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/128093
In 2000, though. Yates showed consistency that we've never seen from the Georgian before and he parlayed that into third in the series championship. In fact, Yates put the Yoshimura Suzuki on the podium seven times out of 12 starts in 2000 perhaps putting to rest the notion that he doesn't have what it takes to ever win a title. Yates only had two bad outings last year, and it was those two outings that prevented him from being with the top two in the end. Yates obviously made the right decision in reuniting himself with the Yoshimura Suzuki team. It was his home for so long. it didn't take him long to reacclimatize himself to his surroundings there last year. Yates could end up finishing much higher than this in the championship, but he will also be a factor in the 600cc Supersport chase on the new Suzuki GSXR600 and that may end up hurting his Superbike results in the long run. rc;;. ~o Doug Chandler - no Age: 35 Hometown: Salinas, California Team: Kawasaki Best result in 2000: Third (Daytona) Ranking in 2000: Fifth in the AJ'.,A Superbike Championship '\1.1,7 ou could look at the final tally lJ in the 2000 AJ'.,A Superbike Championship and think that Doug Chandler didn't have too bad of a year. After all, he ended up fifth in the standings. When you break out the calculator, however, you realize that Chandler had a very un-Chandler type of a season. Usually in contention for the crown until the bitter end, Chandler finished 113 points behind Mat Mladin last year. In all reality, Chandler had a horrible year. But I don't believe he will have two bad years in a row and if preseason testing times are any indication of things to come, it appears as though Chandler has found the correct setup on the Kawasaki. Last year, the three-time AMA Superbike Champion had difficulty getting the correct feeling from the front of the bike· a World Superbikespec ZX7R rather than the AJ'.,Aspec bike he'd ridden for Rob Muzzy in previous years. If he indeed is back to feeling comfortable on the bike, Chan· dler will win a race or two and will be in contention at all the others. If that's the case, he will finish higher than what I have him here. 1 0 Anlllony Gobert - #95 Age: 26 Hometown: Greenacre, Australia Team: Yamaha Best result in 2000: Won a leg of the World Superbike Championship in Australia Overall ranking in 2000: Did not compete in AJ'.,A Superbike IHJ ere we go again. It is impossible not to like Anthony Gobert. He's friendly, personable and he's an incredible talent. On the other hand, liking Gobert can be a bit on the frustrating side. Why? Because he can lead you down a path that ends in nothing but disappointment. Hopefully, this isn't a path that the Yamaha team will have to negotiate. I think Gobert can win races this year. I also think he can selfdestruct and not finish the season. He's done it before. I hope he doesn't do it again. Because Gobert can be on and off like a light switch, it's very difficult to predict how he will fare over the course of a season. I've twice before picked him to win this championship and he's failed me both times. I won't make that mistake again, though this could lead you to believe that perhaps this year is the year he can do it. I don't think any of us really know how good or how bad the Yamaha is. It's just sort of there and the jury is still out on the motorcycle. It's worked well with Noriyuki Haga at the controls, so perhaps it can work well with Gobert. Who knows? That's how it is with both Gobert and the Yamaha team at the moment. A match made in heaven? Perhaps. @ Miguel DuHamel - n 7 (Q.Jo Age: 32 Hometown: Montreal, Canada Team: American Honda Best result in 2000: First (Brainerd) Ranking in 2000: Ninth in the AJ'.,A Superbike Championship !Q)icking DuHamel to finish sevin the title chase seems a lot like Russian roulette with a machine gun. The gritty little French Canadian could step it up and be a front-runner again in 2001 after what was, for him, a rather dismal 2000. It was dismal in that he finished ninth in the series standings - but let's not forget that he did win a race along the way and only five riders managed that feat last year. DuHamel is without the hardware in his oft-broken leg this year, and he believes that will make a difference - if not physically, at least mentally. Toward the end of the season, DuHamel seemed to be getting the RCS1 close to the point where he wants it. If that development continues to go his way, he will finish higher than this. l.?' enth ~ oSte.e Rapp - #82 Age: 28 Hometown: Lafayette, California Team: HMC Ducati