Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

ol d ci rcuit in 1982 . " I co m e here, it's like v ac at io n - I en j o y the scene ry an d th e people ." The po l ar opposit e o f F ilice was T eam O liv er Yamah a/St i c k erS o l u t ion . c om ' s Ric h Oliver. Ol ive r c rash ed t w ice o n the weekend , the sec ond one c o mi ng on the 17th lap of the fin al wh il e c hasing Filic e. " I' v e got t w o ru in ed b ik es , t w o ru in ed fa irings , four bent wh eels , a bro k en an k l e a nd a broken fi ng er a nd a b so l ute l y n o r esp e c t fo r t h e w a y t he enti re wee ken d was r u n ," Oli ver sa id . " I h op e we never , eve r, ever , ever co me b a c k here and th at' s not disappo intm en t from a bad rac e. T hat' s 20 years of ex p er ien c e and look ing at the b ig p ictu re." F ili c e l ed the f irst 10 l a p s , with O liver seco nd , and GP Tec h's Chuck So ren sen th ird. Th en the two leade rs started t o clear o ut, with O li ver tak ing the lead on lap 1 I and then Fil ice getting him right back . Fil ice had a sli g ht edge wh en O liver c ra shed, tu cking t he fro nt in th e righ t -h a nd section of th e fi rst turn sequence . " I hit a hug e bump and crashed : O li ve r said . "1 was sitting t h ere. I didn' t want to lead. I wa nted Jimmy to ru n his pa c e becau se I didn 't feel too good ." " J ust the way I ap p ro ac h th is ra c e trac k is differen t than h e [O l iver ] does ," Filic e said . " I know 1 c an do 24 l ap s li k e that an d I do n 't th ink he cou ld . S o I t hi nk tha t m y who l e game p lan wo rk ed o ut for m e." After O li v er c ra she d, F il i c e w a s home free , not only w inni ng hi s first rac e of th e y ear , but als o p addi ng his p o i n t s l e ad . Fil i ce ha s 15 6 poi nts , 25 m ore th an PJ l 's M ich ael Hann as with 131. Oliver has 124. "I' ve been do ing th is fo r 29 yea rs and m y father 's nev er be en up o n th e pod ium. I' ve got to do it : Fili c e sa id as he b rought h is fath e r , J im , up on th e p od ium. " H ey da d , you made this happen for m e m y whole li fe . You made th is happen and thi s is fo r you m an ." Then F ilice de dicate d the ra ce to B ill Spen cer , h is close friend an d fellow N orthern Califo rn ian wh o re c ently d ied of a heart attack . " T hi s r ace i s fo r y o u B i l l. He helped m a k e m e a n d mak e m y ca r ee r ha ppen. I lo ve you B i l l. I k now he 's up there wat ch in g and he was wat ch ing m e tod ay. " Fili ce ' s r ac e w a sn 't u neventfu l. His si len c er fell off h alfw ay into th e ra ce ca us ing h is Yamah a TZ250 to run lean. Jimmy Filice (3 ) and Rich Ol iver (7 1 were dueling In the 250cc Grand Prix final until Oliver crashed out of the race, handing an easy victory to filice - the championship points leader. "I wa s afraid I wasn 't goi ng to fini s h ," F i lice sai d . " I knew Ch u ck [S ore n sen] w as c h a r g in g . he w a s probably ga in ing on m e so they were g iv in g m e th e sign that may b e h e w as catchi ng and just worked t h e traffic an d h it t ra ffic when I kne w he 'd catch the traffic ." A f t e r fi ni shi n g 4 .8 7 2 seconds ba ck , Sorensen said th at , " Eventually it turned into a lo nely ride . T hese gu ys wer e getting really good drives Loudon local Eric Wood (36) bested Mike Ciccotto to win the Pro Thunder final o n a sunny Mond ay afternoon i n New Hampshire. - - - ; , . -- - Buell