Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Superbike Results:

1. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 21 laps
2. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, -0.188 second
3. Doug Chandler, Ducati 998RS, -9.599 seconds
4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, -10.058 seconds
5. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, -14.799 seconds
6. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R750, -44.430 seconds
7. Pascal Picotte, Ducati 998RS, -65.960 seconds
8. Robert Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R750, -97.130 seconds
9. Jason DiSalvo, Suzuki GSX-R750, -98.866 seconds
10. Brian Livengood, Suzuki GSX-R750, -99.366 seconds
11. Brian Parriott, Suzuki GSX-R750, -110.263 seconds
12. Ty Howard, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
13. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
14. Christopher Rankin, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
15. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
16. John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
17. Andrew Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
18. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
19. Rich Conicelli, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
20. Greg Fryer, Yamaha YZF-R7, -1 lap

35. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, DNF, mechanical

37. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, DNF, mechanical

Provisional AMA Superbike Point Standings:

1. Hayden, 349 points
2. Bostrom, 307 points
3. Duhamel, 272 points
4. Yates, 260 points
5. Picotte, 252 points
6. Parriott, 212 points
7. Hacking, 208 points
8. Mladin, 207 points
9. Livengood, 201 points
10. Chandler, 180 points

Sunday’s win at Brainerd is Nicky Hayden’s seventh AMA Superbike win of the season and the 15th of his career. With the win, Hayden passes Mat Mladin on the all-time AMA Superbike win list and moves into a tie for fourth with Freddie Spencer.

Second place at Brainerd gives Eric Bostrom his seventh podium finish of the 2002 season.

Third place marks Doug Chandler’s first AMA Superbike podium finish since Pikes Peak in 2001. Chandler’s finish also gives Ducati its first AMA Superbike podium finish since Steve Rapp finished third at Willow Springs International Raceway in 2000.

More, from Mat Mladin’s publicist:

MAT MLADIN Racing – MEDIA INFORMATION
For immediate release
Sunday, 30 June 2002

Round 11, 2002 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minnesota, USA
Race report

ENGINE PROBLEMS FORCE MLADIN OUT OF BRAINERD SUPERBIKE RACE

Brainerd, Minnesota, USA (30 June) – After a promising start to the weekend, defending American Superbike champion Mat Mladin was forced out of today’s eleventh round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship at Brainerd International Raceway with engine problems.

After qualifying third fastest for today’s 21-lap event, Mladin had been involved in a four-way battle for third place on the track when his Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750 began to develop engine problems and slow. Mladin was lying in fifth position on the track just behind Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) and Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) and in front of Doug Chandler (HMC Ducati) when he was forced to retire from the race on lap eleven while holding fifth place on the track.

Today’s result was another edition to what has been a very frustrating year for the Australian who now slips to eighth position on the championship points table.

“It’s an internal problem with the engine and at the moment I’m not sure what it is,” said Mladin. “I just rode it back to the pits and parked it. It felt as though something was wrong with the bike while we were sitting on the start line before the race started. It wasn’t running right and I guess we had the problem straight away. After that it lasted about three or four laps into the race before it began to slow and from that point I was basically just waiting to see how long it would finally last. I’m not sure if it had the same problem as happened to us yesterday in qualifying, we’ll find out later when we get it back to the shop.

“It has been hard for us all weekend,” added Mladin. “We did very well to put the Suzuki GSX-R750 into third place on the grid after qualifying, but we were struggling a lot with top end speed. This place is so fast that you can’t afford to give away top end speed like that and we paid the price for it.”

With Mladin out of contention, the race developed into a battle between main championship rivals Nicky Hayden (American Honda) and Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki). Bostrom led for much of the race, but it was Hayden who crossed the line first to take the win. Chandler got the better of the other two Hondas to grab third from DuHamel and Roberts.

Today’s win sees Hayden further extend his lead in the championship to 42-points over Bostrom with five races remaining in this year’s championship.

The AMA Championship heads to Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, California in two weeks time (July 13 – 14) where they will be joined by the Superbike World Championship competitors in a double header round of superbike action. The AMA Superbike Championship race will be run on Saturday, with the two SWC races held on Sunday.

More, from HMC Ducati’s publicist:

Chandler scores first Superbike podium for HMC

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 Eric 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 them 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.”