Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1187890
CN III ARCHIVES J im Filice reached one of the highest pinnacles a motorcycle road racer could attain when he won the U.S. round of the FIM 250cc Motorcycle Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in 1988. Fast for- ward three years and Filice wore perhaps an even bigger smile on his face after winning the 1991 AMA 250cc Grand Prix at Mid- Ohio Sports Car Course. The big crowd on hand cheering Filice at the podium celebration that day at Mid-Ohio was equally emotional, with more than a few wiping away tears. Nearly every one of them knew what Filice went through to comeback to win that race. About a year-and-a-half earlier, Filice was training on a dirt bike, getting prepared to tackle the Japanese Road Racing Championship full time, as well as select GPs during the 1990 season with a full Honda factory P114 underwent nine hours of surgery. He suffered compound fractures to both legs, ankles and an elbow. He also suffered a fractured pelvis. Four days later, he went through another four hours of surgery and required 13 units of blood. Filice spent nearly two weeks in intensive care, five months in bed, and would ultimately be recovering for over a year. Filice graciously never blamed Ashmead and is friends with him to this day. "I knew he was tired, too, and he had a test coming up," Filice said. "I never should have left him up there driving by himself." During his rehab, the thought of racing was hardly even in his mind. "The recovery and therapy were so tough, I didn't know if I even wanted to come back to racing," Filice recalls. "I just felt so bad that I let down the guys at Honda. I had such a great opportunity with them, and that was all gone." What turned things around for Filice was a call from his buddy Bubba Shobert. "Bubba and Wayne [Rainey] and a bunch of guys were riding and training out at Kenny's [Roberts] place in Hickman," Filice remembers. "Bubba told me to come out and have some fun. They gave me some old beat-up bike ride. On the way back home from the training session, fellow racer John Ashmead was driving. Ashmead, who was later arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, was tired and on an unfamiliar road. No one knows for sure why, Filice said it was a bit drizzly, so visibility may have been a factor, but coming north on I-5 through Fresno county, Ashmead was driving at highway speeds on the shoulder of the interstate. A tractor-trailer driver had pulled over to tighten the straps on his rig when he saw the van heading right at him. The van smashed into the semi. Filice, who was lying down in the back, was thrown violently in the crash, and his body was shattered. Amazingly Ashmead escaped severe injury, but Filice was in bad condition. He was airlifted to Valley Medical Center in Fresno and FILICE'S BY LARRY LAWRENCE Jimmy Filice beams a smile after scoring his comeback win at Mid- Ohio in August of 1991. Nick Ienatsch (left) and Brad Sawyer (right) filled out the podium.