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'=~iii PAUL CARRUTH~~;:;j:;~~ PHOTOS By HENNY R ABRAMS will stack up in 2001 - a season that should be the most competitive in AMA Superbike history. At least on paper. or the umpteenth consecutive season of making AMA Superbike Series predictions, I was mostly wrong in 2000. Call it a tradition. A losing tradition. Last year I said that Doug Chandler would win the AMAjChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike title and he finished fifth. Chandler had a disappointing season and so did l. I think I'm more used to it than he is. Join the club, Doug. Looking back at my picks from a season ago, 2000 may have been my worst yet when it comes to making these illadvised predictions. But, being a slow leamer, I'U continue on in hopes of someday getting it right. Here's how things went for my picks last year (where I picked 'em, and where they ended up). 1. Doug Chandler (fifth Chandler never felt comfortable on the Kawasaki last year and it showed. His best finish was a third at Daytona and it went downhill from there, with eighths and ninths regularly showing up in his season-ending tally. Very unChandler like.) 2. Troy Bayliss (gonzo - this wouldn't have been a bad pick, based on what we saw of Bayliss early on. Then the Aussie got the opportunity of a lifetime and headed to the World Superbike Championship). 3. Mat Mladin (first - my dumb pick of the year. Mladin was solid throughout and he made me look stupid). 4. Miguel DuHamel (ninth DuHamel had a horrible year, but he'll be back) 5. Nicky Hayden (second - I knew he was good, but I didn't think he'd be this good this fast). 6. Aaron Yates (third - Yates showed the consistency that he has lacked in the past). 7. Larry Pegram (13th Pegram and his new team floundered in 2000 and he was never a factor). 8. Jamie Hacking (10th Hacking had flashes of brilliance, but he still hasn't shown the consistency of a winner) 9. Jason Pridmore (12th - an up-and-down year with not enough ups) 10. Tommy Hayden (sixth he adjusted back to a Superbike more quickly than I thought). 14 FEBRUARY 28.2001 • C thmgs TI 0 Mat Mladln - ' 1 mpetitIon He may not win four races and he may not have four pole positions, but he'll do what he needs to do to accomplish the task at hand - and that task is winning another AMA Superbike title. ~ Age: 29 Hometown: Camden, Australia Team: Yoshimura Suzuki Best result in 2000: First (Daytona, Road Atlanta Itwice], Loudon) Ranking in 2000: AMA Superbike National Champion 0 Kartls Roberts - '80 Age: 22 Hometown: Hickman, California Team: American Honda/Erion Racing Best result in 2000: Didn't race Superbikes, but he did win the AMA 600cc Supersport and Formula Xtreme titles. Ranking in 2000: AMA 600cc Supersport and Formula Xtreme Champion along the tachcal mistake while in con· tentlon for other victories - but he will compete at each and every race and that will put him in contention for the title. Any doubts? Watch the 600cc Supersport tape from Willow Springs. 35 0 Nicky Hayden - '69 Age: 19 Hometown: Owensboro, Kentucky Team: American Honda Best result in 2000: First (Road America [twice], Laguna Seca, Willow Springs) Ranking in 2000: Second in AMA Superbike Championship IQ'ric Bostrom is back where he J.,!;;;,belongs - as a favorite to win nearly every race he starts. The change of scenery from Honda to Kawasaki in 2000 has proven to be exactly what the doctor ordered for Bostrom to jump-start his career. "lFhis year, I'm taking the easy J.1 way out in the hopes of ending this horrible losing streak. How can you pick against the two-time defending champion? Mladin has his team working to perfection, he knows how to win races and he now knows how to win championships. As always, Mladin will be rock solid, all business, and he should end up winning his third title in succession. Although he's struggled with the new GSX-R during testing (his struggling, believe it or not, still ends up with him being at the top of the time sheets in nearly all the preseason tests), he and his team will get the package figured out and the new bike will end up being better than the old bike. That won't bode well for the competition. If you look back at last year, Mladin buried the competition early - with the lone exception of young Nicky Hayden. Mladin won the Daytona 200, and then he went out and