Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

after Brau neck an d Kirk, who had also remounted, pa ssed by to finish firs t a nd seco nd, res pec tive ly. Fro m Lo ud on , D'Aluisio contin ue d north to Shubenacadie, Nov a Scotia, w here he fin ished seco n d overall in the Cana dia n R AC E Na tional. The fol lowing week end at Elk h a rt Lake , D'Aluisio started from th e pole a n d won th e final. D'Aluisio n ow had a com for ta ble 18-poi nt lead over Brauneck , a nd a lso led th e Canadian R AC E Series after two events. At the slipper y Mia m i stree t circui t, D'Aluisio was ca ut io us. " I won m y heat race, bu t didn 't start th e fin al as aggressiv ely a s I shou ld hav e," he reca lls . " I didn 't want io push th at hard. Seco n d place wa s j us t fi ne. I know Al (Sa laverria), a nd I knew he was goi ng to win tha t race; so I wa s better off not ta ng lin g wi th h im. AI is ra m bu nc tious when he rides, kin d o f erratic ... but he ca n definitely' go fast. " D'A luisio wanted to cli n ch t h e Ca na d ian RACE Championship a t th e n ext event in Sha n nonv ill e, Ontario , bef or e th e series h eaded wes t, wh ere h e co u ld n' t a ffor d to travel. H e arri ved in Canad a with wh at he th ought to be an adequate su p p ly of Dunlo p tire co mbina tio ns. His ch o ices, h owever , were incorrect and a limited su p p ly o f th e right co m pou nd l ire ca used him to crash hard in practi ce. " I fell down because th e tires were o ff," h e admits. "They opera ted o n m y (bro ken) right hand and used a n external fix ture with pins and a tracti on device. Itwas supposed to be o n for to weeks, but we took it o ff a fter four. I went to th era p y every day and trea ted gell ing my hand better like it was a fu ll time job." The hand injury caus ed D'AIuisio to miss th e sixth round of AMA 250cc . com pe titio n a t Mid -Ohio . A win by Sal averria tied him with D'AIuisio for first, whi le Brauneck trailed in seco n d by only rive points. A m onth later at Topeka, D'Aluisio raced while nurs- : ing hi s still -inj ured hand and cou ld .only manag e a third-place finish. : '1 didn 't get a who le lot of time o n the track, and I didn 't want to hurt m y muscles too bad," he recalls. " I reall y co u ldn't go too deep in th e co rners because I didn 't h ave th e feel in my (rig h t) ha n d th at I need ed fo r brak ing . Th ird wa s o kay for me a t T opeka. I kn ew it would go down to Willow Sprin gs." It was do or die [o r D' Alu isio a t th e fin al AMA 250cc ro u nd at Will ow Sp rin gs. Brauneck now led th e pointstandings wi th 94 to D'Alu isio 's 92, whi le Sal averr ia was relegated to thi rd wi th 89 points after only finis h ing fift h in Tope ka . T h e fin al h ad a ll the maki ngs' [o r a real th rill er, but it was a nticlimactic because it didn 't ha ve D'Aluisio. Whil e p rac ti cing on Thursda y, h is engine seized a fter a lo n g midth rot tle sectio n whi ch h ighsided h is ho p es [or the cham pion ship. As he wa s Ial lin g, D'Aluis io subco nscious ly p rotected h is previo us ly in jured righ t h a n d a nd broke hi s r ig h t e lbo w. Need less to sa y, he d id n ot mak e th e last AMA 250cc race o f th e sea son. T he seaso n, wh ich started so well for D'Alu isio , ha d en ded in disappoi nt ment. Brauneck 's ' seco n d-p lace [in ish a t Will o w Sp ri ngs ea rn ed h im th e AMA 250cc GP Champ ionsh ip , while Sa lave rria 's sixth- p lace finish was good enough for seco n d pl ace ove ra ll. Bu t 1990 is h isto ry, a nd [o r 1991 D'Al u isio is deter m in ed to regain hi s speed a nd start winning again . H e has cont rac ts with DavHar Ra cing , Dunlop Ti res, Vanson Leathers a nd Sh oei H elmets, a nd will co ntest th e AMA 250cc GP class aboard a 1991 Yama ha T Z250B. T o prepare hi mself [or 1991, Chris u ses extensive bi cycl e training. In addi tio n to a daily weight-train in g ro u tine, D'Aluisio rid es a bicycle a bo u t 40 miles a da y. While traversin g th e ro ll ing hills o f Co n n ecticu t, he thin ks a bo u t racing m otor cycles and h ow h e ca n im prove himself. What did Chris D'Aluisio learn [rom last season? " I learned not to ride wi th reserve," h e co nfesses. "I was thinking of th e cha m p ions h ip too o ften durin g th e races a nd not rid in g th e wa y I kn ow how to rid e. I would start too slow a nd get behind. That was j us t a mistake. I a lso lea rn ed n ot to push worn tires (Above) Chris D'Aluisio (I I ), the road race r, lea ds th e way at R oad Atlan ta , . (Below) D' Aluisio, the engine er, sta n ds in fron t of hi s latest crea tion , th e rea r suspens ion system on Cannondale's moun ta in bi ke, D' Aluisio will attempt to win th e 250cc cha m pi o nship again in 1991. - yo u ca n't set up a bike on worn tires." R ace p ictures o f Wayn e Ra iney, Kevin Sch wanu an d Eddie Lawson decorat e D'Alu isio 's office wa lls a nd reveal h is future aspiratio ns. " I'm j us t ta ki ng it year by year," h e says. " I have aspira tions of doing some rea l racing - rea l racing meaning Europe . If Mo to Du Monde '(Ken n y Roberts ' attempt to organi ze a n independent race series in th e U.S, ) goes th e way they'r e pl anning, th at would be just fine too." After racing in Canada, D'Aluisio a p p recia tes th e efforts of the AMA . His rem ark a bo u t doing some " rea l ra cing " is not meant to detract from AMA 's race organizing, which D'Aluisio co n side rs " p retty good." However, like so many as p iri ng motorcycle road racers in America, D'Aluisio bel ieves th at th e AMA could do more. H ow would D' Alui sio hel p the sport? " I wou ld hire a promoting agency," he says q u ick ly. "T he AMA is a race sanction ing body, a nd th ey 're n o t p romoters . T h ey could promote th eir p rograms to racers . . . which works fin e beca use th ey get the turno u t [ro m th em . Bu t th ey need to do more to in crease sp ectator turn out a nd sp onso rs h i p. Th ey n eed m ore TV co verage." In m an v wavs Chris D 'Aluis i o represen ts 'th e p lig h t of the typical motorcycle road race r wi th ta lent in America. Un less he gets the su p port a nd gu ida nce from so meone like Kenny Ro b ert s, h e h a s to s trugg le in a restri ct ive ra cing environment tha t me rely becomes a step ping stone to race elsewhere. D'Aluisio ' is o ne of many Ame rica n racers pat iently waiti ng [or a Moto Du Monde-type p rogram to ma teria lize. Until that happens, however , he wi ll . co ntin ue to drink cha m pagne on AMA podiumsl fN 15

• Cover