Ex-Superbike and reigning FX champion Miguel DuHamel. A man with his dog and his PSP is a happy man. DuHamel discusses his controversial Daytona 200 win in this interview. image by dean adams

I had the chance to interview Miguel DuHamel over the course of the last two months and ask him about his '05 Superbike season and most recent Daytona 200 victory. I interviewed him one on one at Road America, and followed up with a phone interview. Here's the text.

Q Miguel, a couple of questions. Some say that you and Jake were blindsided by Honda's decision to go Superbike racing with production bikes. True?

A Well, I don't think that "blindsided" is the right word. I think it was agreed upon, but obviously I didn't have any say in it. It was agreed to do our own thing, and I think even myself, being here for many years, knowing some of the limitations that were imposed on us, I was kind of curious myself, were we going to be able to pull it off?

The challenge is probably a lot bigger than we all anticipated. But I had a couple of scenarios in my head, and this was one of them. So, that's why I probably am able to handle it better than other people in my situation could handle it. To me, I thought it was made very clear that this could be a trying year; we had to get our act together our first year, and with very limited testing. I was kind of ready for it, but there's some things along the way, also, that are not going quite like I think our team could perform to, as far as little things on the bikes and stuff like that. But I guess it goes with the baggage of doing all the other work that they're doing on the bike. As long as it's just little problems and nothing too major.

The Superbike program makes strides every weekend image by tim huntington

If you look at our race and test schedule, the lines pretty much blur. Meaning, (that) on a race weekend, it's almost a test weekend, because we're still going through a lot of stuff. So, for sure, after coming off the 2004 season and winning eight races in Superbike, and dominating Xtreme, and so on and so forth, and finishing so strong as we did, it's definitely a kick in the teeth, a bit, as far as re-starting and not being able to give a challenge and put some people, maybe, a little bit more in their places that I think that we could do. But that we can't do right now. That's fine. All we can do right now is just bear down and work harder, and the team's doing that, and I'm trying to do that, and get through this year. We can always finish strong. Hopefully we can do that.

Q They're asking quite a bit of a rider, wouldn't you agree, to throw this at you at this stage of your career? In terms of not having unlimited time remaining in your racing career. So, instead of winning races or the championship, you spend a year being more or less a development rider ...

A Definitely. You look at the Elkhart weekend, that's been a strong track for me all the time, and we got the bike pretty decent, and a couple of things didn't go our way, of course—I'm blowing it off a bit, but I know I'm going to look back on my career and go, "Man, I didn't need to lose that year." That's a year I could have piled on some wins, and helped my statistics, and the history, and all that kind of stuff.

My record is getting blurred a bit. I don't know how many people will be detailed enough to look at it 10-15 years from now and know what happened in '05. But I'll probably still be riding then anyway, hopefully so I can fill them in (laughs).

Even with the Superbike program playing catchup, Miguel is still a podium regular in FX image by tim huntington

It's tough, but again, Honda's been a really good company to me, and everybody in the Honda company has always treated me like family, and this is just a tough patch that we're going through. In hindsight, if I could've kept the factory bike, and somebody else, maybe Jake, could've developed the new race bike, and have side-by-side programs going. That probably would've helped the situation and hopefully carried the momentum I had from 2004. But it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback . Honda's always treated me pretty well. I try to be understanding, like they have been with me in the past.

Since Elkhart, things have turned around for us and we're actually pretty close, which is what you saw at Mid-Ohio. The CBR1000RR is definitely getting better, our hard work is paying off.

Q When you won the '95 Superbike title, the bike was largely developed by American Honda. So it's a fact that Am-Hon can build a winning bike without HRC.

A Yeah. There was a lot of work going on back then, too. As far as that's concerned, I'd like to think that we spearheaded the development of that motorcycle for the success that followed in World Superbike, and everywhere—in America and around the world. There was a lot of work to be done there, and definitely hats off to my team. Of course I was working with Al (Ludington) back then in '95 and it was a special time, because people were listening to us even though we were winning, and telling them "Yeah, we're winning, but it's a lot of work, and we've got to keep working on it." And we did do a really great job there. I guess we're hoping for the same thing here. And I think it will happen, too.

Q A lot of boxes from HRC were left unopened that year, if I remember correctly, especially towards the end of the that season.

A We started off, I think, when I got on the machine and went out and rode it. I just knew there was a lot of work to be done. I was steering them in the direction that was making a lot of improvement, going a lot faster. Maybe back then we did the right thing by not trying to please everybody and test everything that we had? We were on a solid track. And instead of—even back then—instead of being dictated by HRC what to do, we were dictating what needed to be done. And the results showed that year. Total domination. And the bike just kept getting better.

As you know, it's still a disappointment for me that I was injured for 1998 and 1999, two years that I could've just slammed the door on a lot of people, and bring championships and for sure a lot of wins.

Q Where would you say the Honda Superbike is now in regards to the bike that you rode last year? It's obviously getting better in some respects.

80 mph burn-outs. Right out of the crate, the Honda Superbike had enough power to smoke the rear at the Daytona January test image by tim huntington

A It was pretty good at Mid-Ohio and is continuing to improve. We're doing a lot of progress but both bikes were suffering. We're trying to do some development work with Showa on the forks, and we're struggling there. Jake, they fixed his a while ago, and in hindsight, we should've just went off on what they did, because when they did, the results really started improving. But we kept at it, and we tried to make our set-up work, and I still think there's a lot of potential in what we are testing right now, which are pressurized forks, but we went back to the old-style forks and broke the track record in 600 Xtreme. I was so happy on that bike. For once I was riding and I wasn't grinding my teeth in every corner. And in Superbike, too. We definitely made some improvement there. Not as much as the Xtreme, but obviously enough to where we were running up front.