won both races at Road Atlanta. That's three in a row to start the season - a dagger straight to the heart of the competition. The Australian only won once more over the course of the season, but his early run made it so he didn't really have to do much else. How's this for consistency? First, first, first, fifth, second, first, second, fourth, second, second, second, eighth. And you can throw out the eighth in the last round at Willow Springs because all he did was tiptoe around to make certain of his title. I think Mladin will face stiffer competition in 2001, but I also u C •• n • _ os ~icky Hayden won four races year and challenged for the championship to the bitter end. I don't expect anything less from him this year and he could end up running away and hiding from the pack in 2001. Hayden is a pure racer. It matters not where he qualifies, come race time he's in the hunt. He gets things figured out, or he simply rides around the problem. He'll do whatever it takes and he doesn't seem apt to make many mistakes. Old beyond his years? Most definitely. Of all my picks, Hayden is the most likely to make me look bad for picking him third. He could go out and win every single race and take the title by a mile. That's doubtful, but with this kid it is also possible. The Honda RC51 should be better than it was a season ago, and it was already pretty damned good. Hayden will also be better than he was - and he was already pretty damned good as well. So why do I have him third instead of first? I have no idea. Just a feeling, I guess. Since my feelings are usually dead wrong in this department, Hayden need not fret much that I have him third instead of first. 11 )llast "lFhis may be taking somewhat J.1 of a risk, but I don't think so. This kid is good, really good and I'm not going to make the same mistake I made with Nicky Hayden last year in underestimating what he's capable of in his first season of Superbike racing. The only thing that could mess things up for the youngest of the Roberts clan in his first eason is if he continues to crash the Superbike like he did in his stints with the bike last year. I don't think he's one to not learn from his mistakes, so I believe he'll figure things out. He also has the crew to help him as he marches along the Superbike rookie path. The biggest thing he has going for him - other than an incredible amount of talent - is his bravado. He couldn't care less if you are Mat Mladin or Giacomo Agostini - he will race you to the bitter end and he firmly believes he should be able to beat you. Why? Because he believes in his ability and he knows that he belongs here. That translates into confidence - oodles of it. And the occasional crash doesn't seem to put a dent in that confidence. He just figures out what he did wrong and he makes the necessary adjustments to make certain that it doesn't happen again. I think Roberts will win races this season. I also believe that he will have trouble in some others. He'll fall down, pick himself up, he'll choose a wrong tire or two A phenom in 1998, Bostrom was a disappointment in 1999. In 2000, he was a player once again, winning impressively at Pikes Peak in Colorado and challenging the entire season for the AMA 600cc Supersport crown - a title he lost in the final comer of the final race to Kurtis Roberts. Bostrom was stunned after losing the 600cc crown, but he seems to be the type of individual who will only get better after suffering such a disheartening loss. I believe it was the heat of competition in a season of close 600cc racing that restored Bostrom's confidence the most, and his Superbike results followed suit. He seems to be back to where he was in 1998 and that should translate into race wins and a challenge for the title, despite the fact that he is campaigning the oldest motorcycle in the field. I!J) 0 Aaron Yates - '20 Age: 27 Hometown: MIlledgeville, Georgia Team: Yoshimura Suzuki Best result in 2000: First (MidOhio Itwice)) Ranking in 2000: Third in AMA Superbike National Championship ~ 0 Eric Bostrom '32 Age: 24 Hometown: Murrieta, California Team: Kawasaki Best result in 2000: First (Pikes Peak) Ranking in 2000: Fourth in AMA Superbike National Championship ,Uil7hen Aaron Yates is on, he 'I'!N/ can be unbeatable. Case in point. Mid-Ohio last year. The problem in the past, however, is those days are few and far between.