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/127562
AMA 250cc Grand Prix Series: Round 1 and-at the season-opener at Phoenix International Raceway the Yamaha TZ250-mounted Filice was the one being chased.. The former 250cc National Champion owned the 32-lap Tace, beating Southwest Motorsports' teammates Danny Walker and Chris D'Aluisio to give triple World Champion Wayne Rainey his first victory as team owner. In completing th!! race in 34 minutes, 51.255 seconds, Filice averaged 82.630 mph and lapped every rider up to eighth place. He crossed the finish line 21.551 seconds ahead of Walker. "Everything really worked goo'd today," Filice said. "This thing was so fast I just sat on it and rode around. I knew if I didn't push it off the start and get away they (D'Aluisio and Walker) would be a problem." Nick Ienatsch, editor of the ne'w Sport Rider magazine, pushed the Extreme Lean Motorsports Yamaha to fourth safely away from Moto Liberty's Honda-mounted Takahiro Mori. Rain delayed the start of the 250cc GP race for one day, but Filice and his Ed Toomey-tuned, Otsuka/Dunlop/ AGV Helmets/Nankai/Sunco/PJ1backed machine were ready at the drop of the green, jumping to the lead and setting a pace which no one could match. Within a handful of laps Filice was lapping under his qualifying time, unofficially clocking lap times in the 1 minute, 04.6 second range before' upping the pace and dropping his lap times by a couple of tenths while stretching his lead. By the eighth of 32 laps Filice held close to a five-second lead, taking time while exiting turn nine onto the oval to check how far ahead he was. By the halfway mark it was up to 10 seconds and by the end of the race it would be 21plus. Clearly, the race would be for second and, for a while, it was a good one. D' Aluisio and his new teammate, Danny Walker, were away just behind Filice and they both realized early on that they didn't have much chance of catching him. , "Something changed on the bike big time," D'Aluisio said about the difference of his Dave Harold-tuned Yamaha from its polesetting setup to the race. "The front was chattering and it made the rear come around. It was chattering out of the increasing radius right, on the short straight out to the back, and a little through the bumpy section. I was overshooting comers. And it was popping on top. The bike was totally different from qualifying. I'm not sure what happened." Walker made jetting changes and the effect would hold him back. "Coming off comers I noticed it. Before it was all I could do to keep the front end on the ground. Today it wouldn't lift at all," said Walker, aboard a Robin Holidaytuned Yamaha. They chased Filice's trail relentlessly, but grad ually lost ground and on the 13th lap D'AIuisio crashed after sliding the front tiEe while going up onto the oval. "The way it was chattering I was barely on the brakes when I fell. I hit a bump, chattered, and fell. It broke the foot peg off and it took me a couple of laps to figure out how to ride without a peg," D'AIuisio said. The Connecticut rider re-mounted in fourth and, after a few laps of worrying about his rear footpeg dangling by safety wire, set out for lena tsch, who had taken over third following the spill. With five laps to go D'AIuisio was into third going into the first turn. Quickly, he would pull away, unofficially finishing better than five se.conds in front of Ienatsch at the end, and about eight seconds behind' Walker. "It was a long race," Walker said. ROAD RACE ; ~ Jimmy Filice (65), Chris D'Aluisio (2), Danny Walker (4) and Nick Ienatsch (64) early in the 250cc Grand Prix. Californian Jimmy Filice devastated the rest of the 250cc class, winning the race by over 21 seconds. "Right after Chris fell down there wasn't a race any more. I thought that when I caught him we'd catch Jimmy. "1 need to work a little on setup. 