Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HILLCLIMB AMA NATIONAL CHAM PIONSHIP H LIMB S RIE ILLC E S R ound 7: Greasy R g id e (Len ) Wil lie Price won the 800 cc class at the Greasy Ridge hillcl imb with a single pa ss. Here , Price is shown as he lines up for the first kicker jum p on the hill . (Be low) Like most riders , Price attempted to clear both kickers at once, onl y to kn ife into the grou nd Instead and dam ag e his bike . Even s o, his 4.22second time held up for the day 's win. (Bottom) Reigning S40ccclass champ ion Paul Pinsonnaull prepares his assault on the "aerial" sect ion of the hill. Pinsonnault 's time of 4.92 sec onds netted him his sec ond National win of the seas on. By Jay Herndon Photos by S.L. Photo a 8 ~ ~ HAYDENVILLE, OH, AUG. 10 ven though he took a major spill, Willie Price claimed his third professio nal hilldimb victory on the Gr ea sy Rid g e h il l, t he s ite of ro un d seve n of th e AMA Na tio na l Champio nship Hilld imb Series, Price o nly rode once, flying at once over both obstacles that were designed to break up the course, and then crashlandi ng at the timing lights in a showy, a iry assault. But his time of 4.22 second s s too d throug hout the day, and earned him the win. Show ing his cool, calm approach in his last ride of the day, defen ding class cha mpion Paul Pinsonnault waited ou t the atte mpts by the field of 540cc riders before tak in g his second profess io nal wi n this season. Landi ng smooth and clea n, Pin s onnault manh and le d his Hond a over the d ou ble, sq ueezi ng ou t fellow competitors Terry Thom pson and Rick Soter wi th a wi nning time of 4.92 seconds. Round nu mber seven o n the Pro Tour bro ug ht the pro hilld imbers to the town of Hayden ville, located just south of Logan, Oh io. Due to conflicting racing eve nts, the usually showy, Saturday n ig ht e ve nt, presen ted by Drew Wolfe/Action Sports, was cha nged to a d aytim e program on Sund ay. Overcast and h umid co nd itio ns, a lon g w it h the pre viou s d ay' s ra in, made for exce llent track conditions, providing 21 riders in the 540cc dass and 15 ride rs in the 80Ucc class wit h a dust-free even t for the first half of the d a y ' s e ven ts . Th e 220-foo t h ill boast ed tw o obs tacle , the first obstacle being the big s jump at the ISO-foo t ma rk , which cu ts -foot-wide awa y into the hill with a l O shelf. Continuing up the hill, after riding the 65-degr ee-indine face of the lower section, the track beco mes more gentle wi th the next change in the track. Just 20 feel sho rt of the timing-ligh t finish line, the second obstacle was a sma ll d ropaway clic ker at th e 200- foo t mar ke r. Ta lk in th e pits pri or to the start was tha t if the riders we re to win the event, th ey wo u ld have to combi ne the two obs tac les an d d ouble them to win the even t. 540cc Mike Pulver drew the lucky nu mberone rid e to start the S40cc class. Pulver s te p pe d o ff th e left si de of the log, qu ickly found the centerli ne straight up t he hill, a nd d as hed for th e li ghts, bouncing over the second little kicker on his way to the finis h. But no time was recorded, as the timing system had malfunctioned. Once his bike cooled, Pulver returned to the hill to take anot her ride over the to p. Choosing the same line, Pulver clocked a time of 6.219 seconds to set -the pace . Pulve r would return in round two and improve to a 5.514-sec· ond r un, b u t it would only be good eno ugh for nint h on the day. Rick Soter III ran the hill straight up the mid dle and lau nched long to dou ble the jumps, proving tha t it was not only possible, bu t was necessary to do so to win, as he recorded a qu ick 5.330-second pass. He later returned and bea t his earlier time with a 5.092-second run, finis h ing thi rd overall b e h in d Terry Thompson and Pinsonnault, On his first run, Tho mpso n knew he had to dou bl.....up the ju mps. Laun ching h ard off th e sta r t ing log , th e nat iv e Ohioa n sq uirmed the nitro-bu rner int o the hill's face, digging out a major roost er tail. Launching into the air so me 30 feet , th e machin e w hee lied ou t fro m under him, but Thompson held on as both impacted just a few feet short of the lights, where both man and machine slammed the ground. Bouncing through the lights, Thompson's crowd-pleasing s ing le ride produced an awesome 4.6453-second timed run . Selling the pace, but unable to ride again due to minor inju ries and damage to his stretched BSA, Thompson sat on the bubble most of the day, watching Paul Pinsonnau1l take the win at the end of the dav. "I unleashed it," Thompson said . "11 went as fast as it could go . I pulled a little wheelie wh en I got to the br~akt:'~ which is very bad here. I held on till I hit the ground." Afte r posting a first-ro u nd time of 4.929, Pinso r mault, who had drawn the last rid e of the 540cc class, had plen ty of time to plan his strategy for the secu nd roun d . Apparently, he planned well, as he da shed throu gh the lights, setting a new fast time for the 540cc class of 4.622 to take the victory . "It a lways feels goo d to w in," Pinson nault said. "But I always enjoy rid ing the hillclimbs, regardless." 800cc Rookie Paul Zander started th ings off in the 800cc class . Za nder sta ved on the right side of th e trac k 'a s he launched off the first jump and land ed

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