From HMC Ducati:

Second for Chandler third for HMC

HMC Ducati rider Doug Chandler took full advantage of the mayhem of today’s race, riding his factory supported Ducati home for a secure second place finish at Virginia International Raceway. A bad start relegated Chandler to tenth place going into the first turn but it took no time for the veteran rider to round up the pack of Duhamel, Roberts and Picotte to claim seventh. Then a multitude of crashes, mistakes and mechanical problems, from the leading group, handed him his third podium for the year.

After a turbulent start to the season this is a perfect result for the close of the season.

“I knew it was going to be a tough race with the weather getting hotter but it worked out for us,” said Chandler. “My main focus on a race set-up is to be as good at the end as in the beginning; if not better. When you get into a situation where you’ve got to push, you’ve still got a bit in reserve. The tires at this place really drop off so you’ve really got to stay focused. My rear tire started to spin towards the end, which took a little of my charge.

“Nicky had a pretty good lead on me and I wasn’t sure who was behind me, so I was just racing my board. I didn’t want to get too involved in aiming for the lead; my main focus was on maintaining my lap time. I was trying to race myself, which allowed me to set a pace and maintain it.

“The bike was working really well. The team put such a good effort into this result it’s a shame that we couldn’t have done more with it this year. The team worked really hard and the Ducati ran really well for me and hopefully we can do as good again tomorrow, if not better.


From a press release issued by Eric Bostrom’s Manager Norm Viano:

VIR Showdown, Take Two

August 10, 2002 – Alton, VA. Although the first AMA Superbike race of the weekend didn’t quite go to plan, Eric Bostrom is looking forward to tomorrow and the final Superbike race of the season. Qualifying on the front row, Eric got one of his trademark starts and led from the first turn. Eric maintained his quick pace and began pulling a gap on the rest of the field. Eight solid laps later, Eric was looking good to win the race. His closest challenger, Aaron Yates, had just crashed out trying to keep up with him.

“I was pleased that things started going our way during the race. We pushed hard for those 8 laps and we were finally starting to put a dent on the rest of the field and get away from them, and I felt that it could have been a cakewalk from there. We had made some changes to the bike this afternoon and the front end was moving pretty well. The whole bike just seemed to be a good package for the race, so I have to thank the crew for that. I was hitting my lines and everything was going well. By that point, it seemed that I could throw down some fast laps if I wanted to, so I was really just trying to conserve my tires. But then the motor tightened up into turn one. I knew there was a problem, but I tried to push to push through it because I really didn’t know what was going on with it and I thought, ‘I don’t care what’s going to happen to the bike, I’m going to win this race!’ But then it finally locked up into turn four and that was it. I couldn’t keep it on the track after it locked, so I rode into the grass and it tipped over. The bike restarted for me, but it was running so bad, I knew my day was done. I rode it halfway down the straightaway to the bridge so I could catch a ride back to the pits, and just parked it.”

The day’s result meant that his rival, Nicky Hayden, won the race and ultimately the 2001 (sic) AMA Superbike Championship. “I’m obviously disappointed about handing away the championship like that. It’s tough to accept defeat. I would have preferred to make Nicky sleep on it and be nervous for another night and then have to race for it tomorrow. But Nick’s a great competitor. We’ve pushed each other really hard all year long and had some fast race paces. It’s been fun racing against him and he deserves the title.”

Eric’s second place in the championship is locked up, no matter what happens tomorrow. This will ensure that tomorrow’s race will be exciting and a proper shootout, with neither rider’s results affecting his standing in the championship. “It’s just a shame. It’s really tough to let a race win go like that. Maybe tomorrow things will go our way, but chances are we’ll have to fight for it a little harder.”


From a press release issued by Mat Mladin’s publicist:

Rounds 15 & 16, 2002 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia, USA

Final Qualifying Session and Round 15 Race Report

TYRE FAILURE ROBS MLADIN OF PODIUM RESULT AT VIRGINIA

Alton, Virginia, USA (Saturday, 10 August) – A delaminated rear tyre forced Australian Mat Mladin out of today’s fifteenth round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship while he was running in second place at Virginia International Raceway.

The race win went to American Honda’s Nicky Hayden who was also crowned as the new champion after main championship challenger Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki) crashed out of the race lead on lap nine.

Mladin took the race lead after Bostrom’s crash and led threw to lap 13 when he ran wide and momentarily off the circuit. The incident dropped him to third on the track, but he was back up to second on lap 16. At this point of the race however, his Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750 began to vibrate as his rear tyre began to fail. He was able to hold second until lap 20 when a large piece of the rear tyre delaminated and he was forced to retire.

“The rear of the bike began to vibrate with about 12-laps to go and then eventually it just blew out a large section of the tyre and that was it,” said Mladin. “We’ll use a different tyre in tomorrow’s race as this one looks like it just overheated in the conditions.

“There were some good improvements with the rear shock this weekend, but unfortunately it seems to last for about 15 minutes before it loses its dampening,” added Mladin. “After that it’s just working off the spring. I was already having problems with the shock when I took the race lead and it didn’t last much longer when all of the dampening had gone out of it.”

Earlier in the day, Mladin qualified second fastest for the meeting after his time was beaten by Nicky Hayden in the final minutes of the session. Mladin’s best time of 1-min 24.856-secs was beaten by less than a tenth of a second by Hayden who produced a 1:24.762 lap. The times were well inside Mladin’s own existing lap record of 1:25.428 and significantly faster than the times from yesterday’s opening session where Mladin was fastest with a 1:25.328.

“We were pipped on the last lap by Nicky, but I’m happy with that,” said Mladin. “I’m just happy that we were in a position to mount a serious challenge for pole position, so starting from second on the grid for the two races was just as good.”

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship wraps up tomorrow with the sixteenth and final race of the series. With Hayden already confirmed as the new champion, tomorrow’s race could produce some of the fastest and closest action of the season as all of the top riders will be looking to finish their year off with an all-important race win.