Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA 250ccGrand Prix Series: Round 7 a great job and I have to thank Jim Allen of Dunlop for helping me pick the right tire." Performance South's Oliver held on to second place, finishing 2.473 seconds behind Filice after cracking an exhaust pipe and stru ggling w ith a broken finger on his clutch hand. Still, he hung tough un til nearl y being taken out by a backmarker go ing up the hill to turn three on the 15th lap . "[immy got ahead of him in one and two and I caught him in three," Oliver began. NI was right alongside him and I looked over and he was all out of shape. I had to chop off and Jimmy got away." By then he was so far in front of third place that he knew his posit ion was secure and the po ints were too hardwon to throwaway. "1 kept looking back and I didn't see anybody, " Oliv er said . Had he waited long enough he would have seen Southwest Mo to rspo rts' Chris D'Aluisio. D'Aluisio, who en tered th e race lead ing the champio nship , raced early with teammate Da nny Walker, but suffered a partial seizu re in the first five laps which knocked 1000 rpm off his engine . Wa lke r crashed soon afterwards and D'Aluisio rode a lonely race to third. Eq ually alone was fo u rth -placed Jonathan Co rn w ell on the Mc Bride's Cycle Rid er Club entry. Cornwell got caught up among a pack of riders at the start and, once clear, was too far adrift of the leaders to make a significant run at them, especially because of the heat. "1 was able to do the pace earlier, but not in the race," Cornwell said. "It was mostly me . I kind o f got going and halfway through rea liz ed the re were eigh t or nine laps left." Southwes t Moto rspo rts ' Chris Taylor finishe d a career best fifth, mounting a charge on Ca nad ian Cornwe ll a t the end, bu t comi ng up about four seconds short. And Performan ce South's Chuck Sorensen was sixth, also a career best. William Himmel sba ch, Extreme Lean Motorsports' Nick lena tsch, H urst Yam a ha 's Andrew Tr ev itt, a nd Ma r ietta . Motorsp orts' Will iam Qui nn filled out the top 10. Filice com plet ed th e 19-1ap, 47 .88mile race in a new race record 26 minutes, 58.258 seconds at an ave rage speed of 106.515 mph and moved back into the championship lead. He now lea ds D ' Aluisio 215 -2 11 afte r seven of 10 races. Cornwell holds third with 169. Everyone knew that 19 laps through the still air and up and down the hills of the 2.52-mile course would be the most ph ysically demanding challenge the riders had faced this year. But there would be no holding back , four riders bolting away to set a blistering pace and separating themse lves from the pack. Walker led Olive r, D' Aluisio, and Sore nse n, but not for lon g. Filice took the point on the second lap, Oliver to second, Walker shuffled back to third in fro nt of teammate D' Al u isio. There would be more sh ufflin g on th e th ird lap as D' Alu isio moved into thi rd, but the pair was alread y losing tou ch wi th the two leaders. "My bike was working so good, bu t Jimmy and Rich both blew by me on the firs t lap on the front st raight," Walker said. D'Aluisio added: Rich and Jimm y' s bikes wer e so fast. Danny and I were both outclassed . Down the backstraight they were pulling away from us." Walker would continue to pressure until the seven th lap wh en he tucked the front end under going into tum six. "1 ran it in to six and got caugh t on a sea m. The front tu cked under and I saved it, then it caught and it s p it me o ff," Walker said. Just before Walker crashed, D'Aluisio ROAD RACE e ~ Jimmy Filice won the 250cc Grand Prix class to regain the points lead. had felt his engine tie up as he rolled off the throttle going into turn five. He pulled the clutch in, revved the engine a couple of times, then went down to tum six. "Down the backstraight that lap it had nothing. The bike was totally different. My times increased by a second a lap," D' Aluisio said. At the halfway point, D' Aluisio was almost five seconds behind Oliver arid about the same distance up on Cornwell an d third was where he would finish. " It was pretty uneventful," D'Aluisio said, after finishing on the podium for the sixth time in seven races. "1 wa nt to win one of these things." Out front, Olive