AMA MBNA Superbike Series Preview for Brainerd Event
23 June 1997
R97066 Contact: Connie Fleming June 23, 1997 Phone: (614) 891-2425 For Immediate Release Fax: (614) 891-7368 CHANDLER LOOKING FOR LADY LUCK AT BRAINERD WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- In the upcoming American Motorcyclist Association MBNA Superbike Series race at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway, Kawasaki's Doug Chandler is hoping that Lady Luck will smile on him. Last year at Brainerd, Chandler's season was nearly ruined when his Kawasaki blew a water pump fitting on lap nine of the Superbike final. Chandler rallied later in the season and came back from the Brainerd disappointment to win his second AMA Superbike title. This year the 31-year-old father of three from Salinas, California, is seeking to become only the third rider in AMA Superbike history to win the championship three times. Chandler leads the series coming into this weekend's race. For some odd reason Brainerd has not been good to Kawasaki Superbike riders over the years. Wayne Rainey won the very first AMA Superbike race at the three-mile circuit in 1983, but since then no other Kawasaki rider has been able to win the Superbike final. If history is any indicator, than it should be one of the Honda Superbike riders who should win this weekend. Honda-mounted Superbike riders have won five times in the previous ten AMA Superbike Nationals at the scenic facility. Miguel Duhamel won at Brainerd in 1995 en route to a record six consecutive AMA Superbike wins and ultimately the championship. Duhamel was very much in the hunt for the title again this year until he crashed last week at New Hampshire International Speedway. The crash dealt a devastating blow to Duhamel's chances of earning his second Superbike title, but the gritty French-Canadian is not a quitter. Count on Duhamel giving everything he's got to earn his first win of the season. Duhamel's Smokin' Joe's Honda teammate Steve Crevier is experiencing something of a renaissance this season. A former Canadian Superbike Champion and ten-year veteran of the AMA series, many experts feel that Crevier has never tapped into full potential. Crevier has finished in the top five in all but one Superbike race this season. He earned his first podium finish in two years last week in New Hampshire, and as a result the Canadian finds himself third in the standings and very much in the championship hunt. Heavily favored in Sunday's race has to be Ferracci Ducati's Mat Mladin. The 1992 Australian Superbike Champion has won three of the five races coming into Brainerd. His riding has been flawless, but a bike failure caused him to finish 66th at Daytona International Speedway in March. Since then Mladin has been playing catch up and is playing the game quite well. After two straight victories, Mladin has pulled to within 19 points of Chandler. Ferracci Ducatis have been very successful at BIR. Last year, Italian Alessandro Gramigni came through with a surprise win on a Ferracci bike. Doug Polen won twice (1992 & '93) on Ferracci Ducatis. Fans who come to Brainerd this weekend will get a chance to see Rich Oliver race in the Elf Fuels & Lubricants 250cc Grand Prix Series. Oliver is in the midst of the longest winning streak in AMA pro racing history. Oliver, who won all ten 250cc Grand Prix races last and was nominated as AMA Pro Athlete of the Year, comes to Brainerd with an incredible 15-race winning streak. Oliver has dominated all of the 250cc GPs this season, winning by an average margin of about 22 seconds per race. If anyone beats Oliver at this point, it would be one of the top stories of the season. While Miguel Duhamel is having his problems in the Superbike class, he is doing quite well in Pro Honda Oils 600cc SuperSport Series. Riding his trusty Honda CBR600, Duhamel has held off the onslaught of the new Suzuki GXS-R600s ridden by Yoshimura Suzuki teammates Aaron Yates and Pascal Picotte, among many others. Duhamel leads Yates by a single point coming into Brainerd, where Duhamel has won three of the last four 600 SuperSport races. With three wins to his credit, second-generation AMA racer Jason Pridmore has control of the Teamline 750cc SuperSport Series. Pridmore has had his hands full with pesky Ben Bostrom riding a Honda CBR600 in the 750cc class. Bostrom has come very close to being the first rider to win a 750cc SuperSport race on a 600cc SuperSport machine. Bostrom will be at a big disadvantage on Brainerd's horsepower hungry long straightaways. Bostrom's little brother, Eric, has been tearing up the Progressive Insurance Harley-Davidson SuperTwins Series. Bostrom is undefeated in five races. Ditto for Erion Racing's Andrew Stroud in the new Pirelli Formula Xtreme Series. The New Zealander has dominated the open racing class on a Honda CBR900. -30-