Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INTERVIEW AMA Superbike and 600cc Supersport Champion Miguel DuHamel Instead, DuHamel crashed out of the Daytona 200, the victim of front-end slides caused in part by a tire choice he wasn't counting on (see sidebar). Then came another crash in the second round of the series at the Pomona Fairplex. This time he was able to remount and still earn some points. Meanwhile, DuHamel's Smokin' Joe's teammate, Mike Hale, was the talk of the town. So much for domination. "After the first few races, I was rethinking that," DuHamel said. "Otampionshipwise, things looked pretty grim because the points system is not very good. But I'm an optimist, and Al (Luddington) is too. That was a key point. Al would come up to me and say, 'Hey, we'll get'em one race at a time: I wasn't really sure if we could get back into the championship, but to give up then would have been pretty stupid." Instead of throwing in the towel after the first three rounds, the DuHamel / Luddington duo went to work. All the talk of Mike Hale this, Mike Hale that was beginning to wear a little thin. It was time to turn up the heat. It was in round four at Mid-Ohio on June 4 - that DuHamel started "The Streak," further proving that championships aren't won at Daytona, Pomona and Laguna Seca, they're won in the month of June, in places like Ohio, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire. DuHamel was consistent not only in his race wins, but also in his methodical approach to those wins: Tease them into thinking they have a chance, then wick it up in the final laps to totally demoralize the competition. '1 just think to myself, 'this is time to go,''' DuHamel said of his late-lap charges. "You want to keep those laps to the end and not show them too much what you've got. The time to make a move is at the end when everyone is tired and the tires are worn out. I know I've got something in reserve and I just go real hard I think a lot of that is due to the testing we've done. The big picture is to win the race, not to win practice. On the last few laps, I just open it up and let it all hang out. I try not to waste the tires or damage the bike. Sometimes, to take these bikes to the end, you've got to be a little gentle with them. But all of that is bestcase scenario - sometimes you have to go for it the whole time. "It's great if it's a good race, but I'm not telling myself not to spoil the show or anything. The truth is, they are running really hard. I think it just demoralizes them a lot more if you just take off at the end. I've been training real hard this year, doing a lot of jogging - I feel strong. 1 think maybe n.ext year I'd like to go for it at the start and maybe make the show less exciting. But I'm realistic, there are a lot of good riders out there and I'm not so sure they're going to want me to do that:' Although DuHamel doesn't mention it as his best race of the season, the World Superbike round at Laguna Seca probably did more to put him on the "most wanted" list than any of his other rides, at least with international teams. Although he didn't win, he was there, proving he had the speed to run with the best superbike racers in the world. "1 didn't think we'd be competitive for Laguna Seca," DuHamel said. "1 was hoping for top five, and I would have been happy with top 10. Next thing you know, we're actually in there. My predictions were way off and I think we should have won it. I think I had a good chance of winning that first race. (Anthony) Gobert and (Troy) Corser were going really strong and there was no lollygagging around. 1 had a couple of aces in the hole, going into (turn) three I think because I had a real tight line. That was what I was waiting for. Unfortunately, I lost the front and then the little fuel light came £lashing on... I'd actually ground through my boots and my toes were starting to touch the asphalt. That was the result of just picking the pace up a little bit. We were right in there to win the race. Worst-case scenario, I was going to get second. I had nothing to lose. I was looking forward to winning the second heat, but for some reason the bike wasn't the same. Traction was real inconsistent. The bike just didn't give the same feedback for some reason. 1 wound up being disappointed. But we'll just keep the good memories. I think I could have had them going into three, or coming out of the Corkscrew. There were a couple of places, but it would have been tight. Hey, at least I was there and had a shot at it:' Critics will point to two of DuHamel's past racing seasons as wasted ones. The first was a shot at Grand Prix racing with Yamaha France in 1992, and the second was taking the ride with Harley-Davidson last year. DuHamel disagrees with those pundits. "1 had confidence, 1 thought we could do the job at Harley-Davidson," DuHamel said. "And when the bike did run we were able to run pretty much up front. I don't think it was that bad of an idea. I think it was good for the sport and I got a lot of good coverage out of it. They wanted me back this year, but they had a stronger bike - and I think it was like, 'Hey, we don't need this