Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 10: GoshenIron Horseman Hillclimb By David and Lora Patton MIDtlLE6URY, IN, SEPT. 20 o r m er 800cc ational C hampion Lou Gerencer and 540cc rookie Tim Fried hoff conq uered th e d ifficu lt Goshen hill and the competition in the 10th round of the 1998 AMA Na tio nal Champi onship Hillclimb Series. Gerencer, who hails fro m n earbv Elkh art , is the winn in g e st Pr o h iliclimber of the '90s, bu t a crash early in the 1997 seaso n hurt his timing and his results thi s season . Gerencer has co mpeted in just nine hillclimbs in the last two seasons, and he wa s tired of secondp lace finish es - making thi s win es pecia lly sweet. Mike DeB usk a nd Bob by Templeton shared the wi nner's pod iu m with Cerencer as they battled for third o verall in the point stand ings - beh ind lead er James Large and Glen Pet ty Jr. Tim Friedhoff so lidified his lead in the 1998 Rookie of the Year race, taking his first career National w in ahead of five-tim e and de fending National Champion Paul Pin sonnault and another rookie, Wes McCoy. The Gosh en Iron Horsemen Motorcycle Club's hill has been called "The Showtime hill" because of the double jump tha t often decides the fate of those who try to conq uer it. The short (150foot ), steep hill requires a fast start, a minimum of airtime over the d ouble, and a stra ight landing for a fast time the smallest bobble can knock you out of the top 10. F 540cc Th e points lead er in th e 540cc class, David Watson, opened the day' s racing on a per fect almos t-autum n da y, and th e Mac's Cycle Su pply/KAP-ba cked rid er was looking for anot her consis tent rid e. Watson has im proved his ridi ng on the "ju m per' s" hill s - Gos hen, and Greasy Rid ge in Ohio - .an d is in a po sition to win his firs t ational Ch ampion ship as a Pro . He go t off th e li ne straig ht but didn ' t q u ite clea r th e seco n d jump. Though he cased it hard , he go t back on the gas and picked u p a time of 3.809 seco nds . Tim Friedhoff , me anwhile, came to the line with a d iffer ent rear-tire se tu p . Most of the 540cc rid ers u se a pa d d le tire, though a few use chains moun ted to a dual-pu rpose tire. Friedhoff and his brother (and mechanic) Scott had taken a knobby and cut off every other row of knobs, a trick used in amateur hilIclimbing . He got a good launch off the bottom and did a nice job on the landing, setting himself up for the short run to the top. His smooth ride netted him a time of 3.684 seco nds and the early lead. Mike Livingston ma naged to surpass Watson ' s ru n with his 3 .7 38 pass , t h e n Rich ie Scheu e rman followed with a 3.767-second time . . Former National number four, Alan Hoskins, re turned to hillclimbing and turned in a 3.855-second ride even thoug h he overj umped t h e d o u bl e . Ro o ki e W es McC o y con ti n ued the Honda parade (10 of th e 14 540s were Hondas), pa ssing Friedhoff for th e lead d espite lea ving the first ju mp cros sed up and land ing a little off-li ne. McCo y w ould ba ck up h is 3.483 -seco nd run with a faster ride in round two. . After Pau l Kop s.Thom pso n Racing's Terry Thompson and Mac's Cycle Supply rider Scott McNeely had a go at taking the lead, it wa s Pau l Pinsonnault's tum. Pinsonna ult started on the far left side of the hill and see med to be a little off the pace out of the gate, but he really tu rned it on over the jumps, clocking a 3.4 31-second run to take t he lea d in round one. Wa tso n a nd hi s fat her, Dan, sh ortened his bike up before his second ride , and it rea lly helped his Ho nd a hook up . Wat son d ro pped th ree-tenths of a seco nd o n his second r id e, turn in g in a 3.505-seco nd pass. "My d ad has d one a g reat job kee ping the bike running so well, and Mac's Cycle Supply has helped us a lot," Wat son sa id . "We worked on the bike and it was better and we took fourth. It was a good day for us ." Friedhoff also worked on hi s bik e between rides. "We cut so me of the side knobs off the tire; the ge aring and