Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ROAD RACE· AMA 250(( Grand Prix Series: Round 7 e ... Jimmy Filice (1) holds off Colin Edwards (45), Robbie Petersen (16) and the rest. Chris D'Aluisio ended up scoring a dominating victory for the second straight year. and braking. The Yamahas accelerate better than the Hondas, though they're nearly equal on top speed. With a pole position time nearly a second better than his teammate, and three better than the field, D'Aluisio had to be considered the favorite and when the flag dropped he set out to prove it. Filice got the jump, Edwards and D'Aluisio right with him, the trio already getting away from the battle for fourth. E.dwards took the lead by the end of the first lap and by the third, D'Aluisio was second, taking over on the fifth lap w.hen Edwards nearly . crashed when his tire went flat in turn seven, a fast-kink right-hander. "It just slid and almost high-sided and slid and almost high-sided again. I'd never had a fla t rear so I didn't know what it was. The next turn is a lefthander and it did it again," a disappointed Edwards said. But while he was out there, he did everything he could to keep the lead. "We were banging back and forth," D'Aluisio said, while Filice watched from behind, waiting for the pair to perhaps take each other out of the race. With D'Aluisio out, Kirk realized he was in third and he thought to settle for the spot. "But the racer in me said keep it on, keep it on," he said. "I didn't get as good a start as I usually do. Jimmy, Chris and Colin got out there and I had to put my head down." By the sixth lap, D'Aluisio had close to three seconds on Filice, an advantage that he would stretch at about a second a lap despite a stiff headwind and a nagging misfire. "My bike didn't run as well as it did in qualifying. About three laps in, it started missing real bad. It got a little worse, then stabilized with about four laps to go," D'Aluisio said. "It flattened out at about 12,000. Normally it pulls to 12,500 and I overrev it. "The wind was in totally different . direction. Going through the kink it was pushing the bike right across the track," D'Aluisio added, but he wouldn't be denied the win. The race would be for second and it would be a good one. Filice looked to be comfortable, about three seconds in front of Kirk early on, but found he was being slowed by a mysterious vibration. "I was going good until the vibration hit and I couldn't figure it out. It started about the fourth or fifth lap," said Filice, who thought he might have lost a front wheel weight. Kirk was busy holding off Robbie D'Aluisio on p_ol_e I t took seven races, but Southwest MO.torsPG!f.ts'.. C.hriS D'Aluisio final..lyearned . his first pole position of the year and he did it emphatically. . The 29-year-old mechanical engineer from West Redding, COl;mecticut, If seconds with a lap of twobettered his own lap record by nearly th're 1.509 mph 01} the:fou:r~mile minutes, 21.S59*eGPnds at an average sp Wisconsin course7'ExPerlence was the key; "Last year's bike w~ a bask enough sQluti D'Aluisio's tuner Dave Harold said. "The year before last we made mistakes and that made us think. We won that year and the bike wasn't right," D'Aluisio said The key according to the pair is gearing." "We've had large arguments here with gearing/' Harold said with a laugh. "It's a compromise. You need to gear in the back to get out of tbe corners and you have a long straight. . D'Aluisio said they were running the same gearing as the last three years. That being the case, bow does be go so much faster? "It becomes more rideable. The tires are definitely better and I know my way around," D'Aluisio said. The only problem they were having was with rear suspension. "We've got to get the rear to hook up. Full cranked over it's scary." Next to D'Aluisio on the front row was his Southwest Motorsports' teammate Colin Edwards. The 18-year-old Texan bad only limited experience here and it took him a while to get going mentally. "I've got to get past that point of beiQg conservative about the thing. Once the bike is moving around a little and shaking I feel beuer," Edwards said. Edwards' tuner Mike Rockwell bad fit~¢9.'a·· new rear shock ·'fQr saturday's qualifying sessjon, the former one wor .. , adf: a world of differ~"', Edwards said. .. ,I'd hit bUQlps '" . , ~ng!' Camel th Hon(ia's Jimm 'ld fastest. n~ly behind E -.clt 'punisb~ l~d< ot a~~ -Plidrange. .. op speed,lJut e' bike doeSn~t' 29-year-old def g ~c National "It (the Yarna au a little bit in . . . ." '" .., t% What also hampered Filice was a whee. g problem which kept him from immediately going out for the second ses510 limited him to only five laps. Then, on race morning, Filice's RS250 feD of 1$ workbench, eraeki,ng theJrarne. Tuner Ed Toomey'got a spare frame oot of the truck and completely rebuilt the bike for Sunday's morning warm-up and the race. '1 JUSt wanted to get on the front row," Filice said. "Chris really tikes this place and it shows. " Another Honda, the Two Brothers Racing bike of Rick Kirk, filled out the front row. the Okl3ttoman noticing, like Filice, the power advantage of the Yarnahas. "They're stron~ in the middle. You've just got to get out with them and hope they puU you around," Kirk said. The team bad tried different engine combinations to move the power around on Sannday, but went back to Friday's settings. "I just have to ride with a little extra determination:' Dianetics :Racing's Donnie Greene ~ed off the second row, Del Amo Yamaha's Robbie Petersen, Hall 'n' StiU's Bruce Baldus, and Mobile WeldinglMcBride . Cycles/Castrol's Jon Cornwell sitting nett to Jiim. Greene said be was happy wiJh his setUPC0llsidering thar his ~Yamaha is box stock. "We're getting a little closer aJlfl'ooser and ir's pretty mueh the best the bike call be he said. ,k Petersen, who with a 2:25.5 I think l can . e'U'make up the sus . make it a Ii Thirty-six rid~'~.alifiedfpr the 13-H Elkhart Lake good to D'Aluisio By Henny Ray Abrams ELKHART LAKE, WI, JUNE 28 t has been the most frustrating of seasons for Southwest Motorsports' Chris D'Aluisio, with injuries and mechanical problems putting the damper on a promising start. But the elements all came together on a brilliantly sunny afternoon at Road America and the 28-year-old from Connecticut won his first 250cc GP in nearly a year. "I love Elkhart Lake. The bike was great and the tires were awesome," D'Aluisio said after winning here for the third year in a row. D'Aluisio said that a stiff wind and nagging electrical problem kept him' from equalling his pole-setting qualifying time, but his effort was still good enough to easily win, beating Two Brothers Racing's Rick Kirk by 11.460 seconds in record time. He averaged 100.023 mph in completing the 13-1ap, 52-mile race in 31minutes, 11.5'72 seconds, bettering John Kocinski's 1989 record. D'Aluisio won $3840 of the $20,000 250cc GP purse. I 8 Kirk earned second by passing Camel Honda's Jimmy Filice two laps from the end, the Camel Honda rider slowed by an unexplained vibration after having to replace his frame on . race morning (see qualifying sidebar). Del Amo Yamaha's Robbie Petersen shadowed Filice in fourth with Moto Liberty/Nankai's Danny Walker getting the better of a race-long fight with Hall 'n' Still's Bruce Baldus for sixth. Southwest MotorspoTts' Colin Edwards had a day he'd r~ther forget. The 18-year-old championship leader had a flat rear tire on the fifth lap, pitting to replace it and losing a lap in the process. He finished 24th. But Edwards still holds the points lead with 98, seven better than Kirk. Otsuka Racing's Kenny Roberts Jr., who stayed home to allow his broken collarbone to heal, is third with 83 points, 10 better than Filice. With the win D'Aluisio moved into fifth with 71. The long, high-speed Elkhart Lake circuit puts a premium on acceleration --

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