Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMAAll-Star Invitational HILLCLIMB ~ Schreiber, Everett star at Jefferson e By Jay H erndon JEFFERSON, PA, AU G.1 ed b y H arry Schreiber, the Gerence rs - Lou Sr. an d Lou Jr. completed a Red Team sweep of the top three pl aces in the 800cc class at the AMA All -Star Inv ita tion a l HiIlcl imb which was held on the Whit e Rose M.e. hill a t Jefferson in sou th ern Penn sy lvania. Winner Schreiber and thi rd p lace finisher Lou Jr. didn't really feel like cele bra ting th e tea m's success after the day 's competition had come to a close because run ner-up Lou Sr. crashed hard after completing h is secon d run of the day and suffered serious injuries. Scott Everett rod e h is Triumph-powered m achi n e to th e win in the 540 cc class, loggi ng the fas tes t climb in His first and only attemp t of the day. The White Rose M.e. hosts the invita tion al eve nt in od d- n u mbe red years (it's held in Mu skegon, Michigan, in even years) and the "no-points" even t is limited to the top 15 p rofessional riders in the tw o AMA National Cha mpionship classes. The White Rose M.e. has hosted th e invitational, whic h this year received a nam e cha nge to All-Sta r Inv itationa l, since 1967 an d has p rom oted professional climbs for 37 years. The sun-rose on Sunda y into a clea r s ky with jus t a few clouds floating by and un lik e the h eat wave of prev ious weeks, the th ermo meter st ayed in the 80s on what turned o ut to be a beautiful d ay . A crowd es timated a t 5000 gathered to wi tness the pros tackle the club's 300-foot hill. Each rider at th e ann ua l invi tational event is usu all y permitted to make three runs up the h ill, un like the two climbs permitted at a Na tional, but a mix-up saw 16 riders in vited in each cla ss an d Referee Ha ro ld Wh ite lim ite d the n umber o f climbs to tw o each . The rul e book states tha t at a pro meet w ith m ore th a n 30 ride r s, ea ch rider wi ll be limited to jus t tw o attempts. Dou g Klont made the even t's fir st cli mb . Klont, who placed s ixth in th e Nati onal held here in June, kicked up a huge roostertail as h e lef t th e sta rting box. He danced h is Triumph up the hill with a quick ru n tha t mad e things look easy. His tim e, 6.9132 secon ds, turned ou t to be the fifth fastes t of the day in the 540cc class. Every rider in the 540cc class made it up the hill and through the timing lights on thei r fi rst a tt em p t. C lass winner Ev e rett logged h is w in n in g cl im b, a 6.5228 assa u lt on th e hill . vin th e firs t 'roun d . Evere tt's climb was straigh t an d quic k. He cres ted the first kicker w ith a .throttle adjustment and then ha mme red his Tri umph st ra igh t to the top with a kick o v e r th e bump at the 220-f oot ma rke r. "Th e engine that Tim Fra zier, Earl Bowlby an d Gary Bowlby built (for me) is absolu tely outstanding," Everett sa id . "It absolutely flies ! The first three races of the series we were ha ving p roblems with tile s uspen s io n ; the fro n t wheel was com in g up eve ry op p o rt u n ity it cou ld so we had to extend the sw ingarm eigh t inches. That's the real key to winning tod a y - ha vin g tha t long bike . [ rea lly owe it to Jack Leece an d John De e m e r who o w n Great La kes Moto rcycle Shop in M ich iga n . Jac k wor ked an d wo rked on the susp ension and exten d ed th e swingarm . The real key to th is sport is s ponsors hip and good friends." Alan H oskins put on a w onderful aerial displa y in hi s fir st climb. The .Illinois rider worked the bike back and L forth on the first p art of the hill and then kicked his Honda out to the righ t at the halfway point and sh ot on up the h ill an d through the lights, tripping them a t 6.8360 on h is fi rs t a tte mpt . He