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RACE
REPORT ROUND 1
Second for Chandler third for HMC
HMC Ducati rider Doug Chandler took full advantage of
the mayhem of today’s race, riding his factory supported
Ducati home for a secure second place finish at Virginia
International Raceway. A bad start relegated Chandler
to tenth place going into the first turn but it took no
time for the veteran rider to round up the pack of Duhamel,
Roberts and Picotte to claim seventh. Then a multitude
of crashes, mistakes and mechanical problems, from the
leading group, handed him his third podium for the year.
After a turbulent start to the season this is a perfect
result for the close of the season.
“I
knew it was going to be a tough race with the weather
getting hotter but it worked out for us,” said Chandler.
“My main focus on a race set-up is to be as good
at the end as in the beginning; if not better. When you
get into a situation where you’ve got to push, you’ve
still got a bit in reserve. The tires at this place really
drop off so you’ve really got to stay focused. My
rear tire started to spin towards the end, which took
a little of my charge.
“Nicky had a pretty
good lead on me and I wasn’t sure who was behind
me, so I was just racing my board. I didn’t want
to get too involved in aiming for the lead; my main focus
was on maintaining my lap time. I was trying to race myself,
which allowed me to set a pace and maintain it.
“The bike was working really well. The team put
such a good effort into this result it’s a shame
that we couldn’t have done more with it this year.
The team worked really hard and the Ducati ran really
well for me and hopefully we can do as good again tomorrow,
if not better.
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Mid-Ohio Race Update
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Race
1
HMC Ducati rider Doug Chandler was running in sixth place
when he was forced to pull out of Mid-Ohio’s first
race with a broken foot peg. The peg broke in the eighth
lap and was replaced when he returned to the pits, but
he chose not to re-enter the race at the rear of the pack
Flash thunderstorms an hour before the race, delayed the
start. Although the track was quick to dry in the Ohio
heat, turn one continued to seep water leaving a wet section
that forced riders to take another line. Isolated thunderstorms
are predicted again for tomorrow’s race
“At this track you’re pretty active on
the pegs,” said Chandler. “Of all the places
to break it was going into the first turn. As I back
shifted my foot broke loose and tipped me in early so
I had to go across the water and had a moment. I put
my foot out and rode all the way to the edge of the
track with my foot on the ground. I didn’t know
if I was going to keep it on the track or head onto
the wet grass.
“I thought we could have easily run with Pascal
(Picotte) through that race, I wasn’t too sure
where Aaron (Yates) was but I thought we had a good
shot with those two. I was biding my time but we had
our race cut short.”
Race 2
HMC Ducati rider Doug Chandler did another late race
charge, coming from ninth place, in the first lap, to
finish fifth at Mid Ohio’s second race.
The veteran rider picked off riders one-by-one making
the action for fifth almost as exciting as the action
up front. Chandler was bridging the gap on Kurtis Roberts,
in sixth place, when a nasty crash of Aaron Yates brought
out the red flag stopping the race. The restart was
more favorable for Chandler, who immediately went on
the hunt for Roberts, passing Jamie Hacking in the process
and finally having to settle for fifth just 0.75 seconds
behind Roberts.
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Chandler scores another Superbike podium
for HMC
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HMC Ducati's
Doug Chandler took his second podium
in a row for the HMC Ducati team. The
local rider ran down Suzuki's Aaron Yates and passed the
Yoshimura rider on lap 22 and made the pass stick.
"I've been in these leathers for three hours now,"
Chandler said after the race. "It was a long one."
Chandler had competed in WSC qualifying before the race.
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Chandler scores first
Superbike podium for HMC
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The HMC
Ducati team today celebrated their first AMA Superbike
podium when their rider Doug Chandler
finished in third place
at Brainerd International Raceway.
Chandler rode a strong steady race, running with the top
five until it was safe to make his move. He passed both
Miguel Duhamel and Kurtis Roberts with five laps to go
and maintained that advantage to the checkered flag.
It was a well earned result for the factory supported
team who, despite a good start with Chandler, have suffered
a string of bad luck missing three races in round four
and five, which severely damaged their points standing.
But the HMC team have never waived in their faith for
Chandler and the Californian rewarded then with a brilliant
race today.
“It was a great race and I’m
happy for the team,” said Chandler before mounting
the rostrum. “I messed up the start and got pushed
back some but I put my head down, determined not to let
those guys get away. I was so focused on trying to hang
with the lead guys that I almost wore myself out before
mid distance and I knew I’d be junk if I kept it
up. So I dropped off the pace slightly and fell into my
own rhythm and with that just started picking guys off.
“Nicky (Hayden) and Eric (Bostrom) had a fair
lead but I thought if I stayed close enough I had a good
shot with Miguel and Kurtis. And that’s what I did!
A couple of laps to go Miguel looked like he was dropping
so I put my head down, put a couple of good laps in and
in the end we got away.
“The team gave
it their all this weekend. The bike was working the best
it had all weekend and the turns I was struggling in during
practice – turns one and two - I was really holding
my own in [during the race]. Especially turn two; where
I thought we were as good as anyone, if not better. That’s
where I got both Miguel and Kurtis.
“This
is a long time coming for sure.”
In two weeks the Championship heads to California for
Laguna Seca's World Superbike round, Chandlers home track,
where the combination of Chandler and the Ducati have
already shown their worth when they finished fastest in
testing earlier this year.
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