Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eINTERVIEW e JimmyFilice ho spital. Cra sh ed o n cru tch es." The experi en ce o f going to the race, " kind of wore me out," he said. U n like some o the r prominent racers, Fil ice had th e good sense to be full y insu red, so while he spe nt th e last yea r in th erapy an d reh abil itation, he was ab le to live on m oney he'd made earlier in his career. " I didn 't have to ra ce this year, I wanted to ," h e sa id. Having been a way from racing for a year, th at was easi er said than done. But, as it turned o u t, he had more than one o ffer . The first was from form er Camel Pro Champion Bubba Shobert, a rider sensitive to career-threatening injuries. Shobert was trying to put together a 250cc team for th e WERA Series, and had offered Filice a ride, but it didn't come together. "Maybe next year," said Filice. Wo rld C hampion Wayne R a in ey a lso ex tended a n offer to ride in .th e sam e WE RA Seri es, but it ca me a fter Fi lice ha d accepted the Galli na deal. " Wayne offer ed me a ride on his Am eri can team and I pro bab ly would 've tak en it, but I wanted to try the GPs again," Fi lice said. Instead; Rainey signed Ken ny Roberts j r. and former 125cc GP contender Alan Scott for hi s WERA Formula II team. " It was good tha t he was tryi ng to h elp me directl y. It was a fri endship type deal to help me co me a lo ng," Fili ce sa id with a sm ile. Like Sh ob ert a nd Rainey, Filice began hi s ca reer on d irt track ovals a n d won four Grand Na tio na l Ch a m p ionship ra ces, a half mile race in 1981 and three mil e races in 1983. The deal he acce p ted was o ffered by Ro berto Gallina , th e tuner who gu ided fell ow Italians Marco Lucchinelli and Franco Uncini to ba ck-to-back 500cc World Championship titles for Suzuki in 1981 a nd '82. Those wer e the last World Ch ampionships won by Suzuki and, since then, Gallina has moved on .to a seri es o f less ful£illing seasons in both th e 500cc a nd 250cc classes. Last Fighting back By Henny Ray Abrams isten , for a minute, to jimmy Fi lice: " It 's a deal where yo u' re o n ly as good as yo u r las t race. It doesn 't both er me to have to p rov e m yself. I' ve been racing for 17 yea rs a nd it 's pa rt of it a nd if yo u wa nt to be World Ch ampi on you have to deal with th e pressure. Sometimes I get lax when th in gs ge t eas ier. If people don 't want to g ive me a full seaso n, I ho pe th ey'll see m y potential. " Fili ce, th en 26, spoke th o se words a t th e start of th e 1989 season a nd tw o yea rs la ter a fter a deva st ating ca r acci de nt in j anua ry o f 1990, things ha ven 't cha nged much. The 28-yea ro ld Sa n j ose, Ca liforn ia, resident has a three-race deal with Italian tuning whiz R oberto G allin a a n d a fter th a t ... But th e sim p le fact th at Fi lice is not on ly walking n orm ally, bu t racin g a mo torcycle is testament to an inner s trength th at o n ly th e toughest racers have in reserve. "I signe d m y co ntrac t wi th H onda on December 22, 1989, and had th e accide nt o n j anu ary 13. " F ili ce L -26 rem ember s. " It seems like a lo ng tim e ago." . Fi lice was a passen ger in a truck driven by j ohn Ashmead , the 1989 Daytona 200 winner, th at sla m me d into a tractor-trailer parked o n th e . shou lder o f a highwa y. Ashmead esca ped la rg e ly unh arm ed . Fili ce didn 't esca pe as lig h tly. " Bo th legs had co m pou nd fractures, pel vis broken in six pl aces, two rods in eac h leg. A co m pou nd fra cture of th e low er leg. This leg (h is right ) had a hard time heal in g. I had a bone gra ft a nd th ey replaced th e ro d with a sho rte r rod," he sa id, because it was ru bbing agai ns t hi s kn eecap. Wi th no a p parent emo tio n he hikes up hi s pants leg to sh ow wh er e th e rod was inse rte d. There wer e three surgica l procedures just to ge t back to being able-bo die d , th en tw o more so he co u ld race. Hi s doctors ad vised against th em because of th e risk of in fect ion a nd co m p lications, but to Fi lice, th ere was very little questi on. " I heard a lo t o f bad things, but I never th ought a bo u t re tiri ng. I had it in m y mi nd I wa s go ing to ride La guna ," the U.S. G P, on ly three months a fter h is accident . Laguna Seca is the site o f hi s gr ea test triumph, h is victory in the inaugural 250cc U.S. G P in 1988. T ha t memorable win ca me in a one-s hot ri de o n a works H onda NS R250. H e finish ed seco nd at Lag u na Seca th e followin g yea r, a year th at saw hi m co m pe te in japan on an Edw in j eans-sp onsored H onda with m ixe d results a nd inj u ries, in cludin g a brok en a n kle a n d di slocated h ip. H e would make it to Laguna Seca, but it wo u ld be hi s fir st o u ti ng a nyw here a nd he wo u ld be limited to specta ting. '" co u ldn 't sit up for two mon th s," he sai d. " I wa s j us t ge tti ng co m for ta ble with th e c rutc hes . I fell d own in t he year h e worked with Loris Reggi an i on the U B-ba cked Aprilia. " Mr. Ga lli na called me six weeks ago. T he idea.was to put a deal together with some sponsors, none major, Both of us sort of invested in the deal, " Fil ice said. The biggest spons or is the Ital ia n firm Compagnucci, and for th e J apa ne se GP th er e were a few eve n t sponsors, a paint com pany and an o ffice supply company, alo ng wit h Fili ce ' s p ersona l sp o n so rs, S hoei helm ets and Kushitani leathers . Whether there will be addi tio na I sponsors [or th e U. S: GP remains to be seen , as does th e possibility of sponsorship for th e European rounds of the World Champions h ip. L ike many teams, in cl u din g Erv Kanerno to 's R oth man s Honda tea m and Do ug

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