Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HILlCLIMB . AMA N ational Championship H illclimb series R ound1:Z Wenger Memorial Hillclimb eke crei er dra 5win By Jay A. Herndon MIDDLEBURY, IN, MAY21 a rr y Schreiber of the Gerencer Harley-Davidson-sponsored team blasted to the top of the hill and with one pass established a strong hold on th e number-one position, wi nn ing th e 800cc class at th e season opening round of th e AMA National Hillclimb series. Topping the 540cc class on the day, d efend ing cha mp ion Paul Pinsonnau lt h ad a nearly perfect fir st run on ly to have his bubble popped by BSA-mounted Rick Soter. Pinsonna u lt rebo und ed on his seco nd run, fou nd the right line and just ed ged Soter's time. The climb was hosted by the 49-yearold Goshen Iron Horsemen M.e., which ha s been sponsori ng hillclimbs si nce 1946. The 200-foot man -m ad e hill w as d esigned by Louis Gerencer Sr. and is notorious for aerial rides, a result of a vertical first obstacle that peaks at the 30-foo t marker. In order to establish competitive times riders have to ju mp from the first obs tacle and over the second , som e 65 feet into the course. A crowd of 3000 spectators were on hand at the recently upgraded grounds. Aaron Brown drew the first run from the lottery in the 540cc class. Aboard a . borrowed, beautifully stretched Honda, _ Aaron popped out of the center of the starting box with a good drive. Getting a H l1) 0\ ~ !:'-' ;g ;::l -. 38 climb. Stepping off the log Pinsonnault centered on the hill and mad e the aerial look easy. Landi ng just over the seco nd kicker, Pinsonnault soared to the top in 3.276 seconds, pu ttin g hi mself on th e bubble for first place. Then Sotor p ut his BSA on the hill . The Powerfu l n itro-burner launched So to r skyward , a nd as he lan d ed the bike hoo ked up and he shot thr ough the lights, getting a kick to the rig h t from the BSA. Sotor motored to the timers in 3.347 seconds, popping Pin sonnault's bubble to take first in the opening hal f of the da y. When the 540cc rid ers cam e ou t for the second half of the program, Brown wa s the firs t rid er at the starting box . The Honda rider got a good s ta rt and styled a cross-up before touching down off the first kicker. Staying centered on the course, Brown completed his climb with a run of 3:286 , fast enough for fourth place. Pulver returned to best his first time with a stra ight and clean aerial pass on the hilt logging an impressive 3.252 for third place. "I had Tenador Racing in California do th e motor work for me , and a fellow rider, Jim Zucco, did some ca rb uretor w ork for me. We'll let the numbers tell th e story. I was up there wit h Pa ul (Pinso nna u lt), running with the Nationa l Cha mpion. Get beat by the best and I can' t cry too hard." Pinsonnault returned to take the line to the left o n t he hill , squeezin g o u t Soter's first run . T he s moot h, even keeled ride yielded a 3.160, fast eno ug h to take his first win for the year. "Tod ay I know the right setu p for the bike. I just (Above) Paul Pinsonnault took his Honda to the top of the 540cc class. (Right) Only able to make one run on the day due to tran sm ission problems, Steve Dresser's fi rst-run ti me was still good enou gh for second In t he 800CC class. lot of air as h e clea red th e 35-foo t a rea betw e en th e jumps, h e land ed jus t ove r the seco n d s us pe nsio n cr us h ing ki ck er and got immediately back on the throt tle completing his grac eful rid e in 3.443 seconds. Mi cha el Pulver pu t hi s bright-r ed Honda aga ins t the log in what would become the preferred spot for the 540cc field, just to the left of center. Pu lver left with a smoo th hol esh ot and launched off the first jump, landed smoothly and s ho t to th e top, clockin g a centerline climb of 3.540 in his first run. In his fir st attempt to d e fend h is number-one plate, Massachusetts' Pin sonnault squeezed off a near-perfect .. ha d to find th e r ight line a n d rid e agg ress ive enough to win ." On his return trip to the starting box, Sotor produced a slow er ride, landing long and slamming onto th e ground, thus losing his momentum. Sotor fought his way up the