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/127760
INTERVIEW Muzzy Kawasaki's Doug Chandler ECS DUCAT. 9 16 POSTER GLOSSY COLOR 26"x 19" ONLv$13.92 2 FOR $25.00 OFFERING THE FINEST IN DUCATI PARTS AND ACCESSORIES .~ UPs/COD 1-800-9-DUCATI 714-530-2711 13851 A BETTER WAY, #D GARDEN GROVE, CA 92643 ~";.~~ - ~~ -- - -~' .. - - ...... , - . ~ { . . , ~ ~'~,'" lit ,', ~ - 'W·'· .',:': ' .'.>,,~ ",-,,-,~ • Top 20 Honda Dealer In Un~ Volume • Top 20 M/C Dealer in Customer 8aIisfaclion suM!' by "Moton:ycle Consumer News" • Top 20 Honda Dealer in P&A Sales Volume • DesIgner SJOl'8 • In Business since 1978 IFVOUHAVE • • • • • CompuJer Inventory skills Tough negotiating Skills In Purchasing Into Merchandising & Displays Touring BIke Expertise Stable, Hones! and have a Winning i\JJllude PlEASE APPLY TO . . . HONDA Danny McCasland at M&MHonda 1800-333-9731 Fax 505-29fHi604 Cycle Service Racing Coolplete Professiooal Machine Sllop Ojfinder Boring. HeIiarc Welding, Suspensioo Tuning Maico, KTM & Husqvama I'om " Service Complete Ute 01 Off-load AppGnI eteqvama~~ lIlIA/CO ~ .~ 1244 N, Gaffey Street San Pedro, CA 90731 (310) 548-6874 UPSDaify What make. a perfect gilt for the penon who hall eoerything' II ~ gift lIutncrlptlonl ellll (310) 427·7433 to order today. MOTO SPORTS ATK • DUCAn • HUSQVARNA Des Moines, IA (515) 285-8014 thought we should really go, And it didn't really happen, It seemed like we kind of went backward, We didn't really change anything. Everything was the same, but it just wasn't working. That was really, really frustrating, Because when you think you're finlly starting to catch up (you) end up with nothing," That led to the perception that Chandler had quit on the team, that he wa n't trying at the end of the year, It's a theory that he's heard, but disputes. "We kind of ran out of things to try, We were just going in a big old circle and couldn't really get nowhere and I was frustrated and didn't really have any more ideas to try," Teammate and rookie road racer Chris Carr was running ahead of him in the final race at Firebird Raceway in his namesake town, Chandler, Arizona, when Doug was forced to pit. "We really had trouble with the front. That thing had a really bad chatter in the carousel and I could n' t carry any speed, The thing ran hot most of the race, I actually caught up to Chris (Carr) and (Michael) Barnes, bu t then the thing was overheating and I nursed it around to try to get a finish, but I think with five laps to go it started tying up," That season over, it was time to think about the next one - the next two, as it tums out, ince Chandler signed a twoyear contract with Muzzy, Again, there were choices, but he wanted more control of his destiny and didn't go for the more speculative offers. There was one to test a 500cc Marlboro Yamaha for Kenny Roberts, but the timing on that was wrong. The Yamaha World Superbike team was interested, though they seemed to have a hard time making a decision, So Chandler is back with Muzzy, one year here, the next maybe on the World Superbike trail. Which is why he knows all eyes are on him this year, "It's really hard, I think, for Anthony (Gobert) to stay, Being as young as he is, I think he'll get some offers elsewhere and maybe get in on the Grand Prix stuff. So, possibly I could go over there and do that in my second year for Rob," As much as Chandler has to prove, the same can be said of Muzzy, Since he began contesting the World' Superbike series the team's results in the u.s. have suffered, And this year the team struggled through Muzzy's protracted battle wi th Scott Russell, "I think Rob, when he finally won over here, the next step was to do it over there and he put all his focus over there, Now that he's done that he kind of wants to get back over here and do the whole other thing as well. He's pretty much told me, going in there, that he's going to have a good program for us this year," Chandler says, What is left for Chandler to prove is whether he still has the proverbial "fire in the belly." He has been racing for a very long time - all his life, really - and, after the Cagiva years, he doesn't have a lot of financial worries, Sure, he needs to occasionally restock "The Toy Kingdom,'" as a friend describes his Salinas house, and he has his passion for collecting, ("I've got one of everything," he says with a laugh,) There will always be a newer mountain bike, a newer radiocontrolled airplane, and another hot rod part for his '70 Chevelle. But it is dangerous to confuse his soft-spoken, unassuming, and relaxed manner with a lack of ambition, "It's hard to explain. I get more motivated when I see the guys, The harder I see them working the harder I'm going to go out there and try to do better for them. That's some of my motivation, It makes a big difference when you can get out there and enjoy yourself and everything seems to click, It just comes so much easier, this does, than if you're trying to get something competitive or you're just constantly struggling or right on the edge of the good stuff," he says, At the end of the three-day Dunlop Daytona test, Chandler had re-established himself as a force to be reckoned with. There will be at least two more tests before the season starts, and with the AMA-NASB feud over, you'll likely see the Muzzy team racing the NASB(FUSA weekend prior to the Daytona 200, And if things go well here, and the opening is offered, Chandler will be looking for his passport once again. "I feel like I've still got some type of world championship in me, that's my ultimate goal. I'm not really bothered any more if it's the Grand Prix or the superbike, I just want to get back over there:' Take a good look at Doug Chandler this year, You may not see him too often in 1997, {N