P Thunder Series ro R ound 3: New H ampshire International Speedway com ing off t h e corners . It see med like th ey' d p u ll ed away a l ittle b it befo re we left the bowl and then I'd get i t bac k by th e t i m e w e cam e B y H E N N Y R A Y A BR A M S b a c k in to N A SC A R cir cuit . It wa s re a l ly ho t out the re a n d th e t i r e s w ere st art i ng t o g et slip pe r y . As t hese g u ys starte d t o hit tr a ffi c I st arted to lose to uch with them and rode my own race and m y lap ti m es actually went d own after I cleared o ut from them. " Fo r the th ird time in th ree ye ars , Penguin Raci ng Sch o o l' s Eric Wood fi nis he d thi rd , a bet t er finis h preven t ed by a bad start. Nint h after the first lap . Wood worked h i s way up t o fourth on the sixth lap , then third when O liver c rash . " By the time I got into abo ut fifth my hands w ere c ram ped o ut and I did the best I co uld : Wo od said . " I k ne w these guy s w ere going to be in a pack out fro nt and I coul d n 't run th em down . It to o k m e a li ttle while to get b y Simon T urn er and Micha el H a n nas an d a fter t hat I wa s b y m ys el f ." Hannas was about f ou r seco nds b eh ind W o od , wh o pa s sed h im o n th e six th la p . T he n ca me Su ns ports' Perry Melnec iuc , the w inn er of a bat tle w ith GP T ech 's Simo n Turner. eN Ne. Hampshire International Speed.ay Loudon, Ne. Hampshire Results: June 18, ZOOI [ Round 51 AM-A 250c c GRAN D PR IX: 1. J immy Fili c e ( Yam); 2 . Chuck Sorensen ( Yam) ; 3 . J eff Woo d ( Yam); 4 . M icha el Han n e s_II (Y am); 5 . Perr y Melne ci uc (Yam ): 6 . Simo n Turn er (Yam) ; 7. Derek Kin g (Ho n); 8 . Ed ward Mar ch ini (Ya m): 9 . Steve Scott (YDm) ; 10 . Chris Pyl e s (Ya m ) ; 11. Willia m Himmelsbach (Yam) ; 12. Edward Sorbo ( Yam) ; 13 . Greg Ess er ( Hon) ; 14. Ton y lannarelli (Yam ); 15 . Stuart Nodell (Hon) ; 16. Ty ler Henshaw (Yam) ; 17. Bruc e U nd (Yam); 18. James Bonner (Yam) ; 19. Jo hn France ( Ho n); 20 . Ty David Piz (Yam ) ; 21 . Sea n Wray ( Yam); 22 . Ric h O li ver ( Yam); 23 . Mic hael Himmelsbach ( A pr) ; 24 . Micha el ZlI ja c ( Yam ); 25 . Chri stopher Hol sk e (Ya m); 26. Gus Holcomb (Yam); 27. Cory Denton West (Yam) . Ti me: 29 m in., 30 .598 sec. Distance: 24 laps A verage speed: 78 . 134 mph Marg in of victory: 4 .872 sec. AMA 250 « GRA ND PRIX C ' S H I P POIN T STANDIN GS ( A fte r 5 of 1 1 rounds): 1. J imm y Fili ce ( 156/1 win ) ; 2. Mic hael Henn as (13 1); 3 . Rich Oli ver ( 124/3 wi ns ) ; 4. Si mon T urn er (117) ; 5 . Chuck Sor ensen (t 07 ) : 6. Perry Melne ciuc ( 104) ; 7. Edw ard Marchini (95) ; 6. Chris Pyl es (6 5 ); 9 . Edward Sorbo (7 7) : 10. Rolan d Sand s (7 4/1 win) ; I I. Greg Esse r (72): 12. (T IE) J ohn Fra nc e/Ty David Plz (69) ; 14 . William Himmelsbach (68) : 15. (TIE) Derek King/ Cory Denton West (63) ; 17. Bruce Lin d (57 ); 16. Jeff Wood (50 ); 19 . Ja mes Bonner ( 40 ); 20 . Roy De Groot (36) . Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Monterey, Califomia, July 6 Round 7 - Lexington , Ohio, July 22 P HO T O BY B RI A N J. N E L SON LOUDON, NH, JUNE1 8 sing th e know led ge gain ed fr o m yea rs o f tea c h i n g th e Pen guin Racing Schoo l a t N ew H a m p sh i r e Int ernational Sp eedway , BCM Mot or · sp o r ts' Eric Wood sped to a very co mfor t a bl e wi n in the Buell Pr o Th u nder ra ce at th e en d of a lon g Mo nday of racing . " W e g ot a lot of home ·track k now le dg e h ere, obv iously : W o od said . "W e' ve been off fo r about a year and a half with an inj ury . wo rking real hard to co m e back and we were real lu c k y . Th e gu ys from BCM Motor sport s pu t me together an incredi b le m otorcycle - gave m e an advantage right there. All I had to do was get o n it and hang on and ride." Wood di dn ' t le a d o ff th e sta rt . T ill ey 's H- D/ Buell's Da vid Esto k did. But h is race ended with tra nsmission trou bles on th e fourth of 24 laps, Estok sai d he 'd h ad transmissi on tro ub les during th e heat race and that it was his fault that it had failed in th e race, On la p four, Eri c Wood t ook ove r fo r good . Hal 's Performan c e Bu ell ' s Mi ke Ciccotto was wi th him and stu ck close fo r the fi rst hal f, " I ' d l o o k at m y p itb o a rd and I never got more th an p lu s one for a long time, so I said th ere he is, ke ep ing me hon est , j ust li ke I fig ured, so , had t o k eep m y head down, and luck il y, once w e got through traffi c w e started to in ch away an d b rou ght it ho me," Wo od said. Wood won t he 24 -l ap , 3 8 .4 m ile rac e in 29 m inutes, 58.649 sec on d s at an ave rage speed of 76 .899 mph, H i s m arg in o f v ic tory wa s 2 0 . 12 7 seconds. " I tr ied to kee p Eric hon est in the beginning of the ra c e: Cic cot t o said. " We leaned on each othe r a coup le of t imes o n th e firs t l ap , k ind of h airy with m e being in th e points l ead . I knew he'd g iv e m e room and I gave hi m room ." '" tu ck ed in behind D av id [E st ok] and he blew up or had a probl em . I st ayed beh ind Eric [Wood ] fo r a good six or seve n laps. I had a littl e b it of a c arb uretion pr oblem coming out on to the front straightaway and the back U c u e I ... st rai g htway an d it was enabli ng him to op en up a gap . I'd cl ose it back up on th e brakes. but I ju st couldn 't get c lo se enough . I k new th at eve n if I co uld st ay with him it'd be hard to get around h im , so I just put it o n cr uise co ntrol an d bro ught it hom e for the poi nts lead." Ciccotto leaves Loudon w ith a 15 point lead , 10 3- 8 8, over Munroe Motors ' Tom Montano , a dista nt th ird in Loudon . Munr oe to o k o ve r thi rd wh en T illey's H-D /Bu el l's Tripp N o bl e s blew up on the 23rd of 24 la ps. The in itial diagnosis was a failure in the head of th e Bu ell Li ghtnin g. M unroe was mak ing a run through the pack wh en he slowed for a numbe r of laps. He'd seen oil on the track and thought someone el se m igh t see it or he 'd fall. But no one else saw it, he d idn 't fall, and he sped up. " I though t , hell there's oil on the track bu t n ob o d y e lse saw it and nobody else hit it , but I lost m y co n centration," Montan o said . " Eventual Iy , I reg ain ed i t and star t ed go ing ag ai n, bu t by th en th ese guys w ere go ne. I d idn 't get the best of starts . I've been having tr ouble all weekend. " Defen d ing champio n Jeffrey Nash we nt down o n th e o il ear lier wh ile in fo u rth . He was t a k en t o th e inf ie ld medica l ca re ce nter and released . D ea n Mizdal g ot the b et t er of a rac e-lo ng d uel with local ride r Robert Nigl , of D err y , Ne w Hampsh ire , for fou r t h , w ith an o ther local , Thomas F o urn ie r, s i xth on t he Dunbar Eu ros ports Duca ti. eN New Hampshire International Speed.ay Loudon, Ne. Hampshire Results: June 18, ZOOI [Round 31 B

• Cover