the rest of the se tup is perfect," he sai d. Friedhoff pu t in the ride of h is h illclim bing caree r, ge tting ove r the jumps s mooth ly a nd blas tin g h is m e th an ol burnin g H onda p a s t th e li ght s . Th e crowd roared as he clocked a 3.416 - the fastest ru n of the da y (in eit her class) . McCoy, meanwhile, put in another great rid e, improving to 3.474 to finish right behind Pinsonnault's time. "I got a little too much air on my second ride. I thought I was fast enough on tha t ri d e bu t I didn't quite get it," he sa id. After Mc ee ly a nd Thompson had p ro b lem s clea ri ng the double, there were three riders standing between Friedhoff and his first win. Phil Libhart launched rea lly high over the double and landed hard . "I lan ded so ha rd my hands ca me off the bars, but I grabbed the throttle and turned it on to ma ke it over - bu t it beat me u p pretty good," Libha rt said. His first-round time wo uld hold up for fifth , behind Wa tson. Templeton had so me problems an d cased it on the do ub le, lea ving Pinso n n ault as th e o n ly ot her rider with a cha nce to win . Pinsonna u lt started on th e far righ t side of th e hin a nd seemed to have a flawless rid e, but the clocks registered a 3.550, and Friedhoff had his victory . "I was more nervou s waiting to see if it would ho ld up than I am on the line for my own rides," he sa id . "I can't even tell yo u h ow exc ite d I a m, a nd how much thi s means to us. We ha ve go tte n a lo t of help fro m the McNeelys, th e Wat son s and the Sh re iners; th ey have ' m ad e it easy to m ake the switch from Amateur to rid ing a.s a Pro." 800cc Former 800cc National Champion Beese Wendt led off the 800cc class on his Harley-Davidson. Beese, 62, came up . sh ort o ver the double, but he kept the wick turned up for a 3.599-second run giving the rest of the field something to shoot for . Russ VanderVeen didn't pass the time o n his first attempt, but he would come back to do so. Harle y-Davidson Racing Pro Hillclimb tea m rider Gerencer had been without a victory since his cra sh in the seco nd round las t season. Despite riding a limi ted sc hed ul e, Gerencer has had se ve ra l runner-up finis hes th is season, bu t the homet own fans brou ght out the be st i n h im toda y as h e ri pped o ff a grea t run . He s ta rte d o n th e far ri ght side and ov erjumped the double, but he go t his fron t w heel down fast and blasted up the hill for a tim e of 3.420 seco nds to take the lead. Canadian Greg Willi ams· has a lso missed a few hillclimbs this sea son, but he has one win so far and he ha s th e horse power to win everywhere. He took off on the far left side of the hill and his front end was way too h igh over th e HILLCLIMB AMA NATIONALCHAMPIONSHIP HILLCLIMB SERIES d oubl e . Willi ams fo ught th e fr o n t w heel d o wn, then bla s t ed to the tim ers in a 3.521 seco nd run. G le n Pe tty [r., second overa ll in th e 800cc p o int s sta ndi ngs, has bee n co m pe ti ng si nce A ug u s t 23 w ith a broken hand, but he was ready for a shot at a win today. He mi stimed his shuto ff and came u p sho rt on the dou ble, bu t he cranked it on and his Jeff Yodert uned Harley Davidson po were d him ou t of tr ouble and th ro u gh th e lights in 3.52.6 sec onds. D ef ending ational Champion James "Ja m m e r" Large had an oppo rtu nity to clin ch his seco n d straight tit le if h e could finish seven pla ces ahead of Petty, and he ha d the Rei ser's Cycle Service /F&S Harley-Davidson /White Brothers-backed XR750 wide open when he took off over the double. Large went wa y too high and when he landed, the impact rocked hi m off the bike. "I hit so ha rd, my motorcycle ran ou t from un de r me," he sai d . . Jam es wasn't hu rt, bu t his bike was slightly be nt. Tea m o w ner Tom Reiser and Bob Sibclei rnmed ia tely wen t to work to ge t the bi ke read y for his second rid e. VanderVeen too k seco nd a t Goshe n's first event in May and he had th e Indianapolis Sou thsi de Harley-D avid son / Buell XR750 cra nked on for