From a press release issued by HMC Ducati:

Race 2 Report: AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike Round 6

Date: June 9, 2002

Circuit: Road America, Elkhart Lake WI

HMC Ducati rider Doug Chandler finished Road America’s fast and furious second race in sixth position, latching on to the front pack from the start where he stayed until a lack of grip slowed his pace. The race was restarted after a delay with the starting light caused confusion with the riders.


The heat forced riders to concentrate on tire preservation for the early stages of the race and Chandler feels he left it a little too late to step up the pace.


“I should have tried to get by Mat (Mladin) sooner,” said Chandler. “It wasn’t until Aaron (Yates) came through that I knew it was time to really go. Once I did try to go it seemed like I didn’t have the right grip. The rear tire was really spinning and sliding, causing me to lose time coming out of the corners. Yesterday we had chatter problems but the grip wasn’t so bad. Today the bike was feeling good but we didn’t have any grip. I don’t know if we got tricked chasing the chatter problem or short changed ourselves as far as the set-up went.


The bike felt good and apart from the chatter yesterday the set-up was perfect. Early on, when the bike had more grip, I could really make time through the Carousel and places where I had a tough time yesterday, but then it seemed like the tire really started to slip and I couldn’t do anything.”



From a press release, issued by Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati:

Picotte and Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati Nab Dual Sevenths at Road America

Picotte Fifth in AMA Superbike Points

Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati racer Pascal Picotte finished seventh in both Road America US Superbike rounds held this weekend in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The Canadian rider was cheered on by many of his countrymen who came south of the border to root for Pascal in beautiful weather as he took on the AMA Superbike stars. Fellow Canadian Miguel DuHamel won both races for Honda.

While he finished the same seventh place in both races, Sunday’s event was much more competitive. The Austin/Bleu Bayou team, only a Ducati squad for a mere few months, set up the 998RS to Pascal’s liking for the four mile lap at the famed Road America circuit.

“Actually, today was much better than yesterday,” Pascal said. “We didn’t improve much as far as position in the race, but we really found some things that will help us for the rest of the season. The Michelin tire we picked worked all the way to the end. The suspension worked better, and the brakes were good.”

The only problem Pascal had in the race was an intermittent electric shifter. When he turned it off and began shifting manually halfway through the race, his pace picked up dramatically and he turned his fastest laps of the weekend.

“I saw Mat Mladin in front of me and started running him down,” Pascal said. “I closed the gap on Jamie (Hacking), then passed Jamie. If I’d have figured out to turn off the electric shifter a little earlier, I might have had something for Doug (Chandler).”

Pascal thanked his team for all their hard work. “Everyone worked hard all weekend long to make the bike better and improve race set-up. I’m happy. I know we’ll be a much tougher rival for the next race at Brainerd.”


From a press release issued by American Honda:

Honda Storms Wisconsin
Weather: 25 degrees, Sunny
Crowd: 25,000

American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel won both legs of the AMA Superbike double-header at Road Atlanta in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, scoring his first career double and extending his Superbike win record. Teammate Nicky Hayden fought him valiantly on Sunday, coming up just 0.069 seconds short after a fourth place finish on Saturday. The weekend’s tally of points allowed Hayden to stretch his championship points advantage to 40 over challenger Eric Bostrom, with six rounds of the championship remaining.

DuHamel’s win on Saturday was his first in nearly two years, and his first at the Road America circuit since 1995. More importantly, it added to his career total of 24 Superbike wins, the most by far of any rider. Sunday made it 25, but it was hard fought. He and Hayden took turns leading, the power of the Honda RC-51 unmatched on one of the longest straightaways in AMA Superbike racing. The wily 35-year-old DuHamel, who considerably upped the race pace on Sunday, used a bold move on the inside of his teammate halfway into the final lap around the four-mile circuit in the woods of Wisconsin to take over the lead. Hayden, 20, counter-attacked, making a strong run to the checkered flag, only to lose out by inches.

DuHamel also had his way on Saturday, leading a four-rider pack into the final corner and powering to victory. Hayden was in his draft, but had to check up at the last minute and was forced wide. By the time he was able to get back on the power, he was down in a shadow fourth place, only 0.457 seconds behind DuHamel.

