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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127388
eROA DRACE e AM! 25Oa: Grand Prix Series: Round 3 R idin g hi s David Harold-tuned Davh ar R acing-sponso red _Yamah a TZ25 0, the bespectacled New En glander made sho rt work of his competition , lead in g from the start and never lookin g back to win by 16.593 seconds at an average speed of 98.280 mph. Second place went to former U.S. G P winner Jimmy Fil ice on the LA Mo tor - Works Yamaha ' TZ250. This outi ng marked Filice's best ri de since retu rning to action af ter a layoff of over a year from serious .in juries suffered in an auto mo bile accident, Claremor e, Oklahoma 's Rick Kirk rebounded from a poor qualifying effort to finish a fine third in his first ride aboard hi s ex-Kenny Robertso wne d TZ250. Kirk acquired th e services of tuner John Lassak and, after diagnosing the bike's ignition troubles, was abl e to turn in the surprise ride of the day. Washington's Mike Sullivan and his Perms Plus-backed Yamaha TZ250 managed to hold off Del Amo's Nick Ienatsch at the flag for fourth. Rick Tropodi, Tom Paris, Clifton Bigoney, Brad Sawyer and William Himmelsbach ro unded out the top 10 finishers. The entire top 10 were mounted on Yamah a TZ250s. D' Aluisio 's win, combined with Ienatsch's fifth place, moved him into the lead in th e 250cc championship with 44 points. lena tsch retains second in th e chase with 43 points wh ile P aris and Tripodi hold down third an d fourth with 30 an d 25 points, respectively. Filice j um ps into a fifth pl ace . ti e with L oudo n wi n ner Da n n y Walker, 14th today, a t 22 points. Cloud cover and temperatures some 20 degrees coo ler than wha t they were jetted for from Sa turda y's q ua li fying session, left most of the two-stroke tuners starting over in Sunda y morning's only practice session. . Harold and D'Aluisio didn't stop with simple je tti ng cha nges, however, as they altered both the internal and extern al gearing in addition to " freshe ning it up." In addition to the coo ler weather, the wind had made a 180-degr ee cha nge in direction from wh at th ey had enco un tered in qual ifying - thus the gearing changes. Wh atever Harold and his rider came up with worked well , because D'Aluisio wasted little time in scorching to the front of the pa ck. Ienatsch led into turn one, lost the lead in turn three, grabbed it back again on braking for turn five, and then lost it for good on the exit of five. D'Aluisio was through and that's all she wrote. Second fastest qualifier Donnie Greene was already ou t of th e New Englander Chris D' Aluisio (11) holds off Rick Kirk (39), Nick Ienatsch (24) and Co. at Road America; second place finisher Jimmy Filice (65) is sixth. D' Aluisio was impressive, leading from start to finish on his Yamaha TZ250. D'AluisioperfectatRoad America By Paul Carruthers Photos by Werner Fritz ELKHART LAKE, WI, JUNE 30 or 13 laps and 52 miles, Connecticut's Chris D' Aluisio was a picture of perfec tion at Road America. The 28-year-old didn 't put a F wh eel wrong as he clocked consisten tly fast laps th roughout th e race to win his first AMA 250cc National of the season. D'Aluisio goes for the jygy_lar_ _ N 10 ew Englander Chris D' Aluisio (right) gave the 250cc Grand Prix class something to ponder . as he ended the final qualifying session almost a second quicker than his closest competition on the high-speed, four-mile Road America circuit. D' Aluisio, who won here last year, stopped the' clocks at two-minutes, 25.346-seconds for an average speed of 99.074 mph on his 1991 Davhar Racing Yamaha TZ250. He credited his quick and consistent laps with being able to get the Yamaha set up quickly for th e racetrack. "I'm trying as hard as I can and I like th is place, too." D'Aluisio said. " We learned a lot last year