From a press release received Wednesday morning, October 3:
YAMAHA ANNOUNCES 2002 FACTORY ROAD RACE TEAM
Yamaha riders in Superbike, 600 Supersport and Formula Xtreme
CYPRESS, Calif., October 2, 2001 – Yamaha announced today that it will field a three rider factory team in 2002. The talented and fan favorite, Anthony Gobert will return to Yamaha to make an assault on both the Superbike and 600 Supersport championships. Joining him in the 600 Supersport class will be his younger brother Aaron Gobert and Damon Buckmaster. The deal will also see Buckmaster and Aaron Gobert riding the Formula Xtreme class under the Graves’ Motorsports banner.
Anthony Gobert
Gobert, who finished a close second in the 600 Supersport championship series, will ride race-proven Yamaha YZF R-series motorcycles and be the sole factory Yamaha Superbike rider in 2002.
“Both the Yamaha R7 and R6 were very competitive,” Anthony Gobert said. “And despite the bit of bad luck early on with my injuries, I think that overall I rode very well. I feel really good about coming back strong next year.”
Aaron Gobert
Aaron Gobert and Formula Xtreme runner-up Damon Buckmaster will compete in 600 Supersport on factory prepared Yamaha YZF-R6 motorcycles run out of the factory Yamaha transporter. The pair will continue to compete in Formula Xtreme on the all-new fuel injected 2002 R1 powered motorcycles for Graves’ Motorsports.
Damon Buckmaster
“We’re happy to be working with Graves’ Motorsports,” Yamaha race team manager Keith McCarty said. “The team exemplifies professionalism and they put a lot of themselves into their program.”
As for the 2002 team, McCarty said, “It’s a strong line up. I think Anthony Gobert speaks from himself, and we expect to see good things from his brother Aaron who quickly got up to speed in his first year. Buckmaster’s exciting last turn pass for the win at Laguna Seca this year and his strong second place finish in the Formula Xtreme series prove that he’s got what it takes. It will definitely be an exciting season next year.”