Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 11: Z oPonders F en arm ...'... .· HILLC B:· LlM ; . AMA Natiorial Championship H climbSeries ill Gerencer, Soter leave 'em in the ashes By Jay A. Herndon ASHVILLE, NC, ocr.1 Ou Gerencer Jr. and Rick Soter were the big winners at round 11 of the AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series, held at the Ash ville hill in North Carolina. Gerencer blasted off the launch pad aboard his Ha rley-David sonbacked Red Team bike in drag-race fashion to score his sixth 800cc class win of the season. Gerencer's sing le centerline run was all he needed to win . Like Gerencer, Soter's single blast on the hill had the same results for him as he nabbed his third 540cc class w in of the year aboard h is BSA. North Carolina's Harley-Davidson Dealer Association welcomed the Pro Hillclimb Series to their first hillclimb in o v er 30 yea rs . "We we re looking fo r something new, something tha t hadn't been done," said Phil Schoonover, president of the association. "This is our first hillclimb. Ou r rally consists of field ga mes and a bike show. Last night we had a flat track race. Tonight we have a free concert, and this afternoon we have a Pro Hilldimb. There's a little bit of everything here for the motorcyclist to enjoy." Located outside Ashville, Zeno Ponders Farm is a huge facility, surrounded w ith beautiful rolling hills. It was, in m any of the riders' opinions, a perfect facility for hillclimbs. Scott McNeeley was the first rid er to tackle the hill in the 540cc class. McNeeley put his Honda in the cen ter of the starting box and shot onto the hill. Staying cen ter ed, McNeele y was fast and straigh t as the 350-foot drag stri p of a hill had no obstacles to slow him . McNeeley clocked a 5.3581-second run. Paul Pinsonnault was next. He blasted out a fast run , but it served only as a practice climb, as the timer malfunctioned. Pinsonnault's return was almost a carbon co p y in execution as he squeezed a 4.5081-second run out of the timing lights. Soter popped onto the hill aboard his single-shock BSA. Getting a crackle from the bike at the start of his climb, the bike cleared out and the horsepower came back on. Kicking out a dust cloud, Soter's centerline climb ended in 4.3694 seconds, fast enough to pu t him on the bubble. Scott Everett put his nickle-plated Triumph in the center of the hill, and drifted slightly to the left as he shot to the top in 4.5805 seconds. He sat third in the first round. Very anxious to get on to the "d rag strip," the 800cc class got start ed wi th Wa llace Fowler, wh ose blue and w hite four-eylinder Suzuki screamed as he fed th e nitro to it. Launching hard, Fow ler bolted to the top and set his front wheel . down just befo re th e lights to cloc k a 4.6493. Gerencer Jr. used all the ho rsep ower he could find, and kicked ou t a huge rooster tail as he raced up the hill. Fast and s traigh t, he s top ped the clock a t 3.9908. Gerencer's time put him on the bubble for the first rou nd . Greg Williams ro d e h is bro the r s' screa ming Honda, and got kicked to the left as he left the gate. Still hammering, Williams lifted his front wheel in a frenzy to get to the top and scored a 4.0121; fast enough for third in the first round. L Steve Dresser fired his Team USA Harley onto the hill and kicked out mounds of dirt as he blasted to the top, only a couple of thousandths Jaster than Williams, to drop into the second-place position for his first climb. When the second round of the 540cc class returned to the hill, Pinsonnault and Everett switched positions from the first round. Everett took off with a second-place finis h with the all-improved ti me of 4.4839. Pinsonnault also improved his time, but it wasn't fast enough to hold on to second place. He had to settle for third with a 45064 . Sot er , unaffected by Pin sonnault's and Everett's battle, sat on the bubble all day and was unchallenged. In the 13-rider 800cc class, Gerencer, Dresser and Williams returned for their second runs. Gerenc er sat on the bubble as he watched Dresser attemp t to imp rove on his time. Dresser shu t his (Abo ve) Lou Gerencer Jr. topped the 800cc class wit h only a single run aboard his big HarleyDavidson. (Left) Rick Soter nabbed the win In the 540cc class aboard a BSA-powered machine. (Below) At the end of his second run , Greg Williams decided that he'd had enough. Trackslde Jud ges gave his stylish dismount a perfect 10. run down a little earl y, logging a time of 3.9964 - only three-thousandths of a second slower than Gerencer. "I let off, what is th ere to say," said Dresser. "Th ose two- to three-thousandths of a second show that... don't let offl" Williams got a kick out of his bike in h is second run . Straight and fa st, Williams' run end ed w ith a less-thanglamourous dismount as he topped the grassy hilL Bucked off the back of his big Honda, W illiams cl ocke d a slower 4.1275, resu lting in a thir d-place finish. "My first ride was my best," he said. "I feel that I wasn' t aggressive enough on the holesh ot, On my second run, I was real aggr essive and I got a few bounces on the hill and that was enough to make the di ffe r ence. You get a couple of . boun ces and that's a tenth right there!" Gerencer netted his sixth win of the year, closing the chap ter on round 11 by saying, "It was definitely a dra g strip. It had some little bumps in it, and if you rod e in t he right place it was real smoo th. It de finitely needs som e jumps to ma ke things more interesting." fN Zeno Ponders Farm Ashville. North Carolina Resuhs:October1 , 1994 540: 1. RkIc Soter (BSA); 2. Scott Everett (Tri); 3. Paul Pinso nnault (Ho n); 4. David Watson (Ka w); 5. James Zu= (Kaw); 6. Pa ul Lowe (Kaw); 7. Bob Ha wk (BSA); 8. Paul Garrety (BSA); 9. Alan Hcs kins (Hon); 10. Rodney Swanson (Rtx); 11. Roger McNeeley (Yam) ; 12. Ralph Kreeger (Tri ); 13. Steve Patrick (Ya m); 14. [ason Petty (Kaw); 15. Ted Wilkins (Rtx ); 16. Mike Pulver (Han); 17. Sco tt McNeeley (Ho n); 18. Kev in Zucc o (Kaw); 19. Walter Herrick (Suz ). 800: I. Lou Gerenrer Jr (H-D ); 2. 51 e Dresser (H. . .. D); 3. Greg Williams (Hon); 4. Harry Schrciber (H-D); S. l im m y Ding re e (H - D); 6. Ra ndy Gabriel (H - D) ; 7. Rodney Sm th (BSA); 8. Gary Mi ller (H-D); 9. Mickey Dent (H-D); 10. Bob Castledine (H· D); 1L Glenda! Petty Ir. (H-D); 12. Wallace Fow ler (Suz ). '<:t' 0\ 0\ ,...; 0\ ,...; I-< Q) E u o 27

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