Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.00 O"l < CN CN ~ 0.. In the t..adition of... JiDlDlY Filice By Dale Brown Photos by Charles Morey and Brown Northern California ia famolD for producing two things: America'. fineat wine and an impralive ahareoof America'. futelt mowrcycle racen, From Joe Leonard to Kenny Robena, SteYe Eklund to Randy Mamola, and now the likea of Jimmy Filice and Rich Arnaiz, the Golden State'. northern climate hal nurtured a plethora of talented throttle twiaten. Eigbreen-yeaMJld Jimmy Filice ia perha.. the _ publicized of the country'. crop of aa. C Rookie Expena. A member of the newly-organized Robenal La_iII Racing organization, Filice hu made good on the pral noticea generated by hi. Noyice and Junior yean. and ia currendy tied for fourth in the AMAIW"UIICOD Pro Seriea point . .odinp. In hi. third-ever ro8d race, the lightweight Expert lGO-miler at Daytona, he beat current World 25Oa: Road Racing Champion Anton Mang to place IeCOtld behind U.S. tideholder Eddie LaWlOn. The diminutive youngster, whc.e broad IIIIlile will probably become hi. trademark, ia teamed with Mike Kidd on the Robena/LawwiII effort. While their abort track and TT machinery hu proven to be fut, the Virapbued 75Oc:c Vtwin that the group will UIe on the mila and half mila that form the backbone of the Wiuton Pro Seriea remam. to be proven. 14 While at this writing the machinery remains a question mark, the talent that the group pc-:sses is unquestioned. Kenny Roberts, Men Lawwill and Dick Mann account for five AMA Grand National Championships and 72 National wins, and their advice can really be helpful to a young rider like Filice. "That really helps a lot," says Filice, "like at Houston. It's really a lot of help when somebody can watch you, then show you what you're doing wrong and point you in the right direction. Kenny watches me, tells me where to go and it's really neat. Mike (Kidd) hel.. me out a lot, too. We get along really well. " The beat teachen are for naught if the pupil can't or won't leam. That'. not the case for Filice. ''I'm a real quick learner and [ can learn a lot in a short time. Scott Pearson ~ to go out and teach me; we went riding every day when [ was a Novice. He u~d to take me out and knock me off and make me get back up and cha~ him. He taught mea lot." Learning quickly was the key to Jimmy's success at Daytona, where he beat Anton Mang and placed second to Eddie Lawson. "That was another big thrill, and [ couldn't believe that, I'm just amazing m~lf every weekend when I go racing. Eddie helped me out a lot there. [ was following th~ guys around in my heat race, beca~ [ was only turning 2: 195, and to go fast you have to tum 2:l45 or .2:151. I dropped about thr~ ~con~ in my heat race, and then In the mam event I was turningalmost 2:155. Following th~ guys started making me go faster. " Daytona photos showed Filice leaned really far over on his road racer; much of his lower leg scraping the pavement despite his small size. "Kenny helped me out. [ was leaning over, and I'd think 'God, Kenny, I'm dragging my knee and everything' and I thought [ was leaned over far enough. He looks at the tire and goes 'No, you've got a long way to go.' [ started really leaning HI look up to Kenny, and it s neat to be called his protege, but it really isn't that true. Because I don't really have a riding style like Kenny, I don't think. " it over during the race. I could put a lot of trust in the guy - he tells me to do something and I know he's already done it. It's already been proven that you can do it, so just try it. "This year Kenny didn't even really expect me to do as well as I did. We really weren't worned about Eddie as much as Mang beca~ his bike was a lot faster than Eddie's was. Kenny told "I'd lz'ke to stay on the dz'rt tracks, but there isn't really that much money z'n dz'rt track radng. Hopefully, I'll be goz'ng to Europe z·n two or three years. That's where I really want to go. " me not to go out there and pass them or race with them beca~ it would probably make me crash, going too fast. I went out there and I caught up to Mang, and I followed him around. And shoot, it was like nothing when I passed him. I guess Kenny almost fell off the motorhome, He got so excited; he couldn't believe it. He gets too excited at the races; he gets more nervous watching us race than race hi~lr. At Houston he was a nervous wreck." Filice will contest the Lightweight Expen class at all American road races this year, but the majority of his '81 racing will be on the dirt. He first hit the Expert level din track scene under the Houston Astrodome, and qualified seventh fastest for the opening night's shon track, but broke the chain at the stan of his heatrace,

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