his seco nd attem pt, though he could on ly muster a sixth-p lace finish . Bobb y Templ et on , on th e Ers ki ne's PMS for Mo torcycles Harley-D avidson, got crossed up and cased on th e d ouble, but he never b a ck ed off an d was reward ed with a 3.515 -second ride good enoug h for third overa ll. "It w as a respectable turnaround from our last race he re," he said. "I had to go for it because I go t crossed up off the jump on m y second ride a nd I couldn't get back on it right away. If it wa s s t raig h te r , I might have had a chance at the win. " La rg e e nd ed up turn ing in a solid second run, though it was only good enough for eighth overall. He managed to hold on to the points lead, des p ite his four-win streak ending. "I would like to have given them a run for the money, bu t today just wasn't our day," Large sa id. :'1 overjum ped it on both rides an d [ we nt really easy o n the throttle on the secon d rid e . So 1 don' t know w ha t the problem is. I'll just have to work a little harder and try to ge t the m next week. " As the cl im b came to a clo se, o nly DeBu sk had a challenge for Ge re nce r. He had a fast ru n going, but he shut off a bit before th e fini sh and it ma y ha ve cost him a sho t at the win. " We had a su p er day, taking second," DeBusk said. "Gerencer finished in front of us tod ay, bu t he 's a hard guy to ca tch . Dr . Bob really has these twos tro kes running, and we' ll be righ t in Lou Gerencer Jr. was tired of finish ing second, so he went out and won the 800cc class at the Goshen Iron Horseman Hillclimb in Indiana , round 10 of the National Championship. ther e the rest of the yea r. On my second rid e, 1 picked a new rut to start in and the bike se t up pe rfect over the jump. It stayed flat over th e jump and I screwed the thing on w hen I land ed . We'll tak e seco nd overa ll any da y." His 3.495-s eco nd run ju m ped him ahead of Tem pleton for seco nd overall. The winner, tho ugh, was Gerencer . "I didn't think the rid e would hol d up because a lot of people had 3.5s in th e fi rs t round a n d I th o u ght th e y would go faster in rou nd tw o," he said . 'T th ink I coul d have go ne fas ter, too, becau se w h en I land ed with the fro nt w heel down on my ride, it really slowed m e d o wn, bu t m y time h eld up . It's g reat to win at hom e. It's been a long l~ time coming." . Goshen Iron Horseman Motorcycle Club Middlebury , Indiana Results: September 20, 1998 540: 1. Tim Friedho ff (Han); 2. Pa u l Pinsonna ult (Ha n); 3. Wes McCoy (Han) ; 4. David w a tson (Ha n); 5. Ph il Lihh art (Tri); 6. Mike Templeton (Yam); 7. Alan Hoskins (He n): 8. Michael Livin gston IHo n): 9. Rich Sche u rma n (Hon): 10 . Paul Kops' (Hon) : 11. Sco tt McNed y (Ho n); 12. Te rry Thom pson (8SA); 13. Tob y Thompson (BSA); 14, Randy Dillon (Ho n). AMA 540.. NA TI ON A L CSH IP POINT STANDINGS (Aftrr 10 of 12 ro un d8h 1. D avid Watson (119); 2. Phil Libha rt (110/1 win ); 3. Paul Ptnso nna ult (106); 4. Terry Thompson (t02/5l; 5. Tt"d Wilkin !> (85/2); 6. Scott McNeely (65); 7. John Hamilton Jr. (62); 8. Tim Friedhoff (59/1); 9. Tim Frazier (5 1); 10. Wt."5 McCoy (47) . 800: lou Cerencer Jr. (H -D) ; 2. Mike DeBlL".k (Kaw): 3. Robert Tem pleton (H-D); 4. Greg Williams (H· D); S. Robert Schrei ne r {Kaw}; 6. Russ Vanderveen (H-D); 7. Gle n Pe tt y Jr. (H · D); 8. Lame Large (H ·D ); 9. Beese s We ndt ( H ~D) ; 10. Mark S we m CBSA) ; 11. Rod ney Williams (Tri); 12. Ha rry Den holm(H·D ). A MA 80 0c< NA TIONAL C' S H IP POI NT s ST AN DINGS (After 10 of 12 rou n dlll): 1. ja me Large (13 1 /5 w ins) ; 2. G I.n Pett y Jr. (10 9) ; 3. Rob ert Tem pleton (97); 4. Mike Defhrsk (95); 5. Steve n Dresser (87/1); 6. Lou Cerencer Jr. (BO/1); 7. Gn,; WiIIi.lm.. (66); 8. Ro bert Sch rei ne r (64); 9. Russ Va nde rveen (62); 10. Harry Den ha m (56) . Upcoming Rounds: Round 11 - Je ffe rso n, Pe nnsy lvan ia , September 27 Round 12 - Oregonia. Ohio. October 11 00 0\ 0\ ,....... 1:'-.' M OJ .n o .... u o 35

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