AMA MBNA Superbikes to Debut at Pikes Peak
5 August 1997
R97086 August 4, 1997 For Immediate Release Westerville, Ohio -- The American Motorcyclist Association MBNA Superbike Series is set to visit the new Pikes Peak International Raceway near Colorado Springs on Aug. 15-17. It is the first time in the 21-year history of AMA Superbike that Colorado racing fans will get a chance to see the country's top Superbike racers competing in their home state. The Pikes Peak circuit will present unique challenges to the Superbike riders. The 1.3- mile circuit is by far the shortest track in the series. A premium will be placed on aggressive riding and a quick-handling machine. Engine tuners will also have to deal with the challenges of making a racing engine work well in the thinner atmosphere of the near mile-high circuit. Defending AMA MBNA Superbike champion Doug Chandler is points leader coming into round eight of the 10-race series. Chandler is attempting to become the third rider in the history of the series to win the Superbike title three times. Reg Pridmore (1976 through 1978) and Fred Merkel (1984 through 1986) are the only two riders who have accomplished that feat. While Chandler has a 20 point lead over Australian Mat Mladin, he can't afford to drop his guard. Mladin has earned three wins this year and has shown that he could easily close the gap in just a few races. Another rider on a hot streak heading into Colorado is 1995 AMA Superbike champ Miguel Duhamel. Duhamel has won the last two Superbike races and is prone to reeling off long winning streaks. Duhamel holds the record for the longest winning streak in AMA Superbike history. The French Canadian won six Superbike finals in a row in 1995 and will be looking to move into a tie with Wayne Rainey for second on the all-time AMA Superbike win list with a victory at Pikes Peak. Speaking of winning streaks, no one knows them better than Elf 250cc Grand Prix rider Rich Oliver. Oliver brings an AMA record 17-race winning streak into Pikes Peak. The Fresno, Calif., rider is shooting for a second straight undefeated season. Like Oliver, Eric Bostrom is also undefeated so far this season in the Progressive Insurance Harley-Davidson SuperTwins Series. Unlike Oliver, who has dominated the 250cc GP class, Bostrom's margins of victory in the SuperTwins class have often been very small. The tightest racing on the tour this year has been in the Pro Honda Oils 600cc SuperSport Series. Honda's Miguel Duhamel has been trading jabs with Suzuki's Aaron Yates and Pascal Picotte all season long. Other riders like Steve Creview, Jason Pridmore, Rich Oliver and Jamie Hacking have all shown the ability to run up front in the class as well. The 600s should be a great race on the tight circuit. Teamline 750cc SuperSport leader Jason Pridmore is one of the busiest riders on the circuit this season. The son of legendary AMA champion Reg Pridmore, Jason is not only leading in 750cc SuperSport, he also is a top 600cc SuperSport competitor, and is expected to compete in Superbike this coming weekend as well. Andrew Stroud is the rider to beat in the Pirelli Formula Xtreme Series. The New Zealander has won all but one race on his Erion Racing Honda. Two local legends are expected to race a Pikes Peak. Ricky Orlando, of Lafayette, Colo., is the most successful AMA Superbike rider ever to come out of Colorado. Orlando, who was a top-ten Superbike rider in the mid-1980s, will be racing in Superbike and 750cc SuperSport. Even though Orlando is no longer a regular on the circuit, he is still very competitive. He finished 14th in the Daytona 200 in March. Danny Walker is the only rider from Colorado to ever win an AMA road racing national. Walker, who runs a motorcycle racing training camp, will be competing in the Elf 250cc Grand Prix class. -30- Connie Fleming American Motorcyclist Association Public Relations Administrator http://www.ama-cycle.org Contact: Connie Fleming Phone: (614) 891-2425 Fax: (614) 891-7368