Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Hansen first began talking to Chandler at the VIR race in September. He and Chandler couldn't come to terms, so Hansen decided to go with FrenchCanadian Pascal Picotte. The Austin/Bleu Bayou deal percolated, but never brewed. Hansen and Picotte got along well at the December Daytona tire test and everyone left happy. When they came back for the 200, there was more pressure, more stress, and more problems. Hansen won't say why he let Picotte go and he's being pilloried for it. "I believe in team chemistry big-time, and I just felt at Daytona things weren't going well enough to continue," he said. "I just couldn't see the team jelling. It was a tough decision. I think a lot of Pascal and his riding ability. I thought that if we're going to make a switch that was really our only opportunity because we left Daytona without any points. Again, I wanted to give him as much opportunity also to find a ride. That's about all I'd really care to say about the whole situation." What Hansen won't say is that Picotte wouldn't do the things the team asked, he wouldn't put enough laps together to endurance test the tires or check fuel mileage. And he was heard by team members criticizing the team, in his native French, apparently thinking they couldn't understand. Hansen understood that he needed someone who would get along with the team, who would test what needed to be tested, and who could still go fast. The phone rang at Chandler's house in Salinas a week and a half before the Laguna Seca test. He was back. On the morning of the first day of the Laguna Seca test, Chandler was the happiest kid in the toy store. He was the first rider to arrive. He'd been riding dirt bikes and doing track days, but nothing prepares you for the power and handling of the modern Superbike. So there was some anxiety. None of it, however, was due to his results in 2001. Chandler finished the season in fourth, scoring one podium, while teammate Eric Bostrom was in the championship hunt to the final race. "I never really was happy with the chassis," Chandler said of the newer generation ZX-7RR. "It's kind of like we had something, and they took it away from you and gave you this thing that wasn't so good. You knew there was something better, but you couldn't have it. The way we had the chassis on the old bikes just worked a lot better. We never were able to try those settings and positions with the factory bikes. I guess one of the reasons is that it was something the Japanese didn't want to do. We had to run what they ran. I guess if I wouldn't have known what we could have had it wouldn't have been so bad. I'm sure I would have put more effort out. " The team went in circles to find a solution. It never happened. "I didn't feel that they were putting quite the effort out. And I sure as hell wasn't going to stick my neck out - not when I knew there's something that can be a lot better and we never were able to use it." How does he explain Bostrom's success? "He never knew what we had before. I guess that's part of being around so long. He had something to prove. Sure, I did too. But if I was 10 years younger, no problem. But I still want to do this a couple more years. I don't want to wad myself and be done with it. And I've gotten to the point where if I can't get the bike how I want it, I'll go out and ride, but I ain't going to risk nothing doing something silly." There was little risk in riding the Ducati. Chandler knew that. He'd chased enough of them around racetracks all over America and had once ridden one himself. It came during what was to be a twoday test at Mugello, in Italy, in 1994, his second and final year with Cagiva. Ducati team manager Virginio Ferrari asked Chandler and his crew chief, Kel Carruthers, for their input on the Ducati Carl Fogarty was riding. Chandler was asked to try the Ducati of Giancarlo Falappa, Fogarty's teammate. The team wanted him to try different steering-head pieces, but Chandler just wanted to put laps in. By lunchtime, he was half a second under the track record and a second and a half faster than Fogarty. "And Virginio took me off the bike at lunch. He said he didn't want me riding it no more [even though there was still a day and a half of testing remaining]. We had all these pieces to try. He said no. I said okay. I don't know if he thought I was kind of pushing Carl [Fogarty] and was going to get him to do something silly, potentially take him out of the championship. That's the only thing that makes sense to me. I wasn't trying to do anything other than just help them make the bike better. Ultimately, during their two days they finally got down to what we were doing." Chandler remembers that generation Ducati as having chassis flex during direction changes. Not so with the new 998RS Testastretta. "They're really deceiving," Chandler said. "The curve is so flat, it don't feel like it's going anywhere. It's just making noise. That's kind of weird. The thing that I noticed that the old one did is it had a bit more flex to it on direction change. The thing would really wiggle and twist up to where this one seems pretty good, more like a race bike should be. "Actually, it seemed to be a bit better as well. I thought that one of the problems we'd have with it is that it would really want to un weight the front over the rises and exits of corners, just thinking that the thing had so much torque it would want to wheelie. That wasn't the case. The thing really kept its weight good on the front. That was a nice thing, a pleasant change. You expect something, maybe a bit worse, but that wasn't even an issue." Chandler doesn't believe it's so much him as the Ducati. "I think any bike wouldn't matter. Ducati being a Ducati, the thing's been proven that it's fast. It's hard not to go good on one of those. You get it close and I think you go pretty fast on it. It seems to be, yeah, if you try to get a little aggressive with it, it's almost like it'll wind itself up like you're working with a soft chassis. To where if you're just smooth and easy on it, everything comes so easy and the times just lower. It's pretty neat." As to how the times came down so quickly after his extended layoff, Chandler wasn't boasting. "I think it just shows you how good the bike was. I've been off almost seven months. Yeah, I've been riding dirt bikes and stuff. It's a bit different staying off a race bike. My whole goal yesterday, the first day, was to be within a second of the guys and just get myself up to speed and I was pretty surprised we were right in there. I still feel we got a ways to go, more so in myself rather than the bike, getting comfortable and in the swing of things, so yeah I was pretty happy with it." Now comes the hard part. Chandler starts the season a race down, the same situation facing Mat Mladin and Miguel DuHamel, neither of whom finished Daytona. It's a different approach than he's ever had. "I think at this point, missing the first race, we're not even being considered for the championship. We just need to go out there and if we can win a couple of races, and see where that puts us and kind of go from there," he said. Chandler celebrated his 36th birthday just before last September's VIR race. It's an age when many riders are slowing down. "I still feel I can get the job done and be competitive," he said. "I think the day I'm a hazard out there, holding guys up or in the way, it's time to get off. I still feel I can run with any of the guys out there. I enjoy being out there riding the bike and I think as long as that stays there, your effort and interest level in it, the drive's going to always be there, so you should be okay. I think when you start slacking off, kind of just not so much thinking about it, or concentrating on it as hard, then you're looking for problems." There are a few more years left, he believes. "In '93 [his first year with Cagiva], I could've quit. Ninety-four [his second year with Cagiva], "I could've quit. In '95 [his lone year with HarleyDavidson], I wanted to quit. But then you hang in there and in '96 we started winning again [the Superbike title in 1996 and again in 1997). It's fun and then everything is great and then downhill from there. You got highs and lows. You've got to keep trying." As to why he continues to do it, Chandler doesn't really know. "It's funny, a lot of people get burnt out and stressed out. To me, I'm happiest when I'm out there with the guys. I mean, you have your moments, but ultimately there ain't nothing better than being out on the track." CN cue I • n e _ S • APRIL 10, 2002 13

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