guy that much, our bike is there: So that's what happened there. I got a lot of experience, a lot of experience for my patience. "The 500 thing is a hard question because if I would have waited, who said I would have got to go. If I get another ride in 500, and I think that might happen, then it wasn't that bad. And ifl don't get an offer, well it still wasn't that bad because at least I got to try it once. And I got to ride around on the worst bike ever buiIt by mankind. It was good experience, and I did get to showcase my talents in that class, although when you're on a bike that doesn't handle, no matter who you are, if it doesn't turn, it doesn't turn. When I went to Yamaha it was such a sure bet. You would always heop- the stories that they were underpowered, but Yamaha were known to have the besthandling bUses. Honda always had the power and Yamaha was the best-handling bike. But that year t1iey (Yamaha) were just lost in space. I just couldn't feel the front, I couldn't make it turn. It was very frustrating. Wayne Gardner always told me I wasn't aggressive enough with the bike. I would tell him, 'Where do you want me to throw this thing, in the grandstand?' At Sao Paolo, where the bike was actually turning, he told me 1 was being too aggressive. I was really riding it good, and that impressed him quite a bit. If it would steer, I could ride the bike. I got some top fives, top six, but I always felt that my hands were tied. People would come up and tell me, 'Good ride: But they didn't know what I could do. 1 was amazed I didn't get lapped every other lap. "1 thought I had a good-enough year in GP racing; I thought 1 showed I had a pretty good head. I thought I deserved another year. The next year the bike would have been better and I would have been a lot more assertive with my setups. A lot of people try to tell you stuff, 'You don't know this, you don't know that: Hey, it's just a bike, okay? That's what I would have done the second year; I would have been more assertive with what I wanted and didn't want. You need that first year and if you survive that it would get much easier. I really wanted that second year. I was disappointed. I had to learn every track. The only track I knew was Suzuka... I knew all the tracks in France except Magny-Cour - and that's where we went. So I had new tracks, a new team and a bike that was pretty off. That was also a year when there were like 14 factory bikes - that's the year when everyone had the ROCs and the Harris:' Whether you consider the two seasons as wasted or not, there is no doubt that DuHamel has made himself a hot commodity. His two-year contract with Honda will pay him well, and DuHamel his frugality well-known - may finally spend some of that hard-earned cash. Possibly with a new car... "1 own a 1987 Mitsubishi Colt," DuHamel said. '1t was brand-new when I bought it. It's a little gray box and it's still up there (Canada) somewhere. I don't own anything really. I'm looking into some things now. I'd like to get a house or a condo; I've got to make some more investments. But I don't have a lot of headaches now. I'd like to maybe have condos in a couple of places - one in California, one in Florida. That way I could fly out to Florida and play golf. Right now I put all my money in my -socks, in the drawer, under the bed (laughs). Actually, I'm happy the way I live. I don't need a big lifestyle. Alan (Labrosse - his manager) takes good care of me. He's more than a manager, he's my friend. Well, I pay him to be my friend. He takes incredibly good care of me. I don't live an elaborate lifestyle. I like to have a good time. "1 guess that's how I've been brought up. My mom and dad always said, 'take your money and save it, put it away; there'll always been rainy days: That's what I do. I'd like to be substantially welloff when 1 retire. There will be a lot of life left for me to enjoy when I retire. I don't see that happening real soon because I love what I'm dOing." DuHamel's signing with Honda to stay in AMA racing surprised a few pe0ple. 1he fact that he signed for two years was a real shocker. '1 wanted it that way," DuHamel said. "In 1990, 1 wanted to stay at Yoshimura and thank God they didn't rehire me. That stunned me. There was no reasoning. There was Suzuki and Yoshimura, Japanese companies, and Mr. Watanabe gave me an explanation that they didn't want to hire any foreigners, only American riders. And when I won for them in Topeka - well, that was the last time they won a Superbike ational. 1 couldn't believe it. We calIed them up and said, 'Hey, what are we doing about next year?' And they were like, 'Didn't you hear, we've hired our new riders and you're not included: Go figure that one out. Now they have Pascal (picotte - a French Canadian) and an Australian (Mat MIadin). The next year I wanted to pretty much stay with the same team, but Honda didn't have the lure of the GP. 1 didn't know I was stepping into the Twilight Zone when 1 went over there (to GP racing). I really thought I could do something, but I needed two years. But that's okay, we're back with Honda now and 1

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