1 made some adjustments and 1 probably adjusted too far," Walker added. lena tsch felt he got a tow from D'AIuisio and Walker for the first several laps, but once they split he thought he'd finish fourth. "The next thing I knew, Chris is on his noggin. 1was hoping something was broken on the bike. Then he was catching me at about seven seconds a lap. The guys ahead of me are the ones who historically finish ahead of me. The thing 1 found later is that in a couple of comers 1 was better than Chris every lap." lenatsch recently paid off his 1992 race bike and, as he did, he asked Yamaha for a 1993 model which Yamaha's Tom Halverson supplied. The battle for fifth was a good one, three riders going for it, Moto Liberty's Mori taking the spot from the seventh lap onward. The former Japanese F-l competitor and teammate Doug Carmichael had taken delivery of their Honda RS250s one week earlier and were racing them basically stock. Carmichael had more trouble with his, learning early that his setup was off. "By the third lap 1 knew it wasn't right," Carmichael said. "The last nine laps it got pretty bad." Carmichael had trailed his teammate for much of the race, Mori gradually pulling away leaving Carmichael to fend off Hall n Still Racing's Bruce Baldus. Baldus closed the gap at the end and edged past at the finish line. '1 saw he came off the comers a little better and could hold a tighter line than 1 was," Carmichael said. "1 was running wide on the exits." Mike Sullivan, Peter Wensloff, and Michale Barnes rounded out the top ten. £N Results 2SO GP QUAuFY1NG, I.Chris D'Aloisio (1 :04.248); 2. Jim Filice (1:04.612); 3. Danny Walker (1:05.380); 4. Takahiro Mori (1:05.808); 5. Bruce Baldus (1:05.973); 6. Jonathan Cornwell (1:06.096); 7. Nick Ienatsch (1:06.179); 8. Doug Carmichael (1:06.500); 9. William Quinn (1:06.814); 10. Peter Wensloff (1:06.949); 11. Don Hough (1:07.241); 12. Jason Paden (1:07.311); 13. Mark Foster (1:07.391); 14. Chris Taylor (1:07.396); 15. AI Salaverria (1:07.620); 16. Rick Bullock (1:07.853); 17. Michael Barnes (1:07.874); 18. Todd Harrington (1:07.918); 19. Geep Temnova (1:08.001); 20. Adam Faussett (1:08.190); 21. Mike Sullivan (1:08.246); 22. Christopher Waller (1:08.801); 23. Paul Hart (1:09.007); 24. Bobby Kieth (1:09.712); 25. Edward Sadvar (1:10.322); 26. Don Grijalva (1:11.902); 27. Brian Lefevre (1:12.304). 250 GP : 1. Jim Filice (Yam); 2. Danny W'alker (Yam); 3. Chris D'A1uisio (Yam); 4. Nick lenatsch (Yam); 5. TaJcahiro Mori (Hon); 6. Bruce BaLdus (Yam); 7. Doug Carmichael (Hon); 8. Mike Sullivan (Yam); 9. Peter Wensloff (Yam); 10. Michael Barnes (Yam); 11. William Quinn (Yam); 12. Al Salaverria (Apr); 13. Jason Paden (Yam); 14. Don Hough (Yam); 15. Chris Taylor (Yam); 16. Adam Faussett (Yam); 17. Christopher Waller (Yam); 18. Todd Harrington (Hon); 19. Edward Sadvar (Yam); 20. Don Grijalva (Yam); 21. Paul Hart (Yam); 22. Geep Terranova (Yam); 23. Andy Edwards (Yam). Time: 34 min., 51.255 sec. OisUnce: 32 laps, 48.32 miles Average Speed: 82.630 mph Margin of victory: 21.551 sees 250<:< GP CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS,!. Jim Filice (35); 2. Danny Walker (32); 3. Chris D'A1uisio (30); 4. Nick Ienatsch (28); 5. Takahiro Mori (26); 6. Bruce Baldus (25); 7. Doug Carmichael (24); 8. Milee Sullivan (23); 9. Peter Wensloff (22); 10. Michael Bam.. (21); 11. William Quinn (20); 12. AI Salaverria (19); 13. Jason Paden (18); 14. Don Hough (17); 15. Chris TayLor (16); 16. Adam Faussett (15); 17. Christopher Waller (14); 18. Todd Harrington (13); 19. Edward Sadvar (12); 20. Don Grijalva (11); 21. Paul Hart (10); 22. Geep Terranova (9); 23. Andy Edwards (8). 9