Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HILLCLIMB AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series Round 2: White Rose Motorcycle Club (Above left) Tom Reise r pulled off a 5.73-second pass on his first run before crashing at the J effers on National Hillcllmb. Though he did not make a second pass, Reiser 's time was good enough for the OOOCc win. (Above) Three-time and reigning 540cc National Champ ion Pau l Plnso nnau lt returned to form at Jefferson and earned the class win during the final 540cc run of the day. (Left) Mike DeBusk blasted his nitro-guzzling BSA to s econd place In the 540cc division. By David L. Patton Jr . JEFFERSON, PA, JUNE 2 ven with five National champio ns hi p s be tween th em in th e last four yea rs, Tom Reise r and P aul Pinson na ult came to round tw o of the AMA National Champion ship H iIlclimb Series at the White Rose Mo torcycle Club as underdogs. Yet when the day was over, both veterans had won big. Pi nsonnault, the three-time and defending 540cc National Champion, m ay have been edged ou t by the young guns at round one, but he showed everyone that he is still the m an to beat in 1996. Since his broken leg in 1994, Reiser has been developing a radical new chassis for h is Pro USA Hillclimb Team H a rl eyDavid son. Reise r's win at Jefferson last fall was a sign of th ings to come, an d with a winter devoted to engine development, the three-time champion w as rea dy to remind 1995's top rid ers that Tom Reiser will nev er fade away as lon g as he ha s big -time Har ley horsepower. . Th e event also fea tured tw o-st roke Kawasaki Triples ru nn in g in th e 800cc class. Two Mach IV-ba sed ma chines ran, w ith four-time 540 ch am p ion Tim Frazier turning in a top -lO finis h in his firstever ride on a trip le. 34 540cc Sh ortl y after 1 p .m. John H isl o p thunder ed his BSA ov er th e top of the hill, and th e ra ce was on . Mike DeBusk, also on a BSA, se t th e pace ea rly with a 6.70-second run, bu t th ere were three faster rides in the first ro u nd. National n u m be r-fou r David W a ts on p ut in a 6 .55 r u n b efore Pinnsonault calmly put in a clean ride to edge Watson by a tenth of a seco nd w ith a 6.45 . Bob Sh rein er had a n excelle n t ride on his BSA to m ove into thi rd by 0.0003 of a second, bu t Shr einer w asn 't ab le to control .his bik e over the top and took a ha rd fall, end ing his d ay. When th e 540cc-class ride rs got thei r secon d ch an ce a t the h ill , m any had dialed in th eir m achines and were going fast er. Watson turned up the hea t with a 6.46-secon d pass, w h ich was good eno ugh for fou rth overall for the day. " We m issed just a li ttle bit on the bike se tup," Watson said. On h is second tr y, DeBusk came to the line with a plan. "1 had to pick a good line, sta y in it and stay on it," DeBusk said. Debusk stayed on the gas, and 6.30 seconds later he set a target for everyone to shoot at. Terry Thompson put together a smooth, fast ride to move into the fif th s po t behin d Watson. Scott McN eely' s th ird -place finish ro unded ou t th e top five w hen he put in his seco nd good ride of the race, clocking a 6.457, 0.005 seconds beh ind Pinsonnault. "We changed the gearing and the hill got fast er for us," sai d McN eely, who fin is hed second in round o ne of the series. Mike Pu lver, the win ne r of th e serieso p ener in Ind ian a, h ad a spectacular crash after the ligh ts on his firs t ride, but he go t it together on th e second run to finish sixth . Pinnsonau lt was the last rider in the 540cc class, and he could either stay in second- p lace or take th e win. "I come to every hillclimb pl anning on m aking two rides," Pinnso na u lt said . "My approach is the sa me for each hillclimb. "

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