Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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VOLUME 56 ISSUE 47 NOVEMBER 26, 2019 P115 that wasn't any fun to ride, so the next day I went to Modesto Honda and bought a new XR100 and started riding around with those guys. There were a lot of riders coming in and out from Europe, too. They had to go testing, and Kenny asked me if I would stay and help those guys. It kind of motivated me to get back into things." Filice felt good enough that he took an offer to fill in for an injured GP rider for a few races in the 250 Grand Prix World Championships with Team Gallina. "It was great to get back into racing," Filice said. "But the bike was a production bike with a kit and wasn't that good, plus I wasn't all the way healthy yet." After his GP stint, he returned to America and found a ride with Morris Murray's L.A. Motor Works Yamaha. His first race back in America, he sat on the pole at Loudon. He made a wrong choice of running rain tires on a drying track on race day and finished 11th. "Still, after getting the pole, I knew I was back." Three races later, Filice finally broke through and scored his triumphant comeback victory at Mid-Ohio. Coming into Mid-Ohio, Chris D'Aluisio was riding a two-race winning streak. D'Aluisio seemed to be heading towards a third straight win after he qualified on the pole with a 1:33.083. Filice was the second-fastest qualifier at 1:34.642, over a second and a half slower than D'Aluisio. As happens so often in the sport, lady luck played a big part in the final result. As the 250s took to the track for the warm-up lap, something was obviously wrong with D'Aluisio's Yamaha. "When we lined up on the grid, he revved it once, and I knew the bike was sick," D'Aluisio said. As the 250s screamed to life at the drop of the green flag, the pack was headed by Nick Ienatsch. Filice took over the lead on the second lap and quickly pulled out a solid lead. Ienatsch had received a signal from his crew that D'Aluisio was out of the race. With that word, Ienatsch said that the most important thing for him to do was finish with good points, so he didn't have a big incentive to chase to Filice, who at that point wasn't a factor in the series chase. In the middle stages of the race, Filice built a seven-second lead. With constant pit signals from tuner Bruce Maus, Filice slowed a bit and monitored his lead via the pit board. Filice rode to a 3.650-second victory over Ienatsch. Filice, who had not won a race since the USGP 250 event three years earlier, couldn't have been happier about the win. "My confidence has been on the rise all season," said a smiling Filice on the podium. "I ultimately want to get back to GPs, and I consider this a big step towards that goal." Today, Filice reflects on that comeback win at Mid-Ohio that launched a fantastic comeback. He went on to win three of the final four rounds in '91 to clinch that year's AMA 250 Grand Prix Championship. More titles and championships would come in the years following. "That was a special moment," Filice remembers of Mid-Ohio. "My son, I think, was about six or seven, and he got to share those moments. To be able to have him there for that was something I'll always remember with happiness. And I was thinking about all the people who helped me in my career, from friends, family and even the fans who gave me such great support. It was one of those days I'll never forget." To top it all off, on Mid-Ohio's winners' podium, runner-up Ienatsch shouted to the crowd, "How many here are glad to see Jimmy Filice back?" A massive cheer roared up, confirming that Ienatsch was not the only one happy to see Jimbo back on the track. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives FILICE'S BIG COMEBACK