If any rider had reason not to be enthused about the coming Grand Prix season, it would be Doug Chandler. Fresh from a smattering of successful rides as Kevin Schwantz's teammate in 1992, Chandler signed a contract to be the primary rider on the Cagiva Grand Prix team, taking off from Eddie Lawson's exploits on the underdog red Italian machines for 1993.

Chandler's season with Cagiva started well, a podium placing in Australia, optimism ran high. Yet, when the first third of the season had passed, he had fallen twice because of a stuck throttle on the entrance of two different corners, slamming the northern Californian to the pavement. The first crash lacerated his hand badly while complicating the injury the second time. Following Doug's first crash, the Cagiva team, headed by controversial Giacamo Agostini, former nemesis of Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson and Freddie Spencer, rallied and were very supportive of Chandler, working closely with him to get the team back on track. After the second crash, that support vanished.

Agostini was openly critical of Chandler and, to make matters worse, hired the recently unemployable insensate John Kocinski to ride for the team. Chandler found himself relegated to lame-duck status. His mechanics, a rider's most important confidant, seemed slothful and uninterested in working on his equipment. Kocinski became the star of the Cagiva team while Chandler and young Aussie Mat Mladin were shoved to the back burner in importance. Chandler surely wanted the season to end. Knowing that, it startled and amazed me to hear Chandler say that he would not only be returning to the Cagiva Gran Prix but his enthusiasm level for doing so was strong.

The reason for this new vigor was because of one individual: Kel Carruthers. Former world champion Carruthers had long ago tried to lure a then young Muzzy Superbike rider Doug Chandler into the Grand Prix game, as a replacement for Freddie Spencer in 1990 on the Marlboro Yamaha squad (if Agostini had hung onto the Marlboro team he then lost to Kenny Roberts). Carruthers thought the team needed a rider they could count on. It was not to be, Chandler would not go to the GP wars for several years. Even so, Chandler and Carruthers stayed in contact.

Consequently, in post 1993 it was Chandler who requested Carruthers to join him at Cagiva. Feeling unsupported, Chandler needed a confidant he could count on in his corner. His eagerness for testing and the new season to being greatly apparent, Chandler spoke.

Q. You sound very excited about 1994.

A. Yeah, I'm enthusiastic about next year. Working with Kel should be good, I'm also trying to get one of my Lucky Strike Suzuki mechanics to join the team so that should be good as well. Kel was available, he and Ago had worked together before. I think he's about the best. On the whole, we should be looking very good for 1994. I'm happy about the changes that have been made on the team and I think I should be much more competitive because of those changes. Kel is going to make a big difference, knowing the guy working on your bike alot better is going to give me alot more confidence so that I can pretty much concentrate on what I need to do and not worry about what my mechanics are doing as well.

Q. Surmise your season for us if you could.

A. It started out about the way I expected it to, what with the way last years season ended, right on the verge of winning. After the first race in Australia I thought we were going to be in there pretty much every time for the rest of the year. Then, everything started to fall apart. I had that big crash in Malaysia with the throttle sticking and that takes a little bit out of you. I really did some damage to my hand so that I had to change how I gripped the bike. That was really awkward for a while and it never really got much better but I compensated it with how I held the clip-on. Then, once everything started to come back together to where my body was healthy and being a bit more confident on the bike, at Mugello we had the same type of trouble again. The throttle stuck on me again. Banged me up real good the second time, made my hand as bad as it was after the first crash.

Q. Two crashes caused by a stuck throttle, seems a bit strange ...

A. It was frustrating. Put it this way, it should never happen at that level. When it does twice it takes a bit out of you, sticks in the back of your mind. In the back of your mind you may not be wanting to think about it, if you look at a bad spot you start to think, if the throttle stuck here what would I do? It just really messes with you.

Q. It doesn't sound like a mechanical problem ...

A. There was something, something that was overlooked or should have been fixed before.

Q. You didn't appear as if you were enjoying yourself too much this season.

A. This was the first year that I didn't enjoy racing. For as long as I can remember, racing as a kid and then in my dirt track career, I loved racing, and when I got to do it for a living, it was just great. Who gets to do what they do best for a living? I have always enjoyed racing. I remember sitting in the garage at one of GPs (this year) and thinking, this kinda sucks, with the team not supporting me, my injuries and the situation on the team. I don't think that will continue, especially with the changes that have been made on the team.

Q. Okay, lets get right into it. The rumor mill has it that you wanted to end your relationship with Cagiva after this past season and ride the Marlboro Yamaha for Roberts. Further, the rumor is that Cagiva would not allow you out of your two year contract with them so you had to stay. Can you address that ?

A. I'll take a no comment on that one, Deano.

Q. But you talked, right?

A. Yeah, we talked, but it wasn't never very serious.

Q. Injuries played a large part in your season. Your injuries were caused by a sticking throttle, both times?

A. Yeah, both times. The first time it happens you can kind of brush it off as a freak deal, things happen. The second time it happens, it begins to affect the way you ride, it gets in your head, in the back of your head and stays there. You'll come into a corner and be thinkin, well, now when I let off this thing is it going to stick or not. You don't want a stuck throttle on alot of the tracks we go to. (when it happens twice) You start to lose faith in those around you, guys on the team.

