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/127962
HILLCLIMB AMA N N CHAMPIONSHIP ATIO AL HILLC LIMB SERIES By David L. Patton Jr. with Cheryl Shreiner FREEMANSBURG, PA, SEPT. 13 efe ndi ng BOOcc-class Na tio na l Ch ampi on Ja me s La rge a n d 540cc ri der Terry Th omps on shared the winner' s pod ium - the third time they'v e each accom plished that feat th is se aso n a nd th eir se co nd tim e up ' there toget her. Large continued his second-ride successes, winning his fourth hillclimb in a row , all on his last rid e. Thompson's last four wins have come on his first attem pt 'a nd h e ha s cla imed the d ay' s fastest overall time a t all five of h is wins in 1998. Large, on the Reiser Cycle Serv ice / F&S H arley-Davidson /Whi te Brothe rs/ KK Mot o rcycl e Su p p ly -b ac k ed XR750, in cre ased his po int s lead to 23 poin ts and h e onl y .need s ninth-p la ce finishes a t the las t three hillclimbs to . hold on to the number-one plate he won last year as a rook ie. Glen Petty Jr. rod e d espite a brok en ha nd , and hi s top-10 fin ish kept h im solid ly in second, ahea d of Steve Dresser, in the point sta nd ings . Greg Williams and Lou Gere ncer retu rned to the series after sitting out a cou ple of events and they were Large's stiffest opposition, claiming second and third on the day, bu t onl y by .064 of a second . Thompson 's win helped him pick up o ne po int o n th e 540cc po ints leader David Watson, wh o took second overall, Five-time and d e fen d i n g N ational Champion Paul Pinso nnault rebo und ed from two disastrou s weeks to snag third overall ahea d of Phil Libhart and Scott McNeely. O D 540cc 36 Natio na l number seve n, Mi chael Tem pleton, was the first rid er on the hill and he put in a smooth, co nserva tive rid e for a time of 11.345 seconds and the ea rly lead. Templeton ' s tim e hel d u p until Scott McN eely wheeled the Mac's Round 9: Bushkill Valley Motorcycle Club Cycle Su p p ly H on da to th e li n e . Mcr-Jeely was injured at ro u nd se ve n and he was m akin g hi s fir st ride in a month. He left the line hard and put in a flawless first run for a time of 10.120. " My s us pe nsio n wo r ke d g rea t ," McN eel y sa id . "My d ad and Cla re nce Brownin g switche d my suspens ion for this race a nd the bike worked great." Tim Friedhoff clocked an 11.767 ru n. Then Ted Wilkins su ffered mechanical grem li ns . Thompson Raci ng ' s Terry Th ompso n pull ed hi s Pro-A cti onbacked BSA in to the hole for his shot a t, the one hillclimb at which he has never put it together. "All w eek 1 tr ied to tr eat it as jus t another hillclimb," said Thompson , wh o reall y had it cranked up as he left the lin e a n d went ove r th e littl e hump before the first kicker. "O nce 1 got over the hump, the rest of the rid e was easy . In the past, we didn't have enoug h gear, but I kn ew we w ould h a ve e no ug h tod ay." His tim e of B.967 was the only subnine-second ride all day. As the riders batt led the 500-foo t hill, it was easy to see the secrets for su ccess: Keep the bike in the groove and straig h t over the three kickers, keep the throttle cranked on and cut down on time lost in the air. Phil Libhart, on th e H owell ' s Tr iu m ph-backed twin, put in a solid rid e for a 10.314 on his first ride, and Watson card ed a 10.52Brun. Pinsonnau lt wa s a victim of bad fue l at round eigh t but he had eve ry th ing sorted out fo r Freem an sburg and he clicked off a 9.542-second run for second place in the firs t round. "The groove had a lot of traction and I bogged the motor off the line," Pinsonnau lt sa id . "It d id n't have the '!nomentu m I wanted for the top of the hill." Wh en th e second ro u nd got un d er way, Templeton really wen t out hard but he lost it over the third kicker and went d own - and out. His first-ro u nd time wou ld be fast enoug h for eigh th place. M cN eel y ' s seco n d rid e provid ed plenty of excitement. "We gea red the bik e up for the seco nd ru n b ecau s e Te rry jus t bl ew u s a\Vay on his rid e," McNeely said . "My bike has never run so well and it pulled me off the bike at the top ." . McNe ely' s run ended at the 445-foot mark. Tim Freidh off .p u t a no the r Honda into th e top 10 and his 11.21 9-second run earne d him seven th overall, and he took over the lead in the Rook ie of the Year race. The hill was definitely getting faster as rid er after rid er improved, with John Hamilton Jr. sco ring sixt h place on his ASAP Racing / Get High Racew ear Triumph. Next u p w as Libhart, who won his first-ever Na tional a t Freemansburg in the spring. He pu t in another solid rid e, thou gh he had to straighten ou t a crossup over the second kicker . . "The hill is fast today and we are jus t a littl e und erpowered," Libhart sa id . "Still, it was a good day; we took fourth." 'David Watso n w as looking forward to his second rid e on his favorite hill and he pu t together a go od run with a time of 9.269 to claim seco nd ov erall . Pinson nau lt selecte d a new lin e for his second run. "I p icke d a different line on the far left but I drifted to the right," the multitime cha m p io n sa id. "I hit a m ound befor e the seco nd br eaker and was air born e. I lost a lot of time in the air ." Still , h is time of 9.275 earned him third p lace behi nd Watson. "I finally pu t in the ride I wanted to at this hill," Thom pson said . "We' ve had ' a good weekend here. " BOOcc Petty was the first BOOcc rider to take to the hill and he was com peti ng with a broken han d . He had a hard time twisting the th rottle an d d idn't charge over th e ki ckers as h e w o u ld h a v e wh en healthy, ending up with a time of 14.074. Jam es Large scored his fourth consecutive victory in the B OOcc class with his win in Freemansburg. 1 " Jam es "Jamme r" Large came to the line to pu t in the first really fast time in the big-bore class, the Reiser's Cycle Service star d roppin g the hammer on his F&S Harley-Davidson /White Broth ers-backed XR750 for a 10.Q19 and the early lead . Rodney William s pull ed the T110mas Racing Yamah a XS600 to the line for his first rid e on the bike bu t nose-d ived off on e of the kickers and ended his ride at the 175-foot mark. . BSA-mounted Mark Swem followed Williams and he had one of his better rides of the seaso n, running an 11.379. Forme r National Champion Steve Dr es ser co n tin ued to be pla gu ed b y , th rown cha ins as he had a go od rid e going up to the 196-foot mark when it cam e off. Harley-Davidson Racing Pro Hillclimb Team rider Lou Gerencer ran a 9.937-second rid e d espite sma ll mistakes; "I didn't ge t off the line good and I wasn' t lined up for the first jum p," Gerencer said. 1 All eyes were on Greg William s and his four-cylinder Honda, the same bike with whi ch he won the spring event. He came off the line hard and pu t in a clean rid e to sna tch the lead awa y from Cer~ encer wit h his 9.459-second pass. Petty cam e to Freemansburg to keep the p ressure on Large and to hold off Dresser for second in the series, picking up a 11.752-second ride to open the secon d round for 10th on the da y. Large came to the hill wi th new bike ~ settings and his eye on the wi n. "We we re too lean on ou r firs t ride and we cha nged the suspension set up for this ride," Large said. ' All of team owner Tom Reiser's work paid off as Large put in his fifth com e:: from-behind winning rid e, knocking ou t I a 9.439-second run. "The bike came ou t straight but I got a lit tle kic k off th e firs t jump," Large