Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

; ROAD RACE AM! 25Ol:c Grand Prix Series: Round ti causing him to miss both Loudon and next week's race at Road America (see qualifying sidebar). Southwest Motorsports Chris D' Aluisio con·tinued to suffer a rash of bad luck, his ignition packing up on the 19th lap. Del Amo Yamaha's Robbie Petersen only managed two full laps before seizing going into turn two on the third lap while in second place..And Canadian Jon Cornwell crashed on the 21 st lap while a distant second to Filice. Despite finishing fourth, Edwards increased his championship lead to 15 points over the idle Roberts Jr., 98 to 8!l. Kirk is third with 74, while Filice moved into fourth with 58, seven better than D'Aluisio. Some in the field had grumbled that Filice's qualifying time was a mistake, that he'd actually gone nearly a second slower. But when the race started in brillia}lt sunshine, there was no question who the fastest rider on the track was. The defending series champ sped to the 'front and immediately demonstrated that the race was his and the only squabbling would be for second. By the third lap Filice had over a four second lead which he built on with every corner. Running comfor· tably in the high I: 16 second lap range, Filice had 10 ten seconds at the hallway mark, a margin that grew, at its peak to 21 seconds, before he slowed at the end to win by 16-plus. "My only problem was lapped riders," Filice said after his Sunday ride, adding they'd altered the forks to make it steer quicker on the tortuous Loudon circuit. "We dropped the front end down a little bit to make it steer ~. Californian Jimmy Filice ran away and hid hom the pack in the 25Oc:c GP class. The pack behind Filice on the o~glap consisted of Robbie Petersen (16), Rick Kirk (5), and Chris D' Aluisio (2). Rick Tripodi (not pietured) finished second. . Filice all the way By Henny Ray Abrams .A 8 LOUDON, NH, JUNE 21 week after finishing a disappointing ninth on a tired engine at the ultra·fast Brainerd International Raceway, Camel Commonwealth Honda's Jimmy Filice came to a track that suited both him and the power and handling of his Honda RS250. A new crankshaft added life to his engine and a pole position added to his spirits and when all the factors were added up, Filice had dominated the. 250cc Grand Prix race at New Hampshire International Speedway in a fashion . no longer seen in the always close 250cc class. Officially, he won by 16.281 seconds, but the race was never that close, the crafty veteran leading from the start to score the second win of his up-anddown season. "I looked at everybody's tires at the start. Nobody had scuffed them in. I wanted to put some hard laps in at the start," Filice said. "I knew I could run as quick a~ they could. I was nev~r. pressured too much." Filice completed the 31-lap, 49.6mile race in 39 ininutes, 55.113 seconds at an average speed of 74.552 mph, and earned $5760 for the win. Second place was the prize in a war of attrition and it went to Canadian Rick Tripodi on the Camerica Games Aprilia 250 in a career best finish. Two Brothers Racing's Rick Kirk rode valiantly to finish third, the Oklahoman slowed by cracked ribs and a sore foot suffered in a mid-week practice crash. Also slowed by injuries on the demanding 1.6-mile New Hampshire International Speedway circuit was championship leader Colin Edwards. The Southwest MOLOrspofls rider found that .after abqut five laps the left hand he injured in a practice crash at Texas World Speedway became too painful to go all out. Still, he got the better of a nearly race-long duel with Moto Liberty/Nankai's Danny Walker who finished fifth. It wasn't as if Filice needed any help in winning - he did, after all, qualify on the pole and run consistently quicker _than anyone else - but a number of tOP riders were eliminated over the course of the weekend changing the complexion of the race and championship. Rainey Racing Otsuka's Kenny Roberts Jr. crashed in qualifying, breaking his 'Ieft collarbone and J quicker. The Honda handles so nice and, I could keep my momentum up. This track suits my style of riding because I have real good corner speed. "I saw they weren;t gaining on me and I had plus-21 four laps from the end. The tires were overcooked from the beginning and I cruised the last laps," Filice said. Behind Filice the race was a good one. Petersen was away second before seizing early on and handing the spot to Kirk, D'Aluisio and Edwards on his tail. Walker, Cornwell,- and Tipodi were in a trio farther back. D'Aluisio moved into second on the fifth lap, Edwards moving past Kirk" two laps later, the battle for fifthl heating up with Cornwell ahead ot Walker and Tripodi from the sixth lap. on. It appeared that D'Aluisio was cruising to an uncontested second when his bike suddenly quit on the ' 19th lap coming out of tum two. "It just died," the disappointed Connecticut resident said. "I was coming out of two and the tach went to zero and it never came off zero. It was a long race and I didn't ",ant to trash the tires and I didn't want to fall down." Inheriting second was Cornwell, the Canadian having moved methodically~ through the pack with more aggressive riding in traffic. He passed Edwards for fourth on the ninth lap, then followed Kirk for three more before moving into third. His race lasted two laps longer than D'Aluisio's before it came to an end when he crashed braking for the carousel turn six as Tripodi applied the pressure. "I saw plus-Ion my board and I immy Filice heid the qualifying recotd at don, his one lap best from last year a 1:17.386 over the 1.6-mile course. In a test session on the WednesdaY before the rate weekend, Filil:t, with a new crankShaft in his ld.Toomeyt1.med Calnel Commonwealth. Honda, was .stuck in the 215 be(pn: hitting on a front end cllaDge that immediately dropped him into~ ISs. om:e official plllCti« began he was i~ the llis. drOppi~ doWnlO a best of 1:15.()!2 at an average speed of 76.767 mph in the ill'St of two nmed 5e$SiOm. . '... . "We put the front end from LagQn3 on. and 11 helpe

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