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:AMA NatiOnalLlM Hillclil1lb serieS.. .' Round 8: Bushkil Valley M.e. HIL C Championship .. ' L B·· lereneer, Pinson 1ft sleallins By Jay A. Herndon . 4 STEELCITY, PA, SEPT. 11 he Red Team's Lou Gerencer Jr. put to ge ther two p owe rhou se climbs in the 800cc class , fina lly taking the win from Tim Frazier, who sat on the bubble for most of th e d ay. Gerencer ' s tim e dropped Fra zier ' in to the third sp ot by day' s end, and boosted his season's win total to four . Meanwhile, Paul Pinsonnault had to work hard in the 540cc class, also earning the number-one spot. Starting from the 'num ber-three position in the first round, Pinsonnault push ed out Rick Sotor and Micheal DeBusk in roun d two take his fourth victory of the year . Th e Bushkil Valley M.e. has been arou nd since 1958, and they presented th eir usual menacing terror of a hill, reminding riders that their ascent is still the tough est and most challenging stop on the circuit. Still, Doug KIont, the first rider of the (Above) Lou Gerencer Jr. climbed to his fo urth win of the season in the BOOcc class with an 8.37-seco nd run up the hill at the Bushkill Valley M .e. Hlllclimb Nationa l. (Right) Paul Plnnsonault landed the 540cc title. da y; was optimistic. "It doesn't seem too bad," he said. "It's always hard to tell with this grass on it." The hill started with sand and gravel at the base, with a little kicker at the 75foot mark. The first of three jumps was at 150 feet, wi th the second at 275. Jump three was at 400 feet, with the timing lights just 20 feet short of the 500-foot peak. Under sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s, KIont put his orange Triumph in the starting box to start off the 540cc class. He got onto the hill quickly, staying centered until he wheelied out after the second jump. Ted Wilkins rode his innovative Rotax in his usual high-revving manner, fishtaili ng up the bottom of th e hill. He straightened out to finish the climb with a 10.333, putting him in fourth place for round one. Rick Soter stayed on the centerline and logged some air over the jumps, blasting to the clock in 9.2992 to put him on the bubble for the duration of the first round. Micheal DeBusk put together a fast, straight ride, but rocketed through the lightsa little too fast, going over the top and landing hard. The crash broke his left wrist in two places, but his 9.3697 landed him in second place for the first half of the day . • Pinnsonault got a dance out of his Honda getting onto the hill, but clocked in at 9.5634,putting him in third place for his first try. The big-bore brigade started with West Virg inian Mickey Dent, who squirmed off the first two obstacles and hammered ou t a 9.4941. Dent also went over the top too fast and injured his right hand, b u t the climb put him in third place for his first-round ride. Tun Frazier hammered out of the box, wh eeling over the first little kicker logging air time over each of the jumps. The multi-time 540ccchamp flew over the top an d landed ha rd, inju ring his left foot. Frazier had timed in at 8.8946, and sat on th e bubble in first place for th e rest of round one. The big red Ha rley of Lou Gerencer only bobbled once, bouncing to the right off th e fir st kicker. He tu rned on the