Q. Did you go into the season with any pre-conceived notions about your team manager, the notorious Giacamo Agostini?

A. No, I tried to go into the season with an open mind, but on the other hand I knew what he was like. I'd talked with people who had worked with him before. In the beginning of the season he was very supportive but that did not last. He does things differently, I will say that.

Q. And Cagiva as a team, coming from several Japanese run teams were you surprised at how things worked?

A. A little, they could spend more money. We had some chassis and suspension problems this season that could have been solved if they had thrown some more time and money in it. The chassis had a flex this season that I did not like and every time I asked about it they said next year, next year. The suspension too, the shock would heat up and it would turn into a real handful, things like that get solved with testing. We start testing for 1994 in January so I think that situation has been taken care of.

Q. How about John Kocinski, what did you think of him joining Cagiva?

A. Not much.

Q. Did you talk with him at all during the season?

A. No..... You know, Johnnie, I don't have a real problem with him. I know him. I've been around him in the past, when I rode for Kenny. I knew what he was like. If you're alone with Johnnie, nobody else around, he can be a pretty nice guy. I got along with him in that type of a situation, but as soon as there is other people around he acts much different. He'll act as if you are not even there, won't talk to you and won't recognize you. I do not need a friend or even an acquaintance like that. I felt that way before he came to the team.

Q. Were you and Kocinski on equal equipment?

A. (Dryly) They said we were.

Q. How do you feel about your riding as compared to Kocinski? On equal equipment do you feel you could beat him?

A. (laughs)Yeah.

Q. His riding style is much different than yours, was that part of the reason for his success on the Cagiva?

A. He rides like he's still on a 250, very hard on the front. You can get away with that at several tracks but at the majority of them you won't. He was also willing to hang it out a bunch more than I was, but remember his throttle hadn't stuck wide open twice.

Q. Did his success bother you, question your own ability?

A. No. I knew what my situation was, I'm certain I could do the times that the other guys were doing, at least very close. But with the situation with my hand I could not do them lap after lap.

Q. No eight hours of Suzuka or Daytona for Doug Chandler in 1993. Did you miss it?

A. I missed the eight hour because it really gives you a chance at some serious track time with a bunch of guys you don't normally ride with. It's when you're on the bike for long periods that you can work on the little things in your riding. Daytona I missed a little.

Q. Much of the scuttlebutt at the Suzuka eight hour from the GP riders was the incredible top speed of Itoh's NSR500 Honda. Can you relate to us what that is like from your perspective?

A. Very impressive. That thing is a rocket. I will ride as hard as I can in some instances and will not be able to stay in his draft. Coming out of a corner I will be right on his back and he will open that thing up and disappear. In most situations like that you can draft a guy. And when he has to come around you the situation is the same, he doesn't need to draft, he just pulls up and passes you. Very fast motorcycle.

Q. Do you miss racing in the States ?

A. I did last year, having the USGP helped things a great deal for us. I tell you what I really miss, that's mile dirt track racing. You can say what you want about roadracing, especially superbike and GP racing, it's great, don't get me wrong. but I still believe that mile dirt track racing like we do here in America is the best racing to participate in and to watch. I miss it.

Q. I've asked you this before but do you think you'll ever do any dirt track racing again?

A. I don't know. I'd like to, I think, I don't know. It'd be pretty tough.

Q. Laguna Seca did not go well with you.

A. No, we mounted the wrong tire for the race. I went with a different compound tire and once the weather cooled off, it went way off. John definitely had the correct tire and he was really up for it. The Wayne thing too ... hey, nobody really wanted to be there.

Q. You and Sherry have been dragging your son Jett to the races since he was born. How did becoming a father change the way you approach racing?

A. Becoming a father I don't think really changed me much, it didn't change the way looked at racing. Well, I think that it straightened me out a little bit, made me more focused on doing well and accomplishing something. I've been bringing Jett to the races ever since he was born, like back when I rode for Rob Muzzy, and he does almost all of the GPs with us.

Q. Many Japanese leather and helmet manufacturers are hurting financially because of the financial recession in Japan. Has this affected GP riders in any way, has it affected your contract money?

A. No. I don't believe that anyone has been riding for less money or anything like that. It hasn't seemed to have affected us yet. I really would be surprised if it did.

Q. How much longer do you expect to race?

A. I'd like to race four more years. I've thought about it and If I could race four more I'd be very happy.

Q. Lets talk about ancient history. Martin Adams and I were talking the other day about your first roadrace win, the Pro-Twins race at Mid Ohio in 1988. A very important day for you I'm sure.

A. I had to race with Dale Quarterley for that win. Yeah, I still have the trophy from that race, it's at my parents house somewhere. I don't keep many trophies because with us racing as kids and even later, if you kept them all, the house would be full of trophies. But I kept the trophy from that win, it was pretty special. END