Throwback Thursday: Mid-Ohio Superbike Race 20 Years Ago

Larry Lawrence | September 21, 2017

American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel leads a deep field of talented riders in the AMA Superbike race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July of 1997. (Photo by Henny Ray Abrams)

We go back 20 years for this week’s Throwback which shows American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel leading a deep field of talented riders in the AMA Superbike race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July of 1997. The Superbike field was stacked that season and Duhamel’s great start helped him earn the victory that day by 0.120 seconds over Kawasaki’s Doug Chandler (1) in front of 18,000 fans. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates (hidden behind Tommy Hayden, No. 169, in this shot) finished third, making it three different brands on the podium.

While Duhamel won the war that day at Mid-Ohio, Chandler ended up holding up the championship trophy at the end of the season.

Also visible in the Henny Ray Abrams photo is Mat Mladin (No. 66 Ferracci Ducati), Ben Bostrom (No. 11 Zero Gravity Honda), Thomas Stevens (No. 7 Vance & Hines Ducati), Pascal Picotte (No. 21 Yoshimura Suzuki), Tom Kipp (No. 16 factory Yamaha), Steve Crevier (No. 14 Smokin’ Joe’s Honda), Tommy Hayden (No. 169 Muzzy Kawasaki), Aaron Yates (No. 20 Yoshimura Suzuki hidden behind Hayden), Thomas Wilson (No. 30 factory Harley-Davidson), Gerald Rothman, Jr. (No. 67 Ferracci Ducati) among others.

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