here and we were real close with our setup wh en we got here. It's not really jetting or engine setup, but the suspens io n. At o ther places you're always running into bac krnarkers, but here you never see anybody and it 's just you against the race track." In an effort to improve aerodynamics for Road America 's lo ng straigh taways, D'Aluisio fitted a rear fender to his David Harold-tuned TZ250 and also enclosed the underside of his sea t with fiberglass. The bike's fairing also featured -- o picture, pi tting on the in itial lap with a fail in g rear Dunlop. By the sixth of 13 la ps, D'Aluisio led by 4.2 seconds. After getting word that Filice was closin g slightly, he picked up the pace even more, to o pen up a 6.6-second lead on th e eigh th la p and then an 8.1O-second lead a lap la ter. There was no catching hi m. Fi lice, meanwhile, had a lo nely ride in second after getting past Sullivan and Kirk on the secon d lap. " The front en d started chattering," Kir k said later. " I thought, ' the heck with th is, finish the race and go hom e wi tho u t any more separated bo nes.' " Kirk su ffered a separated shoulder two weeks ago aft er crashing in the endu rance race at Loudon. Sullivan would hold third until the se ve n th lap wh en Kirk flew by. Ienatsch was fifth , and closed to within striking distance of Sullivan on the fin al lap, only to lose the drafting battle to the line. " It feels good to be up here," Filice said from the winner's circl e. "It's been a long time." D'Aluisio was honest in his evaluatio n of the race: " It was no problem," he said. " It was a ni ce, clean track, there were no backmarkers and I was a b le to just take it ยท easy o n th e tires." Of Results 2S0cc QUALIFYING: I. Chris D'Al u isio (2:25.346): 2. Don Greene (2.26.100); 3. Ji m Filice (2:26.417); 4. Nick Iena tsch (2:27.723); 5. Rick Tripodi (2:29.160); 6. Mike Su llivan (2:30.307); 7. Manin Miller (2:30.407); 8. Brad Sawyer (2:30.549); 9. Dan ny Wal ker (2:30.692); 10. Clilton Bigoney (2:31.239); 11. Randy Swenson (2:31.527); 12. Tom Paris (2;31.774); 13. Rick Kirk (2:31.781); 14. Will iam H i mm elsbach (2:3 1.859); 15. Mich el Lav al ee (2;32.383); 16. Donn Lewi s (2:33.884); 17"Sam McDonald (2:33.906); 18. Joe Cole (2:34.033); 19. Jim Bonner (2:34.315); 20. j effrey Jobnson (2:34.507); 21. Michael H u nt er (2:35. 125); 22. Andy Fenwick (2:35. 161); 23. j imm y Mosley (2:35. 188); 24. John France (2.35.339); 25. Mar k Long (2:35.392): 26. Greg Esser (2:35.474); 27. David Avery (2:37.232); 28. R ick Pueu (2:38.979);29. Thornt on McPh eeters (2;39.516); 30. Andrew Perkins (2:39.753); 31. Perry Melneciuc (2;41.253); 32. Ty Pu (2;41.253). 250cc n NAL: I. Ch ris D'Aluis io (Yam); 2. J immy Filice (Yam); 3. Rick Kirk (Yam); 4. Mike Sullivan (Yam); 5. Nick Ienatsch (Yam ); 6. R ick Tripodi (Yam): 7. Tom Pari. (Yam); 8..Clilto n Bigoney (Yam ); 9. Brad Sawyer (Yam); 10. Will iam Himmelsbach (Yam ); I I. Randy Swenson (Yam); 12. Joe Cole (Yam); 13. Martin Mill er (Yam); 14. Danny Walk er (Yam); 15. Donn Lewis (Yam); 16. And y Fenwic k (Yam); 17. Jimmy Mosley (Yam); 18. David Avery(Yam); 19. j im Bonner (Yam); 20. John France (Han); 21. Greg Esser (Yam) ; 22. Mark Long (Yam); 23.Thornton McPbeeters (Han); 24. Andrew Perkin s (Yam); 25. Perry Melneciuc (Apr) ; 26. Ty Pi>(Yam ); 27. Jeflre y Johnson (Yam); 28. Michael Lava llee (Yam); 29. Don Green e (Yam). Time: 31 min , 44.770 sec. Distance: 13 laps. 52 mil es. Avena~ Speed, 98.280 mpb Marxin olVietory: 16.593 sec. 250cc GP C'SIUP POINT STANDINGS: I. Chris D'Aluisio (44); 2. Nick Ienatsch (43); 3. Tom Paris (30): 4. Rick Tripodi (25); 5. mE) Jimmy Fili ce! Danny Walker (22); 7. Harald EckI (20); 8. (TIE) Eskil Suter/Jon Cornw eIllMike Sulhvan (17); 11. mE) Will iam Himm elsbach/Rick Kirk (15); 13. Brad Sawyer (13); 14. Joe Cole (12); IS. Don Greene (11).