Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127409
- EDITOR'S MGAP ONE E H "D O"l . O"l By Paul Carruthers oes he still walk .around the pits with a smile on his face?" I was asked upon returning from the final round of the AMA National Championship Road Race Series. The "he" in question was J immy Filice. The query made me realize that I have really never seen Filice when he wasn't smiling. I first recall watching him road race in 1986. Aftera semi-successful dirt track career that featured four National wins, he was struggling along on rather uncompetitive Yamaha FZ750s in the AMA Superbike Championship - and he was smiling. Then there was April 19, 1988. The biggest day of Filice's racing career, the day he won the 250cc U.S. GP. Relatively unknown to the rest of the world, Filice shocked them all with his win that day and he was smiling. Despite his immediate impact on GP racing, Filice didn't do another one until .the following year in Japan. He finished 11th - and smiled - before coming back to Laguna where he finished second behind John Kocinski. And he was smiling. He raced in Japan with mixed results in 1989, bUI things were looking up. He signed a contract with HRC on December 22, 1989, 10 compete in Japan and selected GPs. Finally, things were going right for a man with a racing career that never really fulfilled its promise. But on January 13,1990,everythingwent terribly wrong for Filice.The five-foo t, twoinch, 13O-pound man with the six-foot smile was asleep in the passenger seat of fellow road racerJohn Ashmead's van when it plowed into the back of a parked tractortrailer on Interstate 5. What had begun so innocently as a day of trail riding in the northern California hills, suddenly turned into living hell. Ashmead went to jail after being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol; Filice was near death, nearly every bone below his waist crushed from the accident A nine-hour surgery was followed by four more hours of operations only days later. But he improved. He went from critical condition to stable conditio n. And he went from wheelchair to crutches, crutches 10 walking, walking to talking about racing again. And the smile never left his face. In August of 1990, Filice was back on a motorcyde at Laguna Seca. At that test session he daimed he was ready to return. He staned the 1991season at the Japanese ' GP, qualifying 24th and finishing 31st on an underdeveloped Robert Gallina Yamaha TZ25O. I saw him again at the Australian GI' in Eastern Creek; he wasn't happy with the way things were going, but he still smiled, and finished 25th. The GP circuit then went to Laguna Seca, where it was especially disappointing for Filice to finish 16th. But he kept smiling. Later in the year, the smiler walked into my office with Maurice Murray , team man ager of newly-formed LA. Motor Works. He would contest the rest of the AMA 250ccGrand Prix Series on the team's TZ250, they said . And he did, smiling and winning along the way. On November 10 on the streets of Miami, Filice won his first-ever National Championship, despite missing the first round of the series at Da ytona, If all is right in the world of motorcyde racing, Filice will be honored on November 23 in Redondo Beach, California , as the AMA's Pro Athlete of the Year. IJ¥ And we can all smile with him. ~4..1i1fOTLI:tlE . 1-900-HOT-4-SUPEROROSS (.1-900-468-4787) Hear it from "T Voice of Supercross," Larry Maiers he •R R ace esults (6 a.m. Eastem time after each race) •Ticket Info • Supercross Schedule • "Throttle for the Gold" end . "S pills, Chills &T hrills" Videos • Fan Club Information •Amateur &Supercross Info • Motocross S tats From the producers of SUPERCROSS SRO/PACE. SUPERSPORTS. MTEG $2.00 first minute and$1.00 each add1. minute Wan infoonation ·(213) 427-7433 tAd ~ SAVE IT with a sleeve from Motorcycles Parts and Accessories , , , , Yamahas Street & Dirt Husqvarna W Runner ave Wave Jammer • Super Jet , KIM r..i - ~ I STOP! Maif Order - U PS I JR nancing and Insurance VISA Monday , Saturday 9:00 - 6:00 75631001000. Rivelside (Hwy 91 & Madison) (714) 687-1300 DON'T TRASH THAT .WORN CHROME PLATED CYLINDER L.A. SLEEVE CO. Los Angeles Sleeve Co. has sleeves for most popular makes and models of motorcycles and ATV's. We also st ock pi sto n kits, reb uilt cylinders and Big Bore kits. For more information contact: LOS ANGELES SLEEVE CO., INC. 83 11 Chet le Ave., Santa Fe Springs, CA 90660 ONlor• • call Of wrll. 'Of your Iroo caloJog end docoJ. . (3 10) 945 -7578 FAX (310) 698 -7029 23