hill but only managed a 3.340-seco nd run. Still , the BSA rider' s first time ·secu red him a second-place finish. "First loser, " he said later. "The first run felt good . The second felt like I crashed. I caught too much air. It was all I could d o, so I just turned it on ... Oh, well." Gr eg Williams sta rted off the 800cc class with his p owerful four-cylind er n itro-fed Honda. As Williams revved an d cleared th e mot or for the run, the cr o wd how led in a n tici pa tion. Hard ou t of the s ta rti ng box th e Cartadia n flew high a nd long, la n d ing so me 10 fee t b e y ond th e seco n d k ic ke r a nd so u nd ly cased th e bike. Williams was quick ly b a c k on th e thro tt le a nd s to p ped th e clock a t 3.225 seconds go od eno ugh for fifth. It wo u ld be his only run for the da y, as he was un able to com e back again due to transmission troubles. The Reiser-backed Harley-Davidson of Steve Dresser rolled into the starting gate next. The XR750 rider's exit from the box was fast and he overshot the second kicker by five feet. In the hard lan d ing, Dres ser's hand slipped off the th rottle, but he was soon back into the gas and clocked a still-impressive 3.393 from the plagued climb. Glenda! Petty Jr. put his blue Harle y onto the hill centered as he launched off the first jump. Petty landed to the right and held the line all the way up, clocking an awesome 3.117 and on the bubble for first. Petty ' s bubble w as burst by Harry Schreiber of the Gerencer' s Pro Hillclimb team. Sporting new bright-orange colors, the former "Red Team" put their best foot forward a s Schreiber ran as close to perfect as anyone could. Far left in the starting box, the launch was hard an d made the climb look easy. Schreiber stayed left on the hill running smoo thly through the ligh ts with a tim e of 3.082. Schreiber sa t on the bubble for the day. Schr eiber's tea mma te, Mickey Dent, powered his Harley ou t the left side of the box. Obviously hungry for the win, Dent wa s hard on the gas after a rightside landing from the first kicker . Dent went over the top of the hill reall y hot and as a result toppled end over end and up over the handlebars, breaking his collarbone and hurting his elbow in the process. The single 3.227-second ride secured him the sixth-p lace position. As th e 800cc class re turn ed Team USA's Dresser go t the field under way. Dresser managed to hold the thr ottle this time after another ha rd landing and shaved almost three ten ths off his previous time, running a 3.162. The second run was good enough for third on the day. Petty's return to the hill proved less than ideal. After a powerful holeshot, Petty landed fro n t w heel first , almost going en d ove r end . The short climb ended at the 95-foot mark, thus leaving him to rely on his firs t-run tim e. Petty walked away wi th seco nd place. Schreiber' s first run was unbeaten so he d id not need to make the second run. "I can't say enough abo u t the wh ole Ger en cer team. Willis, Steve and especia lly Lo uie h a v e give n m e a great m otor and the n e w s wi nga r m fr om Mickey and his dad, Dou g Dent, really shored up th e w ho le p acka ge. It handled great." l~ Zeke Wenge r Memo rial Hillcllmb Middlebury, Indiana Results: May 21, 1995 540: 1. Pau l Pinsonneu lt (Ho n); 2. Rick Sotor III (BSA); 3. Michael Pu lver (Ho n); 4. Aaro n Brown (Hon ): 5. Paul Lowe (Kaw) : 6. Alan Hosk ins (Hon); 7. Scott McN eely (Hon); 8. Willy Price (Yam); 9. David Watson (Kaw ): 10. Jason Petty (Kaw); 1L Ted Wilkins (Rtx); 12. Terry Tho m pson (BSA); 13. Ralph Kreeger (Tri); 14. Do u g Klont (T ri) ; 15. Jeff Thomas (Ya m ); 16. Paul Ga rrety (Kaw): 17. Rebert Schreine r (BSA); 18. Randy Dillon (Hon); 19. Micha el DeBus k (BSA). 8Ofr. L Harry Schreiber (H·D); 2. Glendal Petty Jr. CH-D) ; 3. Steve Drese.. (H-D); 4. Wallace Fow ler tSuz); -r 5. Greg Williams (Hon k 6. Mickey Dent (H- D); 7. Jimmy Din g ee (H- D); 8. Rod W ill ia ms (1-1 - 0); 9. Robert Castled ine (H·D); 10. Lou Ge= Jr. (H·D); 11. Tom Reiser (H- D); 1 ~ Rand y Ga bri el (H -D); 13 . Roger McN eel y (H- D); 14. Ru ssel VanDerVt"cn rr -n, 15. Rodney Smith (BSA).

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