th en creste d th e hill 10-feet off the ground and landed beau tifu lly . As spectacular as that climb wa s, it was Hoskins' s sec.ond climb - a 6.6259 run - th at ea rned h im seco nd on the da y in the 540cc class. While not as showy, it proved tha t keep ing yo ur rea r tire on the groun d produces a faster run. Third in the 540cc class went to Paul Pinsonna ult. The Hond a rider from New Englan d seemed to have tractio n problems the first pa rt of his first attempt. He go t thi ngs squared awa y after the firs t kicker, though, and logged in at a quic k 6.7329, which turned ou t to be good for th ird as h is second climb wa s conservative an d slower than his first. "I kn ew the h ill was gon n a b e tougher to ge t a goo d climb on the second time," Pinsonnau lt said, "so [ tried to make my first run count." Lou Cerencer Jr. turned in the third qu ickest climb in the 800cc class on his first a ttempt. The Red Team mem ber go t into trouble right away as his Harley go t si deways o u t o f the starting box. He momentarily sh ut off to regain control a nd then roll ed it back on and roa red over the first kicker and straigh tened the bike ou t as he sta rted a new launch . He hammered over the 220-foo t kicker and sa iled through the ligh ts wi th a time of 6.136 2 seco n ds . His second attempt stopped the clocks at 6.1540, jus t a couple of ticks slower than his first run. Lou Geren cer Sr. logged a rela tively slow 6.669.94 on his first attempt. On h is second attempt, he got a big kick off the 220-foot kic ker, sa t the mach in e ba ck d own w ith the power on an d laun ched it through the timing lights. The time on the scorching run wa s a 6.0264, goo d for sec ond in cla ss, but th ere was a .price. When the bike hit back down it bounced end ove r end over the top of the h ill and the rea r of the Ha rley-powered machine landed on him . The seni or Gerencer suffered a shatte red righ t wrist, broke the sa me arm and a coup le of ribs, and su ffe red minor facial laceration s. He w as imm ediately transported to the hospi tal. Prior to the second round misfortune for the Red Team, Schreiber logged the w in n in g run on h is first and o n ly atte mp t. He th undered out a s tra igh t run wi th the front wheel loftin g thro ugh the mid -sec tion of the hill . Staying on the ri gh t s id e of th e hill, he slammed through the lights w ith w hat would p rove to be the winning time of 5.9744 seconds. Schreiber said the 1-2-3 sweep by the Red Tea m an d the winner's circle celebra tion tha t saw h i m s p r ayed with champag ne by Evere tt w a s " b itte rsweet" because h e d idn 't know h ow Gerencer Sr. was doing and w as anxious (N to get to the hospital to find out. Harry Schreiber scored the 800cc class win on his first and only attempt. Scott Everett logged his winning climb in the 54O<:c class during the firs t rou nd . 1iiiiiiiiiijiiiiii7l Resu lts 540: 1. Scott Everett (Tri); 2. Alan Hos kins (Hon); 3. Pa ul Pinsonnault (Ho n); 4. Michael Deb us k (BSA); 5. Doug Klant (Tr i); 6. Ted Wilkins (Rlx); 7. Steve Dresser (Suz); 8. Ralph Kreeger (Tri); 9. Roger McNeely (Yarn); 10. Steven Patric k (Yam); 11. Pauf Carrety (BSA); 12. Paul Lowe (Hon); 13. Joe Pinsonnault (Kaw) ; 14. Scott McN eely (Ya m); I S. Mich ael P ul ve r (Kaw) ; 16. Do n Pinsonnault {Hon}. 800: 1. Harry Schre iber (H-D ); 2. Lou Cer encer Sr . (H-D); 3. Lou Gerence r Jr. (H-D); 4. Wade Williams (Hon ), S. Robert Castledine (H-D); 6. Tom Reiser (H-D); 7. Randy Gabriel (H-D); 8. Glend all Pe tty (Tri); 9. TIm Fraz ier (BSA); 10. Rodn ey Smi th (H-D); 11. Gary Mille r (H· D); U . Rodney William s (H-D); 13. Wa lIace Fowler (Suz) ; 14. Bruce Rams_ (Hon ); 15. Charles Casey ey (Yam ); 16. Mark Swem (BSA). 41

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