Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HILLCLIMB AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HILLC LIMBS R S E IE Round 11: White Rose Motorcycle Club James Large secured his second 800ccclass championship with his win at the White Rose Me-hosted event. By Dav id and Lo ra Patton with Cheryl Shre iner A B ~ 00 0\ 0\ ,..-< ~ ,......' I-. (l) .c o .... u o 50 YORK, PA, SEPT. 27 efend ing 800cc National Champio n James "Ja m m er" La rge to ok his sixth wi n of the sea so n and in s o do in g wrapp ed up h is s e co n d stra ight number- on e pl ate in th e AMA N a tio na l C h a m p io n s h ip H ill cli mb Se ries. Larg e wa s jo ined b y fe ll o w Oh ioan Cha d Disbenn ett in the w inner's circle. Disb en nett sco red hi s first-ever Pro win, taking the 540cc-class victory a t the White Rose Motorcycle Club-hos ted event. . Wi th th e 800 cc title d ecid ed , th e focus shifted to th e 540cc class, w he re David Watso n used a fourth-pl ace finish to come withi n tw o po ints of securing his first Pro title . Th ompson Racing' s Toby and Terry Th ompson took second an d third beh ind Dis be nnett, an d fivetime and d efending National Champion_ Pau l Pinso nna ult took fifth overall . In the SOOcc class, Glen Pet ty Jr. continued to 'rid e with a broken hand, and his second- place finish has him in contro l of the number-two spo t in th e series p o ints . Bobby Templeton took th ir d place to keep his mat hemati cal hopes of second p lace for the yea r alive as the last : round app ro aches. Steve Dr esser too k fou rth and Bob Castled ine matched his season's bes t finish to ro und ou t the top five. 540cc Disb en ne lt w heeled his John Ha mil ton -tuned Tr iumph twi n to th e line at precisely 1 p.m . for th e day's first rid e. Disben ne tt eased over th e s tart ing-lin e ra mp, tr yin g to keep h is rea r w heel do wn an d drivin g; then he cranked it on for th e run. Af ter ge tt ing a little si deways over the camel hu mp, he gun ned it to th e ligh ts for a 6.407, a time th at turn ed o u t to be one of the day's bes t rid es. "We ' re in our second year an d we've had our share of d owns, bu t we're starting to ge t the bik e se tu p together," Disbenne tt sa id . "Jo h n H amil ton has wo rked o n th e b ike so mu ch . Jo h n Ha mil ton Jr. got hu rt racing motocro ss but Joh n Sr. still came wi th us." Th e next rid er who broke int o the six-second bracket w as 16-year -old Toby Thompson, w ho wa s pu tting in his firs t ride at Yo rk. . "Dad told me to put in a good one on the first ride because the hill wouldn' t stay together," Tob y said . The yo u ng Th omp son ha ndled the bo tt om of th e hill p er fectl y and then cleared the jumps to stop the timers at 6.319 seconds. Terry Th ompson, winner of five hillclimbs this 'sea so n , was next into the sixes, riding his Tho mpson Racing/ProAction /W hite Bro the rs-ba cked BSA . Terry h a d bee n sick with the flu a ll week a nd he was just trying to get u p the hill. "I was slow across the breaker and I shut off too soo n at the top," Terry said of his 6.466-second ru n. " I was fortunate to d o as we ll as I di d ." Pinsonnau lt has had manv wins at the White Rose hill, and he had a fast ride going u ntil he wheelied near the top . He had to back off to get the fron t w heel d o wn, a nd th at cost him some time. Still, the 6.990-seco nd time w as the fifth fas test of the first ro u nd. The hill toughened up as ride r after rid er mi ssed out o n a six-secon d rid e. Th en poi nt s lead er Wat son bro ug h t his Mac's Cycle Su pply / KAP-backed nitroburning Honda CR500 to the line. Wat so n la u nch ed s tra ig h t and was quick over th e fir s t jum p , carryin g th e fro nt w heel partw ay up to the seco nd kicker to cross the line in 6.771 seconds, mak- ing up for a tough day last Ju ne her e in York. . "A t the spri ng race here, we just di d n't have the bike se t up rig ht," Watson sa id . " II's good to be close to these guys on a horsepow er hill." Roger McNeely, also on a Mac's Cy cle Su pply Honda, a lmos t caug ht Watson , checking in with a 6.758 run. Howell Tri umph-backed Phil Libhart came to th e line hoping to add to his second-place points in the cha m pionship chase, but it wasn't going to be his day. "I got too much ai r o ver the first breaker," he said. His 7.043 put him in seventh, behind Harry Schreibe r [r. , to end th e first round . . Dis be nnett 's best