From a press release issued by Aaron Gobert Racing: It was a massive learning curve for Rockwall Honda AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme racer Aaron Gobert over the weekend when he made his four-wheel debut behind the wheel of an 800-plus horsepower Sprintcar at the world renowned Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway (TPCR) in Sydney, Australia, last Saturday night. The 27-year old, who has been based in the United States for the past seven years, turned a lifelong dream into a reality when his personal race car was complete and ready for action just one weekend before he returned to his home in California to prepare for the season opening AMA round at Daytona, Florida, on March 5-8. Gobert and his crew, including father Steve and well known Australian Sprintcar tuners Barry and Steve Graham, bolted a 410 Kistler Engine into his Eagle chassis just days before the event, leaving no time to get any practice under his belt. “I remember coming to Parramatta City Raceway as a kid and have always been interested in Sprintcar racing,” Gobert said as he prepared for his first practice on the quarter-mile oval track. After a brief driver’s meeting, Gobert was bump-started out of the pit area and on to the race track for his initial outing in the car, before being flagged off the course for not having the required rock protection on the front-end of the vehicle. With no laps at all complete, next was a two lap Time Trial qualifying session, where he impressed to make the field with a 14.832 second lap time “” just 2.493 seconds off of pole position. Ninth position in the eight lap heat race with only a handful of laps under his belt transferred the 2004 AMA Superstock Champion directly to the 15 lap B Main, bypassing the C Main in his first ever attempt. A top two placing was needed in the B Main to make the A Main Feature Race, with Gobert crossing the line in 10th position out of 18 starters in an attrition-filled race to cap off a solid debut without any damage on the Production Collision Centre-backed number 96 machine. “I knew the night would be a learning experience and it was interesting to go into the race with only two laps to practice in qualifying,” he said. “I thought it would be easier to hold it flat, but when the front wheels came off the ground I knew it was going to be much more difficult than expected!” Gobert struggled with vision throughout the night as he was not accustomed to the tight surroundings of being strapped into a race car, while the dirt roost flying off of the cars in front was also something he had not experienced since his days in motocross racing. “I always go and watch the World of Outlaws when they go to Australia over the Christmas break and decided I’d like to get on track myself,” he continued. “It’s been such a long off-season this year that it was good to have something to work on while I was in Australia.” With the Daytona 200 and AMA road racing season beginning in just three weeks time, Gobert has put his Sprintcar plans on hold until the end of 2008, when he hopes to get more time behind the wheel. “I’ll have another drive when I return home and hopefully get some extra practice under my belt before my next race.” Gobert thanked PWR Radiators, Barry and Steve Graham for the technical support, and his family and friends for helping to get the car on the race track. Gobert’s motorcycle racing sponsor Alpinestars supplied his racing outfit for his debut.