r was holdi ng his own a ga inst Filice until the 15t h lap . w he n he ca me u p on th e lapped rider goi ng u p the hill. "1 go t up to the guy a nd he tried to race w ith me ," Oliver said . " A lap la te r the exhaust mo unt b roke and I lost horsep ower. I knew it was fool ish to try to catch Jimmy. My plan was to beat him into the final tum on the last lap and his plan was to bea t me into the final tum. I never got to try it." "1 spotted traffic in front of me and was able to get by going up the esses," Filice said , ex plaini ng how he broke away. Of the race he said, "It was a comfortable pace. A couple of times coming out of the slow comers I got sideways and Rich drafted by me . I could outbrake him into the comers. Twice up the hill I got Rich on the brakes and I knew if I needed to I could get him there." Cornwell didn't get awa y as well as he would ha ve liked , getting stuck behind Sorensen for the first two laps. By the time he moved up to fifth, the leaders were gone and he was part of a par ade. "When I got by I couldn't catch those gu ys . After Dann y crashed I th ought I'd take the po ints," Cornwell said. . Fifth place for most of the race was held by Chris Taylor, thou gh he had to wo rk to get there. NI kind of biffed the start. I was irritated an d throu gh the esses and stuff I was passin g guys wherever I could," Taylor said. He was up to ninth on the thir d lap, eigh th a lap lat er, and seventh on the fifth lap. He would make up tw o more places on the ne xt lap, one w ith Walker's crash and the other by passing Chuck Sorensen. " It got hot and I had a few slides and I decided to stay in fifth and get the points." Sorensen wou ld be passsed b y lenatsch, but he would pass him back on the eighth lap and hold the spot to the Jimmy Filice (65) leads Rich Oliver (97), Danny Walker (4) and Chris D'Aluisio (2), end . Will iam H imm e lsb ach passed lenatsch on the 10th lap and the order for the top eight was set. a Resu lts 250 G RAND PRIX Q UALIfYIN G: I. Jim Filice (1:24.133 ); 2 Rich Oli ver (1:24.730); 3. Chri s 0 ' Aluisio (1 :25 .167); 4. Da nny Walker (1 :25 .189); .5 . [onar han Cornwell (1:25.257); 6. Takahito Mori (1:25.489); 7. Chris Taylor (1:26.544); 8. William H immelsbach (1:26.707); 9. Ch uck Sorensen (1:26.821); 10. Nick lenat sch (1:26.964); 11. Da vid Sado wski (1:27.121); 12. Andrew Trevi tt (1:27.145); 13. William Quinn (1:27589); 14. Marcello de l Giudier (1:27.752) ; 15. Todd Harrin gton (1:27.903); 16. Greg Esser (1:27.990); 17. Keith Code (1:28.050); 18. Mike Himmelsbach (1:28 .245); 19. Ch risto phe r Rankin (1:28.634); 2ll. jimmy Mosley (1:28.660); 21. John Franco (1:28.765 ); 22. Matthew Winnacker (1:29.497) ; 23. Jim Ilonner (1:30 .085) ; 24. jo hn Stanley (1:30.131); 25. john Sharrard (1:31.617); 26. Rick Newman (1:35.362). 250 G P FINAL: 1. jim Filler (Yam); 2 Rich Oliver (Yam); 3. Ouis D' A1uisio (Yam); 4. jonathan Cornwell (Yam); 5. Ouis Taylor (Yam); 6. Chuck ~ (Yam); 1. William HillUnrlsbadl (Yam); 8. Nick lenatsc:h (Yam); 9. And rew Trevitt (Yam); 10. William Quinn (Yam); 11. Greg Es. (y am); 12 Mam:1l0 del Giud ier (Yam); 13. ser Todd Harrington (H an); 14. john Francr (Ha n); 15. john Sherrard (Yam); 16. jim Ilonner (Yam); 17. Quistopher Rank in (Yam) ; 18 . Keith Code (Yam) ; 19 . David Sadows ki (Yam); 20. Matthew Winnacker (Yam); 21. Jimmy Mosley (Yam); 22. Danny Walker (Yam); 23. Takahito Mori (Yam); 24. Mike Himmelsbach (Yam); 25. john Stanley (yam); 26. Rick Newman (Yam). Time: 26 minutes, 58.258 seconds. Dis lana: 19 lap s. 48.38 miles. M.ugin of victory: 2.473 sees. Aver.1gespeed: 106.315 mph. 250ce GRAND PRIX C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 7 of 10 roun ds): 1. Jim Filice (215/6 w ins); 2. Chris 0 ' Aluisio (211); 3. Jonathan Cornwell (169); 4. Nick Ienetsch (157) ; 5. Danny Walker (15 1); 6. Rich Oliver (131/1); 7. Marcello Del Ciudia (120); 8. Chris Taylor (118); 9. William Himmelsbach (117); 10. William Quinn (116) ; 11. Todd Harrington (108); 12. Andrew Trevitt (106) ; 13 . Mike Sullivan (103); 14. (TIE) Doug Carmichael/Takahito Moo (90); 16. G..g Esser (85); 17. Michael Bames (8 1); 18. Bruer Baldus (69); 19. Chuck . ~ (59); 20. juan Paden (58~ 13

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