The 1999 Brainerd race was significant for two reasons. It was the first AMA Superbike victory for Ben Bostrom. It also was the last time Ducati won a race in AMA Superbike.

Yes, it's been three seasons, an impossibly long time considering how many races Ducati has won in world competition over that time frame (37). The fact that Brainerd is now more than a month earlier in the schedule than in 1999 offers little consolation.

The Ducati draught began in the final year of the Vance and Hines era. Carl Fogarty's injury caused Ducati to recall Troy Bayliss, the planned "A" rider in 2000 for Ducati in the States, to the factory team. His replacement, John Kocinski did not win, although he crashed out of first place at Laguna Seca and had a tire problem at Brainerd while leading.

For '01, Vance and Hines withdrew from roadracing and the Ducati program shifted to the HMC and Competition Accessories teams. To say it was a bad year is an understatement. HMC's Scott Russell suffered career-ending injuries at Daytona and CompAcc's Aaron Slight decided he'd rather go car racing than ride in the US. A Ducati didn't lead a race all year until the season finale when Steve Rapp led briefly during pit stops at VIR.

Competition Accessories had good equipment last year -- similar to Neil Hodgson's WSC spec except for the AMA-mandated throttle bodies -- for Larry Pegram but rumors of financial problems dogged the team all season. HMC had the old V&H equipment first raced in 1999 and a mainly European crew that was trying to gel as the season progressed. Neither team put up a serious challenge for a victory, with Rapp's fifth place at the tail of the lead pack at Brainerd as the closest either team came to a victory.

This year team owner Mitch Hansen pared down the operation to a one-rider team. Pascal Picotte rode at Daytona and was given the boot in favor of Doug Chandler. Chandler has shown form at Fontana and in testing, but struggled with bile woes at Sears and crashed in Atlanta, making for a string of sore races. Picotte now races the Austin Ducati-a well funded team hungry for success.

Chandler should be 100% fit for the race at Brainerd this weekend. Will he be able to break Ducati's futility streak? Chandler's crewchief is Gary Medley, the same man who tuned Ben Bostrom's bike back in 1999. Picotte has raced well at Brainerd before and perhaps his team's use of Michelin tires will be the key ingredient in a win.