rid e ev er ca me a t the 1997 All-Sta r Ch all eng e, h eld a t York, and he w as read y to go for -it on his seco nd ride. "We left the gea ring alone and started in a groove. The bike hook ed u p just enoug h to carry the fro nt w heel on the first par t of the hill ," Disbenne tt said of his quic k run up the hill. "I hit a bu mp before the last jump and my chain came off - I coasted thr ou gh the lights." D espite th at fac t, h e tu rn ed in a 6.200-seco nd run th at put him ou t front. McN eel y al so clicked it up a not ch w it h a 6.792 pa ss to fin ish th e day in seven th behind his so n Scott. Dis be n ne t t's le ad was in d ang er w he n To by Thompson blas ted up th e hi ll. To b y ' s r un a t th e wi n e n ded halfw ay up, however. " I was happy with the firs t part; then it went down to one cylin der," he said. Toby's first-round 6.319 would hold up for second overall. Terry Thompson w as the next fro ntrunner to ride, bu t he co ul dn't p ut it . together and finished off wi th a 7.530 on his second ride. Ter rv' s firs t ride was good for third place, thou g h. Paul Pinsonn au lt nearl y always goes faster o n h is seco nd rid e , and he checked in w ith a 6.544 to m o ve u p a couple of spo ts, tho ugh he thought he might hav e done bet ter . "I hit the one little kicke r in th e midd le of the hill and go t sideways - it cos t m e a lit tle time, spi nning the w heel," Pinsonna ult said . Pins o n na u lt co u ld h av e u s ed th e extra frac tions of a second . Wa tso n was fifth when he ca me to th e line for h is second run, bu t he ros e to the challenge o n th e d ryi ng , eve r-mo re-d ifficu lt hill. Riding smoo th and fast, Wa tso n ed ged Pin sonnaul t for fourth with a time of 6.476. MCNeel y sha ved .083 second s off his time to take six th w ith his seco nd pass of 6.673 seconds. Wi th th at. D isben nett's come back from a life-threatening crash last year was complete: He had his firs t wi n. "I can't tha nk Joh n Hamilton enoughhe has pu t in so much time on my bike; Disbennett said. "Me and Jolin Jr. run the same setup, but it is still a lot of work for him to d o. Today we go t our first taste of victory. I hope we can do it again." 800cc Indianapolis Southside Ha rleyDa v idson / Bu ell ' s Russ VanderVee n was the firs t 800cc rider u p but he ran in to p roblems at the 240-foot mark and didn't get a ti m e . Fo rmer Na tional Cha mpion Steve Dresser opened u p the real action with a smoking ride o n his Thom pson Racing /Thor-Pa rts Unli mit ed/ Pro-Action / Pir elli-backed HarleyDavidson XR750. " I d ial ed the firs t brea ker real well and I hit th e middle break er w here I wa nt ed to, bu t I mus t have hit a rock," Dresser said . " I got sideways jus t a little, just enoug h to cos t me a win." Dr esser' s 6.322 put him up fro n t in the rou nd . T he firs t real th reat to the lea der came fro m non e o the r tha n the numbero ne bi ke - La rg e' s H arl ey-D a vid so n. Large won the 1997 champions hip in his first year on the circuit bu t he only won o ne N ati o nal. Th is se aso n, Large had five wins includ ing a four-race w inning strea k and he w as poi sed to repea t on th e tit le-w inn ing Reiser Cycle Service/ F&S H arley-D avid son /KK Motorcycl e Supply-backed XR750. Large wasted 'no tim e setting the fast time of the day, a 6.096-second blast that looked perfect. "We fou nd a good line, and our suspension and se tup was spo t on," Large said. "My bike did n't even leave the ground over the wash in the middle of the hill - it just kept d iggi ng ." Bob by Temple ton was next with a solid ti me o n th e Ers kine's PMS fo r Motorcycles Harley-David son. Tem pleton's best ca reer finish was a thi rd at York's first even t of the season, so it was n o su rp rise whe n h e put together a good ride. "1 took the sa me line Jammer (Large) to o k b u t I go t a lo t o f a ir ove r th e jumps," Templeton sa id . "That cost me time." With a 6.264, Te mpleton had the second- fas test tim e of the first round . - Dr, Bob' s Ra cing' s Mike DeBu sk is ch asi n g Te m p le to n fo r th ird in the poi nts race a nd he fired the Kawasaki tr ipl e over the first br eaker, ge tting a , g oo d rid e g o ing that u nfor tu na te ly slow ed, with him ge tting cro ss- ru tted in the mi ddle of the hill. He ended up wi th a 6.9 16, th oug h he w ould im p ro ve on his second ru n.

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