One thing that was shocking to me, and it's been shocking to me since the beginning of the year, is my bike, as far as top speed, doesn't seem to be quite there, for some reason. And I'm not used to that, being with Honda. I'm used to leading the way. So (at Elkhart) with Ben Spies, he was pulling me on the straight, and I'm looking at him, and I'm like, "This guy's name is 'Elbows' because his elbows are sticking out, and he's a bigger guy than me." I could barely make the draft on him. That affected lap times, and made my work level a little higher.

But, it's not the end of the world. Many years I've been in the driver's seat of the fastest bike, and this year, for some reason, we're just a little off again.

But things are progressing well. I don't think the bike is as good as last year. I don't think it's as solid as last year, still. We went back to last year's setup, actually, for the Road America weekend, and it helped a lot. By doing stuff like that, we're just discovering a lot of stuff. One piece of the puzzle affects the other, obviously, and sometimes we try and jam one piece in, and it's affecting the other, and we're not sure what affects what.

Man, I'll tell you, it's a headache. Now, what we just changed in the forks, we went back to the old-style forks, now we've got to re-test everything, including brake pads and de-clutchers and stuff like that, because maybe that was one the causes of our problems with the bike. So it's a long process.

Q You won the Daytona 200 this year. There's been a lot of criticism of the move to 600s in the 200—how does it sit with you?

A It sits fine with me. People that don't like me—and there are a lot of people, I'm sure, out there that don't like me—will use any kind of situation exactly like Daytona, to attack myself, or attack Honda, and try to make it look like it was all set up by us. The real fact is this: Mat Mladin helped to set in motion everything that happened at Daytona. He's the leading cause why the track was changed and the Daytona 200 was changed from Superbike to 600s.

I've never been a very outspoken guy about keeping the track the way I wanted it, the old way, because I'm a team player. If everybody wants more safety, even to my detriment, on a track that I've had a lot of success, I'm willing to go and vote to change it. I was not leading the charge for change, okay? If they would've just asked me, "What does Miguel want?" I would have answered "Let's keep it the way it is. And let's hope that nothing goes wrong." It's racing. It's cutting-edge technology. And things happen, and I don't want it to happen to me. I don't want it to have to happen to anybody. But it's out of my hands. I want to go racing.

Honda's FX bikes continue to dominate the class image by tim huntington

Mat, again, was the number one guy who wanted these things changed. He left the track at a test one time, didn't want to test any more, said "I'm gone" and said he was going to ride a 600 in the next Daytona 200 because riding a 1000 was too dangerous. And I understand that. But he was the leading cause to that end. So, to later complain about it or make fun of FX bikes in the 200 seems a bit strange don't you think?

He should've been happy; he got everything he wanted. He wanted to race the 200 on a 600 and for the track to be changed. For the life of me I can't understand why he didn't race the 200. As soon as the announcement was made, he should've said—and I know Mat has the pull at Suzuki to do this "Build me a 600 Xtreme bike. I'm going to go out there and I want a chance at winning the Daytona 200 again."

The thing is, he's never liked Daytona. He doesn't appreciate the value that Daytona has as one of the most prestigious race in America, if not one of the most prestigious races in the world. Now that he got his wishes: a shorter race, one banking out of the equation, it's kind of funny that he's going around complaining that he didn't get a Rolex for his pole and he doesn't get a 200 win for his 15-lap race. Well, it's not the Daytona 200, is it? He helped create what it is now. So I guess the phrase "Be careful for what you wish for" is a very valid.

As far as (the criticism of the win is concerned), it's kind of sad, because my team did such an incredible job. The pit stops were flawless. The bike was flawless. And I rode a terrific race, no problem with lapped riders. And I pushed every lap like I was racing neck-and-neck with Scott Russell or anybody else. I really wanted to dominate that event. Which is what happened with the team and myself. We did a terrific job. Three guys on three same bikes—well, maybe Kurtis' bike's a little different—but Jake and those guys always had some terrific machines.

Top-caliber riders were racing the 200. It's not like they were just guys that nobody knew. It was still a very hard race. Jake Zemke's a great racer. Kurtis Roberts is a great racer: a many-time champion in Xtreme, and Supersport champion. And other guys that could have easily stepped up and been there.

It's not our fault that we did such a terrific job, that we dominated and won by the second-biggest margin in Daytona 200 history. If I knew it was that close to the biggest margin, I probably would've kept my head down for those last three laps and went for the biggest margin of victory. It was a terrific display of teamwork, of machine performance and rider performance, one that was soured a bit by some people that don't quite understand the whole picture.

I saw an e-mail from somebody, I don't remember where, but a fan wrote in a letter saying that we shouldn't be blamed for what happened, that the changes were made for safety considerations. And the question can easily be asked, why didn't the other manufacturers all make FX 600s and participate? If you feel you can't beat somebody, if you have that mentality, then don't go racing. Don't sit on the fence and throw rocks at the people racing the class and the track you yourself requested. You've got to face up to challenges.

Honda's always faced up to challenges. They won on the same terms with Ducatis with their twin. To do so they built their own twin. Now they're building a 1000, and that's why I'm so proud to be with Honda. Even though we're going through a tough spell, that's how it is right now. It'll get better.

But the Daytona 200 was a fantastic race. I was really proud of that performance of my team and myself. I think a lot of people that don't have a lot of time to waste and can think for themselves appreciate it the same way we did, they just don't want to have time to write in and take up the fight.