Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Riding a 2002 Ducati 998RS, HMC Racing’s Doug Chandler turned the fastest lap Tuesday morning at Laguna Seca, to start three days of AMA team testing. With only a few small changes to the set-up that Ben Bostrom used to win both of the 2001 World Superbike races at Laguna Seca, Chandler turned a 1:27.3 in Tuesday morning’s mild weather conditions to lead all times. Wearing Cagiva leathers from his 1993 Grand Prix season, Chandler said that he was still getting used to the extra torque that his new Ducati produces versus the Kawasaki ZX-7RR that he rode for the last several years.

One thing that Chandler didn’t have to reacquaint himself with was his new HMC Crew Chief, Gary Medley. HMC team owner Mitch Hansen told Roadracingworld.com, “Everything’s going great. I think the chemistry is already there.” Hansen added that former Pascal Picotte Crew Chief Mark Sutton has been reassigned to the Team Manager role.

Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin did some laps this morning but said that he was approaching the test with a “wait-and-see” attitude. Mladin said the left elbow that he injured in a qualifying crash at Daytona was getting better but was still sore and stiff, causing him difficulty during braking and when trying to hang off of the left side of his bike. Mladin was still able to turn a time of 1:28.4 for second-fastest Superbike lap time.

Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom claimed the third-fastest Superbike lap with a 1:29.1 on ZX-7RR Tuesday morning.

According to their respective teams, both Bostrom and Chandler will run in the World Superbike races at Laguna Seca.

Bostrom’s teammate Tommy Hayden led all 600cc Supersport times with a 1:30.4 on his Dunlop-equipped Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Teams present at Laguna Seca include Honda, Erion Honda, Bruce Transportation Group, Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki, Yamaha, Graves Motorsports Yamaha, Kawasaki and HMC Ducati.

Tuesday morning’s unofficial lap times:

1. Doug Chandler, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.3
2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.4
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:29.1
4. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:30.4
5. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.9
6. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:31.0
7. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:31.05
8. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:31.05
9. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:31.06
10. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:32.19
11. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:33.3
12. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR929RR, 1:34.57

Note: Honda’s Miguel Duhamel, Nicky Hayden and Kurtis Roberts took to the track for the first time moments before the lunch break.