Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·HILLCLIMB. White Rose Motorcycle Club AMA All-Star Invitational (Lett) $eries champion Steve Dresser took his XR750 hlllclimber to the All-Star Invitational win In the SOOcc class. (Below) Paul Plnsonnault floats over the top of the hili on his flrst run. Plnsonnault took his fifth consecutive Invltetlonal victory with his win in the ~cclass. By Jay A. Herdon JEFFERSON, PA. OCT. IS teve Dresser and Paul Pinsonnault proved themselves the best of the best in their respective classes, coming out the big winners in the annual AMA All-Star invitational. Dresser led the USA Hillclimb team to a one-two finish in the 800cc class but had to work hard to eclipse his teammate Randy Gabriel's eventual runnerup time. In the 540cc class Paul Pinsonnault rode his usual consistent race, utilizing his final ride to secure his fifth Invitational win in a row. Canadian Ted Wilkins placed second, some two-tenths adrift of Pinsonnault's event-winning run. The White Rose Motorcycle Oub, host of this year's event, has a 39-year history of staging hillclimbs, and has hosted the All-Star Invitational in oddnumbered years since 1967, with Muskegon Motorcycle Oub in Michigan running the event in even-numbered years. The invitation-only event welcomes the top 15 riders in each class based on points tallied from Invitational to Invitational, and the running order for the day is established from bottom to top; that is, the rider with the least points runs first. Usually held during the first weekend in August, this year's event was rescheduled due to flooded grounds. One of the pluses of the Invitational is that with the smaller number of riders in each class, the event allows the riders three chances to set their fast time rather than the usual two. The "no points awarded" event makes for a fun and exciting day as teams and riders can experiment with equipment and riding styles without fear of losing points in S , ~ l-< Q) 1 z 22 the Championship series. An alternate usually a 16th rider - is always invited. John Hislop of Raleigh, North Carolina, had first honors in the 540cc class. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get his BSA fired up for the run and used his la-minute return time to fix the reticent nitro-burner. William Price stepped up in the meantime and rode his usual unicycle-style up the tacky hill to clock a 7.983. Price's second ride ended with a get-off at the 140-foot marker, and while his third attempt improved on his first (7.752 seconds) it wasn't enough to elevate him from 13th place. Hislop returned, his BSA having finally fired up, and got to the top of the hill in 7.384 seconds. It was the only time the North Carolinian rider would make it to the lights as his second and third rides ended midhill. Hislop finished 12J:h. Kawasaki-mounted Paul Lowe fought off his share of wheelies on the traction-rich hill and clocked a 6.9840 on his opening bid. A 6.494 and 6.865 followed, with his fast second climb landing him in third for the day. "I came to just have a good time," said the West Virginian. "Never had much luck on this hill and I guess it's about time I did." Wilkins rolled up next, and with the second pull on the lawnmower-style starter, the Rotax twin fired up. Just as quickly, Wilkins was on the top of the hilI with a solid 6.630. His next run netted a blistering 6.387, and splitting the difference of the first two rides, Wilkins shoved a 6.5417 through on his third try. The second ride earned him second place. "(1) just cranked it up and went for it, but 1didn't beat Paul (pinsonnault), so I guess 1 didn't crank it on hard enough," said Wilkins with a chuckle. Pinsonnault's day proved just as consistent as his championship-winning year. His three rides were within seventenths of each other with his ultra-fast, 6.186-second third attempt the one that put him on top of the class. It was a double five for Pinsonnault as this was his fifth National win of the year, as well as being the fifth successive Invitational victory. "I was experimenting a little bit today with gearing," said the modest Pinsonnault. "I tried two different gearing setups out and the one for the final run worked out great. I was just preparing myself for next year." The BOOcc class was called to the staging area, and event referee Harold' White gave Wade Williams the goahead. Williams' monstrous four-cylinder Honda suffered from a stuck throttle, and he failed to return to the box within the allotted 10-minute repair time and had to forfeit his first ride. Wade returned in round two and hammered the nitro-fed motorcycle to the lights in 6.3139 seconds. Wade's return in round three proved only one thousandths of a second faster with a 6.3096 and put him in fifth place on the day. Lou Gerencer Jr. put his fuel-injected Harley to the hill's face with consistent times of 6.2433, 6.2101, and a still-faster 6.2055 to secure a third-place finish. "I came out here to win this thing and I kept having wheelie problems all the way up the hill," said·Gerencer, who was fighting off a bad cold. '1 ran consistent 6.25 all day, but that didn't cut it today. I changed the gearing trying to keep the front end down but I think I made it worse." Randy Gabriel put in a solid trio of rides at 6.3362, 6.1581 and a 6.0682. It was Gabriel's third climb aboard his XR750 Harley that turned the thumb screws on his teammate, Steve Dresser. While Dresser's first ride was only 6.5595 it was his improved second ride of 6.1260 seconds that put him on the bubble going into the third round. Hoping his time would hold, he was beaten by Gabriel's fast third run. Dresser would have to run one more time. The New Yorker was up to the challenge, however, and he got everything right. The smooth, 5.9005-second blast (the only sub-six-second run of the day) vaulted him to the ~op of the 800cc class for the All-Star win. Finishing up an excellent year with three National wins, seven runner-up finishes and three thirds, Dresser takes the championship home to New York once again. "I was kind of happy to get into the five-second bracket - that was my.goal," said the likable champion. "And then to come down and win the ational as well as the Championship we wrapped up last week - and then to have two wins back to back - really gives me a lot of fuel to go into next year with. We're pretty excited!" "Today just seemed like today was my day," reflected the second-placed Gabriel. "The sun shines on every dog's butt once in a while. The first one was fast, the second one was a little faster, the third one was faster than the second, so I just can't do much more than CN that." White Rose M.e. Jetlerson, Pennsylvania Resulte: October 15, 1995 540: 1. Paul Pinsonnault (Hon); 2. Ted Wilkins (Rtx.); 3. Paul Lowe (Kaw); 4. Scott McNeely (Hon); 5. David Watson (Hon); 6. Kevin Zucco (l

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