Cycle News

CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE A t the end of 1992 Doug Chan- dler was coming into his own as a Grand Prix road racer. That year with Lucky Strike Suzuki, Chandler became one of the top riders in the series. He scored four podiums that year, including runner-up finishes at Suzuka and the Hungaroring and earned two poles. He basically ran level with his teammate Kevin Schwantz in the point standings, just five points behind at the end of the year. In fact, Chandler finished ahead of Schwantz in the races during the second half of '92. So when Cagiva came calling with a big-dollar contract before the 1993 FIM Grand Prix season, Chandler was kind of hoping Suzuki would step up to the plate to keep him on the squad. "I was pretty content at Suzuki," Chandler admits. "But then you get offered quite a bit more. I didn't necessarily expect Su- zuki to match Cagiva's offer, but I figured I would at least get an increase, but nothing there. So, I took a chance and went with Cagiva." Cagiva, which began motor- cycle production in 1978, had been competing on and off in GP racing since 1980. In 1988, Ca- giva got a premier rider in Randy Mamola and the results finally came. At the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, Mamola gave the Italian maker its first FIM Grand Prix podium finish with a third. Then in 1991, four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson came on board. He scored a couple of podiums in his first season with the team. In 1992, in wet-to-dry- ing conditions at the Hungaroring, Lawson brilliantly elected to run cut slicks and took victory, giving Cagiva its first GP win. Lawson ended his two seasons with Ca- giva ranked sixth and ninth before announcing his retirement. Cagiva's lineup for 1993 was Chandler and a GP rookie from Australia named Mat Mladin. It was going to be tough for the team to keep their spirits high after losing a rider like Lawson, but Chandler was tough and had proven his worth with Suzuki. Chandler was on his third dif- ferent GP bike in as many years and he wasn't sure what to expect from the Cagiva, but was pleas- antly surprised when he first rode the machine. "The Cagiva was a really nice bike," Chandler said. "At that level, they were going to try to come up with whatever it took for you to get around the track faster. There was a lot of effort and we started off with a podium at East- ern Creek." It was a stunning debut for Chandler aboard the Cagiva with Chandler finishing a close third behind fellow Americans Kevin Schwantz and Wayne Rainey in the Australian Grand Prix. Incidentally, that marked the last time Americans swept a MotoGP/500cc podium. The enthusiasm for the new bike and team was dampened quickly however at the next round in Malaysia. "I was chasing Wayne [Rainey] around in practice when the throt- tle stuck on the bike going into a corner," Chandler said. "It took me into a tire wall and I ended up puncturing my left hand." The injury set Chandler back. He raced on with the injury, but Chandler's Years with Cagiva P120 Doug Chandler races the Cagiva GP500 ahead of Àlex Crivillé and Wayne Rainey in the 1993 Dutch TT at Assen. PHOTOGRAPHY BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS

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