round at Phillip Island in his native Australia thanks to a shrewd tyre choice in a wet race. It is recognised as one of the most remarkable races in WSBK history and an incredible result. Gobert brought the Bimota home in 9th place in race 2. Sadly, it was all downhill after Phillip Island and the under-funded team folded mid-season, by which time Gobert had amassed 37 points. At the season's end he was 25th in the World Championship. In effect, it marked the end of his professional motorcycle racing career.

Our vendor advises us that there were only two Bimota SB8K factory bikes, frame '71' and frame '73', both raced by Gobert in the 2000 WSBK Championship. Frame '73' raced at Sugo, Japan and Kyalami, South Africa. This machine, with frame number '71', raced in Hockenheim, Germany and Monza, Italy and is the winning machine from race 1 at Philip Island (see competition history from Bimota on file).

The bike is untouched since the race and still has the telemetry fitted. For part of his truncated season Gobert's Bimota was fitted with prototype Marzocchi USD forks with radial brake callipers; these went back to Marzocchi and the machine is currently fitted with its conventional USD forks that were also used that year.

The following spare parts are included in the sale:

1x rear wheel
1x pair of cylinder heads (welded)
1x engine side cover
2x cylinder head covers
1x top yoke
1x oil pump
1x flywheel
Various clutch plates
Various gaskets
Oil filters

This motorcycle has been sitting for almost all its life in a Bimota showroom (2000-2016) and has been moved just once (in 2003, in the vendor's van) to Donington Park to be displayed at the presentation of the Bimota SB8K sports roadster. It was purchased by an Italian collector in 2016 and sold to our vendor in 2017. Offered with Anthony Gobert's helmet from the famous Phillip Island race, this is a wonderful opportunity to own an important piece of World Superbike Championship history.