Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.ROAD RACE·. .. . AMASupertlike Nation~1 Championship Road Race series Final Round: Las Vegas Motor Speedway LAS VEGAS, NY, ocr. 6 uzzy Kawasitki's Doug Chandler spent the majority of Sunday pacing. around, a tightly wound bundle of nerves as the tension of a tight AMA National Superbike Championship battle started to take its toll on ·all who were involved. That was tile hard part. Once the race started, all calmness returned and the serene Chandler turned in a masterful performan.ce that resulted in both a victory and a National Championship. Typically smooth and deceiVingly fast, Chandler did everything right at the brand-spanking-new Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the desert outskirts of Sin City. He waited for no one, passing botll title protaganist Miguel DuHamel and early leader Larry Pegram with decisive moves before clearing out to an easy win and the superbike title that came with it. "It feels really good,". Chandler said after securing his second AMA Superbike National Championship and his first in six years. "It was a tough year, but it all worked out for us. The guys kept their heads down and always gave me the best bike possible, and the same with tile tire guys. We just went after it week after week and it paid off for us. "This weekend was a really tough weekend. Everyone was going really well and there was a lot of pressure. I just had to go out there and keep a pace. going. I kept it up and it was fairly comfortable. Once I started to put some distance on 'em, it made life a little bit easier, but tIlere was still a long way to go' before the Checkered flag. When I opened it up a bit, I started to realize, 'It might happen, it might happen.' The last lap seemed like the longest lap of my life." While the last lap may have been the longest of Chandler's life, the entire race must have seemed like an eternity for DuHamel. The Smokin' Joe's Honda rider was seemiilgly on the brink of losing his grasp on his title all weekend. Despite coming into Las' Vegas witll a two-point margin on Chandler, it was clear from the moment a wheel was turned that momentum was on Chandler's side. While the Californian was fast from the get-go, the French Canadian struggled to keep pace. Chandler qualified on pole, clicking off fast lap after fast lap and gaining another point on his rival, while DuHamel was .third quickest and working hard to be there. When the race started, DuHamel surged forward in an aggressive display that said he wasn't done yet, but Chandler wasn't intimidated and he quickly retaliated, diving past DuHamel under braking on the third lap and pulling away, leaving his rival to a race full of . drama. Initially, Du.Hamel claimed he was balked by Pegram.. Then he chunked . his rear tire. The last straw was when the Honda RC45 started nirming on two cylinders. He was fortunate to finish M Doug Chandler was perfect in the final round of the AMA Superbike Series, taking pole position, the race win and the National Championship. third, but y ~dMense spirations were long gone. . . Second place on the day went to the persistent Mat Mladin. The Australian started slowly but wasted little time in working past most of his factory-backedmates, finding himself in a solid fourth place and ready to pounce when DuHamel and ~egram were slowed late in the race. On the final lap he moved around DuHamel to take second in what was his final.race aboard the Yoshimura Suzuki. Following the National, Mladin told Suzuki of his plans to leave the team as he will soon sign a contract to contest the 1997 AMA Superb ike National Championship on a Fast By Ferracci Ducati. . With DuHamel limping home third, fourth place went to Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates. The young Georgian was among a handful of riders who chunked tires on the day as high temperatures and a plentiful amount of fast left-hand corners on the 2.48-mile layout meant extreme heat buildup in rear tires. Yates had problems with·his rear Dunlop, bu t he wasn't alone as the tire quandary was felt by both Dunlop and Michelin users. Fifth place and the "Pain of the Day Award" went to Thomas Wilson and his factory Harley-Davidson VRlOOO. Wilson was doused with fuel on the warm-up lap with the majority of the petrol being, deposited directly on his groin. Despite a quick flush job on the grid, Wilson started the race concentrating not on tile outcome, but only on the inunense burning pain between his legs. Still, he carried on and ultimately finished fifth after a simply courageous effort. Then came Pegram, the Fast By Ferracci rider starting fast but fading with both motorcycle and tire problems. Although the problem with the Ducati had yet to be diagnosed, Pegram figured it was either electrical or fuel related and he was bitterly disappointed' to finish sixth after qualifying a close second to Chandler. Smokin' Joe's Honda's Steve Crevier .battled with a bad start and a poor tire choice to finish hi's season with a seventh:place effort while Team Polen Suzuki's Doug Polen had his best AMA outing of the year with an eighth-place firush. Vance & Hines Yamaha's Tom Kipp was ninth, anotller struggling with a badly worn rear tire, and an early offtrack excursion prevented Yoshimura Suzuki's Pascal Picotte from finishing any higher than 10th. . Veteran Jamie James ended his Yamaha career with an 11th-place finish. James was forced to ride his backup bike after destroying his initial YZF750 in a fiery pit-lane crash on Saturday morning (see Briefly...). The final two factory men, Fast By Ferracci's Shawn Higbee and Muzzy Kawasaki's Mike Smith, finished 12th and 13th, respectively, while Cal Rayborn ill en~ed up as the top-placing privateer by virtue of his 14th-place finish' on the 10-K Racing Harley-Davidson VRIOOO. . NATIONAL Searing desert heat greeted the start of the first-ever AMA Superbike National at

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