Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127291
eINTERVIEW . e Superbike National Champion Doug Chandler ... 0") e-, l-t ! At the crossroads By Paul Carruthers hree years ago Doug Chandler was just another dirt tracker dabbling in a road racing season th at featured an epic AMA Superbik e Championship ba ttl e between Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz, A year lat er , he was still dabbling, this tim e in th e sha dow o f th e dominant du o of Bubba Sh obert an d Doug Polen. In 1989 Ch andler won two road race Nationals, in cluding the first of h is career at Mid -Ohio, but he didn't win a titl e an d h is efforts still went virtuall y unnoti ced, tha nks to the very large sha dow cast by 250cc p hen om Joh n Kocinski. Th is p ast seaso n, th e shadow casti ng was done by Ch andler himself as h e ma de th e 1990 Superb ike Na tio na l Ch ampionship hi s own . Ever the da bbler, Cha ndler al so tried his h and in the World Ch ampi on ship Superb ike Seri es, winnin g the im portant Sugo, J apan , rou nd of th e series wit h a 3-1 tally after also wi nn ing a leg of th e U.S. ro u n d of the cha mp ion sh ip in Brai nerd, Minnesot a. H is Nationa l Cha mpionship an d Worl d Su perbike o u tings h a ve attracted tea m m a nagers in bo th Grand Pri x an d su perbike racing. There was talk o f hi m joini ng Kevin Schwantz ,a t Lu cky Stri ke Suzuki, rumors of a li nkup wi th Honda, talk of him being in cluded in a proposed n ew Yam aha tea m put tog ether by former Wo r ld Cha mpi on Fran co U nc i ni with h elp fr om Kenn y Robert s, and a bonafide offer to do th e World Superbike Ch ampionship on factory Kawa sakis. Unfortunatl y, we cau gh t up with th e 25-yea r-old Sali nas, California, resident a few weeks too soon. The rum ors were st i ll rumors, and nothing ha s been signed . Although the Kawasaki offer has officially been turned down, Chandler's plans ar e still uncertain , at leas t publicly, but it's most likely that Chandler will join the elite GP circuit in 1991. The fact that Roberts is a t least playing a bit role in Chandler 's future, makes one believe he will be aboard a Yamaha YZR500. At presstime, however, neither were willing to dis cuss details. " Basica lly, I'd like to get over to Europe to ride 500s, but I reallydon 't have anything concrete yet , " Chandler said,. as late as December 6. "Maybe I'll know more next week ." T 16 Roberts concu rs: " I t's too earl y to say right now what's happening. We've got some stuff going, but we ca n' t talk ab out it yet. There ar e a co up le of diff erent team s interested in Doug right now - we'll hav e to see what one buy s him." Ch andler says th e decision to turn down Kawasaki's World Superbike offer wasn't that difficult , even .though his first season on that circuit may have resulted in him being World Champion. " T o me , yo u ca n always ride superbikes," Chandler said. "But if you get a chance to ride a 500 you're stupid if you don't take it. It 's a n op portu ni ty you 're not goin g to get every day. You can make more money doing the GPs, maybe not on your co nt ract money, but I know the helmet companies and leather com panies pay th e GP riders a lot more than th ey pay anyone else. " I was wanting out of here last year," he adds. felt I was through riding superbikes. They're fun bikes to ride, but I feel I'm wasting my time and I think it's better to get on a 500 a nd try and get some experience with those guys." At 'the beginning of the 1989 season, not many would have considered Chandler ·when shopping for ':1 a GP-caliber rider. But his riding improved ten -fold by the end of th e '89 season, and his learning .curve continued to spiral upward in 1990. A different riding style? A new attitude? Nope. The lanky Cal ifornian found the key to going faster was in impro ving the way the motorcycle underneath him performed. " I think a lot of it (his rapid improvement) came from knowing more about suspension and knowing how far I could take the bike. Before I just rode. without really knowing what to look for, without knowing what needed to be changed to make the bike work better."