Best result in 2000: Third (Willow Springs) Ranking in 2000: Tied for sev· enth in the AMA Superbike Championship ~his is a scary pick. Steve il Rapp is at a point in his career where he will either make a serious jump forward, or the series will pass him by. Make or break - perhaps. Unfortunately, we're more likely to remember Rapp's season of a year ago by the horrific crash on the opening lap of the Superbike National at Road America than by his pole position and third-place finish at the season-ending Willow Springs National. Rapp is back for a second year on Ducati. In fact, he will be riding the exact same motorcycles that he used in last year's campaign. The difference is the team itself. With Vance (, Hines out of the series, the 2000·model Ducatis have been taken over by Mitch Hansen's HMC team. Although the team will be in its debut season of Superbike rac· ing, they have some quality per· sonnel on board that should ease the transition. 11 @ 0 SCott Russen - #4 Age: 36 Hometown: Conyers. Georgia Team: HMC Ducati WILD CARDS Best result in 2000: 10th (Road America) Ranking in 2000: 17th in AMA Superbike Championship You have to put Aaron Slight right at the top of the list of Wild Cards for the 2001 title chase. As Cycle News went to press, Slight had just completed a test with the Competition Accessories Ducati team at Willow Springs - but we still didn't know if he was going to be a part of the team at Daytona and beyond. Thus, we couldn't put him in our top 10 - a position he surely will fill if he does indeed race here in 2001. Yamaha's Tommy Hayden is another who just missed the cut. He's also the number-one person who missed the cut who could make us look really stupid. If the bike is good, Hayden will be good. We know the Yoshimura Suzuki will be good. It already is. What we don't know is how well Jamie Hacking will fit into the team. We do know that Hacking has what you can't teach: pure speed. We also know that he's inconsistent and still falls down a lot. Unfortunately, the questions regarding Hacking still outnumber the answers. And that's why he's out of our top 10. Lany Pegram should fare bet· ter this year than he did last year. Returning with the Competition Accessories team for a second year should benefit both parties. The team should be better, the equipment should be better and, because of that, Pegram should be better. He could sneak into the top 10 if everything goes in his favor. As far as the factory men go, that leaves Pascal Picotte and Mike Smith • the two men on the most uncompetitive factory bike in the field. Both will give it 100 percent every single time they are on the bike, but it likely won't be enough for them to get what they deserve. Hopefully, the VR1000 is vastly improved - for Picotte and Smith's sake if nothing else. eN t's hard to say how well Scott fare in 2001. He will have the machinery to do the job, he appears to be on a team that can do the job... the only question is if Scott Russell can still do the job. I believe he can - if properly motivated. I think Russell's success will ultimately be decided in the first race - at Daytona. I'm not saying that he has to win in order to have a good year, but I do think he will have to do well there in order to keep himself motivated and confident for the rest of the races. Doing well doesn't even necessarily mean finishing the race. After all, the Ducati has a history of letting down its riders (and its riders letting Ducati down as well, by the way) at Daytona. I do think he has to qualify well and run well at Daytona in order to start his season on a positive note. If Russell gets down, this thing will be over before it gets started. If he gets off to a positive start, who knows how far he could go? I'd love nothing more than to see Russell competitive again in 2001. It would be good for him, good for his upstart team, and good for the sport. IT Russell will Cycle News contributor Henny Ray Abrams is back for another try at getting it right in the predictions game. He's been right before, but not of late. Last year he incorreetiy picked Miguel DuHamel to win the title. This year Abrams and Carruthers are joined by Cycle News associate editor Blake Conner in choosing a top 10 for the AJ'.,A Superbike Series. Here's the top 10, according to Abrams and Conner 2. 3. 4. 5. Aaron Slight 7. Doug Chandler 8. Aaron Yates Kurtis Roberts Eric Bostrom 9. Anthony Gobert 10. Scott Russell Nicky Hayden 1. NickY 2. Mat Mladin 7. Doug Chandler 3. Kurtis Roberts 4. Anthony Gobert 5. Eric Bostrom 8. Miguel DuHamel 9. Tommy Hayden 10. Jamie Hacking cycle n e _ s FEBRUARY 28. 2001 15