The economic crisis has been tough on America, and few industries have been hit harder than the motorcycle industry. As a result, motorcycle racing budgets have been cut dramatically, and relatively young former Champions have been left without full-time rides. One such rider is 29-year-old Aaron Gobert, a former AMA Superstock Champion who won an AMA Formula Xtreme race as recently as 2008. “It’s just screwed out there for everybody, unless you were in the middle of a contract or been tied up with a team or a country for a long time,” Gobert told Roadracingworld.com Tuesday, as he prepared his belongings for shipment from his home in Murrieta, California back to Australia. “It was hard to find a ride. I pretty much put my eggs in one basket and was working with KWS Motorsports to hopefully get the Aprilia Superbike deal on the racetrack, but for race teams it is tough. Us riders bitch and moan about not being able to find a ride, but what about these teams that can’t find money to go race? It’s not that we’re not good enough anymore. It’s not a matter of that at all. It’s just the funds are not there.” So instead of waiting around the U.S. for a ride that may or may not materialize, Gobert said he decided to return to his homeland of Australia, which has been spared the worst of the global economic downturn and run his own race team in the VIC Motorcycle Wreckers Australian Supersport Championship. “Yamaha is supporting us with factory R6s, and Graves Motorsports is supporting us with parts and equipment,” said Gobert, who raced with Graves Motorsports and Yamaha for several of his seasons in America. Gobert’s 2010 Australian campaign did not get off to the best start, however, as he finished ninth and 13th in the first races, which were held February 27-28 in conjunction with the Superbike World Championship event at Phillip Island. “We kind of struggled at the first round with a bit of drama, but that’s what happens when you get a bike built in a week,” said Gobert. “I’ve been doing plenty of riding all during Christmas, but unfortunately I got my YZF-R6 two weeks before the first race and then with getting it built and traveling we didn’t quite have the time to have it done 100%. We ran into some electrical problems, fuel mapping and engine management issues that slowed us down, but now we have four or five weeks to build a bike before the next round, so we should be good. “Obviously, the ultimate goal is that when things turn around in the States is to try to get back here and race full-time. I still stay in touch with the KWS guys. They appreciated everything I brought to the team last year. Everybody with the team got along. I hope that when they get on the racetrack I’m the guy they pick first. That’s the plan. But right now I ride for Gobert Motorsports, so I’m free to do things like that, self promote and ride whatever I want.”