Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127853
HILLCLIMB AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HILLCUMB SERIES Watson docked a faster time of 6.7844 to take his first win this year. "We didn't have a cha ined wheel, so we bo rrowed one from James Zucco, " Wa tson sa id. " We th a n k him fo r t hat. We ju st pl a yed it sa fe till the third round, then we set it up and wen t fast." Chad Disbennett utilized the left side of the start pit as he jum pe d onto the hill, getting a pus h from left and back right as he came off the first jump. Making ad justm ent s, Disbennett stay ed in to his Triumph's thro ttle to get to the seco od kicker. Floating th e fro nt w heel coming off the jump, Disbennett set the w heel down wi th a dash to the lig hts , docking a 7.1403. Movin g into the second rou nd, Disbenn ett exited the cen ter of the pit and stayed in the groove as he carried a wheelie for most of the midsection of the hill. Setting down gently, he continued to the lights w ith a fast, funfilled ride to time an impressive 6.6369, which rolled hi m into the final round. Disbennett forwent the showy wheelie tech nique an d settled for a dean pass on the h ill fo r his th ird r id e . Drifti ng arou nd a little from left to right throug h the middle of the hill, Disbennett stayed in the throttle to card a 6.823D-second run . While slower tha n h is p re viou s By Robi n Wiseman and Jay Herndon of s .t; Photo JEFFERSON, PA, AUG.3 iIlie Price of Madison, West Virginia , to ok first place in the 800cc class d uring the a nn ual All Star Challenge meeting at the White Rose Mo torcycle Club. His seco nd ride provided him wi th the wi n, his second of the season at the Whi te Rose hill. David Watson of ludlo w, Massachu setts, topped 25 other riders in the 540cc class to captu re the overall win after three rounds of eliminations. This year, officials changed the "invitational" concept of this annual event to the "All Star Challenge," a change that a llowed all AMA Pro hilldimbers to participate in this event ra ther than just the top points scorers in the season to date. The 540cc class s tar ted off with 26 participants. Eleven riders were elirninated in round one, then five in round two. There were no carryover times for the remai nin g 10 riders who competed in the final rou nd, so everyone would be starting fresh . The 800cc class, on the other hand, had only 11 p articipants, so offic ials elected to run th e three rounds like a normal hill climb, w ith the fas t time of the day from any round taking top hon ors. The sou nd of nit ro-burning Harleys and the smell of alco hol-bu rning twostrokes filled the air in the picturesque hills of Pennsylvania as round five got und er wa y with hot , dry conditions. With 90 -d egree he a t a nd matchin g (Above) Blg-bore ctass winner Willie Price had a rou gh first ride at the All Start Challenge, ending up well out of bounds. Price w on on his sec ond -ri de time. (Right) David Watso n topped the 540Cc class In what was his first win of the year. humid ity, it made for a ve ry dusty event. Located near York, the 45-yea r-old Whi te Rose MC extended its usua l pr ofes sional welcome. Def end ing 540c c champion Paul Pinsonnault put together a quick, st raight ride on his firs t climb. He clocked a 6.8750-seca nd run to slake a claim on the covet ed top positinn . Moving int o the second round , Pinsonnault got onto the hill with an immediate diagonal cut across the face of the first ju m p. Pin-. sonnault pulled the ride together as he ope ned u p the throttle and wheelied to the second kicker. Riding th rou gh the obstacle, Pinsonna ul t sel d o wn to m o to r to t he top a n d doc ke d a 7 .5774 w i th his tr ou bl e pl agued rid e - not fast eno ug h to see him into th e th ird round of the nopoints All Star event. Pinsonna ult finished off the d ay sp ectat in g, and was credited with 11th. David Watson motored his stretched Honda out of the pit and quickly found the cen terli ne . Watson settled in to the groo ve wi th the throttle pinned , fended off a wh eelie through the second kicker and set it down to get through the lights with a 7.2809. Moving in to the seco nd ro und , Wa tso n put together a left -sid e run up the low er pa rt of the course, then moved to the centerline and sho t over the second kicker, land ing some 30 feet up th e hill. Watson rocked the clock wit h a 7.1095, which was fast enough to move him into the third-round action. Making hillclimb ing look easy wit h a flawl e ss cen terli ne cli mb, Watso n clicked over each of the jum pers w hile extending himself back over the rear of the Honda to ens ure a good di g as he ma inta in e d tr a ction with the cha in wrapped rear tire. Flying over the top, ride, it was fast enou gh for a secondplace fin ish , "We've go t to be ha ppy with thi s: ' Disb ennett sai d. "Th is is my fifth hillclimb and I got second place - got to be happy wi th that!" In the 800cc class, Willie Price, a lieutenant wi th the Charles ton, West Virginia, fire de pa rtme nt, put his monster Ha rley on the course stro ngly only to exit the left side of the groomed boundary area. He ended up in the tall weeds until hillworkers could extr act him. A l 00-foot distance was awarded by event referee Harold White.