Erion Racing’s Mike Hale earned his first podium in the Formula Xtreme race, riding his Honda CR-954 to second behind race winner Jason Pridmore (Suzuki).

Bruce Transportation Group’s Jake Zemke came fourth in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race. Zemke also made his Superbike debut, riding the Honda RC-51 of the injured Kurtis Roberts. After a tentative start on Saturday, Zemke finished a strong fifth on Saturday. Roberts is expected back for the next race, at Brainerd, Minnesota, in three weeks time.

Miguel DuHamel, Day One, First Place Nicky (Hayden), he just went really strong in the last corner on the outside of me trying to get me because he knew I was going to protect the inside and go tight, which I did. Then he just shot on the outside and the I saw on the left side of my eye, I’m like, ‘Whoa, if he turns that thing around he’s going to be coming pretty quick.’ But I think he had trouble turning it around. And there was a couple of lapped riders and I split those guys coming up to start-finish and by then with the Honda RC-51 I knew nobody was going to come by. The only guy that had the chance was pretty much Nicky and he blew it in that last corner and he made a mistake and it worked out good.

Nicky Hayden, Day One, Fourth Place
The last corner, going in there, Miguel (DuHamel) broke pretty early and I had to chuck it to the left to avoid from hitting him and by the time I was able to get on the brakes I was way too high. I tipped it in and kind of just kind of lost the drive. I was right there, but didn’t really have anything special for him. The last lap he gave me a couple of opportunities and I didn’t capitalize on them. It’s a little bit frustrating to be right there and end up fourth, especially when I had such a good shot to win.

Miguel DuHamel, Day Two, First Place
Yesterday everybody was just checking everybody out. It wasn’t all out racing. It was like, who’s got what? At least from my part. I was trying to not let anybody break away. I was a little fearful of Eric (Bostrom) and Nicky. When they get the lead they can put their head down and go, they were fastest in qualifying. Yesterday was playing like that. Today I knew it was going to be just go. We didn’t have the bike to do that yesterday.

Nicky Hayden, Day Two, Second Place
We came in there into turn five on the brakes and I got in there pretty good and Miguel got on the inside of me. I was going to go ahead and lean it in and I heard his tire, he was on the brakes real hard, you could hear it skipping across the ground and I kind of stood it up. Didn’t want to take us out. Stood it up gave him a little bit of room and thought I might try to square him up, going down into Canada Corner, whish is really the last place to pass because I didn’t think I could get him up the front straightaway. Came up on a lapper on the outside and Miguel went to the inside so there wasn’t really a whole lot of options to go.



Chuckie Is Big Cheese At Road America

Studying the AMA 250cc GP schedule before the season began, Team Stargel Aprilia felt that the high speed straightaways and flowing corners of Road America would be well suited to their Aprilia RSV250. With some flawless riding from Chuck Sorensen, this theory proved to be true.

As has been the case of every track they travel to this year, Sorensen had logged no time at Road America on the Aprilia. Thursday and Friday’s
practice sessions were vitally important as the team tried various engine and chassis combinations to make the motorcycle as effective as possible. With every practice session, the Aprilia performed better, lap times came down,
and Sorensen gained confidence. As an added incentive, longtime rival, Rich Oliver, was turning record setting lap times in Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions.

The Team Stargel Aprilia crew, performed their now customary Saturday late night R&D session in an effort to extract even more performance from their motorcycle. Their labor bore fruit Sunday morning, when Sorensen bettered his qualifying time and moved to the top of the time sheets for the first time during the week.

The race proved to be a masterful performance by Sorensen. The San Jose, California rider passed for the lead on the first lap and would never look back. Displaying machine like consistency and an iron will, Sorensen turned nothing but 2:16 lap times from lap two through lap nine. The long straights at Road America once again showcased the team’s Aprilia RSV250 as being in a class by itself.

Team Stargel Aprilia has now completed all six races entered, winning four. Their point total stands at 203, 45 points ahead of their nearest competitor. The team looks forward to the next race at Brainerd, Minnesota on June 30th.