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Virginia International
Raceway (VIR) hosted it’s first AMA road race last year
and was the first track to introduce the pit-stop outside
of Daytona. This year’s race will return to the normal
duration but ran as a double-header weekend.
A full preview report will be posted for VIR soon.
Addition: Doug Chandler will join the rest of the AMA road
racers to compete in the first AMA beauty pageant being held
at VIR on the Sunday after race two. For more information
visit the Cycle News website at www.cyclenews.com
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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