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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127859
HILLCLIMB AMA N ATIONALCHAMP H IONS IP H ILLCUMBSER IES Round 8: Bushkill Valley MC (Lett) Will ie Pr ice was untouchable at the Bu shkill Vall ey Me -hosted hlllclimb. The 800cc-elass rider was almost a full seco nd faster up the hill than his nearest competition. (Bel ow ) David Watson took his seeo nd victory of the year in the 540cc class . By Robin Wiseman and Jay A. Herndon of S.L. Photo ,....., ... a .... u Q) .0 o 24 FREEMANSBURG, PA, SEPT. 14 illie Price o nlv needed on e ride to cla im the first- place tr ophy in the 800cc class as he shot his thundering Harley-D avid son up th e hill early in the con test to sit on the bubble for the majority of the day. His 7.8751· second ride was the only sub-ei ght-second run of the day, and none of th e AMA National Championship Hillclimb contenders wou ld even come close. Paul Zander was the best of the rest as he took his BSA over the top in 854'28 seconds, with Harley- mound ed Rodney Williams just a hair behind with 8.5468. In the 540cc class, David Watson took the win, his second this season, Cha mpionshi p points leader Pau l Pinsonnault, also wit h two wins this vear, landed his Honda behind Watso n'sto take the runner- up spot, wi th Richard So ter 111 in third on the day. 540cc Chris Van Hy ning led off for the 26- rider field under favorable weather cond ition s at the 480-foot Bushkill Vallev MC hill. Aboard his new Triumph, built and previously raced by Doug Klont, ' Van Hy ning fired up the three-jump hill on a straig h t-li ne cli mb to set a res pectable 10.3164 fo r his first ru n . Afte r getti ng slightly out of control on the second jump and recovering. nicely, his round- two time was an improvement at 9.6517, and he finished sixth o n the dav. PinSonnault was quickly on the pace af te r he m an ha nd led his alcohol-fed Honda up the hill ; gaining speed and distance off each of the three jumps and using his body weight to keep the bike cen tered in the groove. Pinsonnau lt wheelied just before the third jump but got it under control and blasted through the lig hts for a ti me of 9.4007. Rou nd two would prove faster for the defending champion. Wringing ou t the Honda fo r all it was worth. Pinsonna ult rod e hard, lau nc hi ng lon g off each of the jumps, fighti ng a wheelie after the second jump and ultima tely knocki ng nea rly a second off his previous lim e to card an 8.6353-secon d run, a time that wo uld land him in second place. 'There were a couple of little areas I kn ow I could have im porved, b u t it . wo rked out all rig ht," Pinsonnault sa id. "I still got bea t..... Watson used the sa me groove ou t of the bo x tha t Pinsonnau lt had jus t cut. With a hard launch, Watwn dan gled his right foot for th e first 50 feet , bu t jus t before the first ju m p, he had both feet on th e pegs a nd was digging for tra ction . What had started out as a seemingly stro ng ride su ddenly went wron g at th e secon d jump. Watson' s m ach in e kicked ou t to the righ t and he sho t off the left side of the course at the 335-foot mark. O n his second ru n, Watson finally got to use the new 21·inch rear wheel tha t he and his father. Dan, put together. Like a sho t out of a can non, Watson launched from the box, once again following Pinsonnault's groove. The padd le li re provided plenty of traction as Waoon fought off wheelies for most of the ride, and he flew through the lights wi th a lime of 8.5929. "We lost a chain up there (on the first ride)," Watson said . ..It took out the sprocket and swingarm, bu t my dad got it straightened o ut and the McNee lys loaned us some parts and we got it back toge ther. It worked out good." Ve teran hill cl imber Sote r made a clean ce nterline run from the s tarting log to th e ti mi ng ligh t up top. Soter we n t throu gh the lights o n his crispru nning BSA w ith a firs t-run tim e of 9.1369, going over th e top fast enou gh to a l mo s t to p ple as he go t th e n itro burner shut down. It was the fas test ru n of th e fi rs t round . So ter's re turn in round two proved faste r, despite a hard