Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Hillclimb Round 5: White Rose AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HILLCL/MB SERIES By David and Lora Patton JEFFERSON, PA, AUG. I 1T Q) Q) Q) ~ .,; ~ 1ii :::> g> ct 10 he AMA ational Cha mpionship Hillclimb Series traveled to eastern Pennsylvania for the All-Star Cha llenge, an elimi nation format eve nt th at w ould sh a ke up th e 1999 series p oin ts ra ce. In th e S40cc class, Ch ad Disb enn ett co ntinu ed to domina te the Wh ite Rose Motorcycle Club's 300-foot hill. Thoug he wasn' t the fastest ear lier in the day, hewas the fast est in the final ro und . Di sb enn et t ou tpowe red five time S40cc Cha m pion Paul Pinso nna u lt and Phil Libhart for his secon d win of the season. Toby Thompson too k fourth an d Scott McNeely turned his firs t rid e of the yea r in to fifth overall on a bor rowed motorcycle. The 800cc class cha mpio nship has bee n tight all yea r wit h three winners in the first fo ur round s, and rou n d five featured ano the r face in th e winner's circle. David Wa tso n won the 1998 S40cc ational Cha mpionship without a race win, and he m o ved u p to the 800cc class for 1999 wit h an incredibly tr ick Ho nda C BR900 RR- based h ill clim ber. Tod a y h e w as eas ily " t he m an ," as h e put in tw o of t he day's fastest rides an d claimed fast time and h is firs t wi n a hea d o f tw o- tim e and d efend ing N ationa l Champion Ja mes "Jammer" Large, and Bobby Templeton , who beat Tim Frazier by .08 of a second to take third and the se ries points lead . Glen Petty Jr. overcame a tou gh sta rt to claim fifth place. The All-Star Cha llenge has a uni qu e forma t tha t wo rries cham pio ns hip contend e rs, be cau se o ne p rob lem co u ld resul t in a I S-p oin t deficit. All racer s ma ke one pas s a t the hill with the top 15 adva ncin g int o th e poi nts-pa yi ng seco nd ro und . Th e to p 10 ma ke a third pass fo r th e win and p rev ious round times a re e rased at th e s ta rt o f eac h round. (Above) David Watson rode his CBR900RR-based Honda hill cli mber up the White Rose hill in Penns ylva nia In winni ng time. (Below) Triumph-mounted Chad Disbennen car ded hi s seco nd win 01 the season in the 540cc class . The 540 poin ts leader Joh n Hamilton Jr. was running away wit h -the cha m pionship comi ng in to York . He had two wi ns and tw o seconds on his Bo's Rad ical Racing Triumph . Ham ilt on had a n ea rly rid e in th e fi rst rou nd a nd he blasted off the line only to lose his driv e 20 feet off the line. . " I ca n' t believe it. m y cha in ca me off," he said . "I had a great start and the bike was pulling hard, the n no thi ng." White Rose Club ·mem ber Mi chael Livingston had climbed up to fifth in the points, but his first run end ed at the 70foo t ma rk, d roppin g two of the series' top five ou t of the day's action . In th e 800cc class o nly 15 rid ers m ad e th e event, so th e v a ll wo u ld advan ce to the second rou nd . Large was fortunat e to m ake it to the s eco n d round. He pulled his Harley-David son to the line and the bike had a problem , putti ng him on the 10-minute clock . They got the bike refired in time but it died again. Large go t the bike to br eak the boll om light in tim e to advance to the second round . "We had a cable come ou t of the barrel valve," he exp laine d . "Mike found tha ] and we pulled back in and bumped the kill sw itch and had to flush the nit ro ou t befo re we started it again ." T h e s eco n d round of e lim in a tio n caug ht Aaron Brown, Terry Thom pson, Bob Shreiner arid Willie Pri ce. The wea the r also would pla ya part in the d ay's actio n. The White Rose Hill is usually pow d er y a nd loose bu t an ove rnig h t ra in a n d driz z le h a lf w a y t h ro ug h th e d a y h a d m an y r id e rs sea rch ing for a w in n ing gea ring/ tire com bination . T he 54 0 Ro ta x twin r ider Ted Wilki ns led off th e fina l ro und of th e da y need ing ninth or bet ter to take over the p o in ts le ad fr o m H amilt on. Wilkens ' cha nce for a win end ed at the 120-foo t mark. "Th e bike was pullin g g reat," he sai d . "1 hadn' t run it all ou t on the two earlier rid es, bu t I was goi ng for it. Then m y bike su d den ly di ed and I looked d own a n d saw m y kill s w itch teth er had fallen ou t. I ma y have hit it with my knee." Rog er McN eel y set the ea rly pace w i th a 7.1S-s e co nd pas s , b ut h e wo u ldn' t make it into the top five, finishi ng seven th. Chris Van Hyn ing better ed Rog er ' s ti me for six t h overa ll. Then Pau l Pinsonnault, the fastes t rider of the seco nd rou nd , came to the line. He naile d the bollom half, then had to fight off a hu ge w heelie, and it cost hi m valua ble seco nds. Pinso nna u lt pa ssed the timers at the 260-foot mark in 6.305 seco nds to take over first. Sc o t t McNeel y pull ed to th e li ne w it h a tot all y diffe re n t s e tu p fr o m rou nd tw o, and it paid off, as McNeely clicked off a 6.788 for fifth overall. Phi l Libhart had a problem on his second run when his twin beca me a single at th e top of th e hill, but th ey got everything so rte d for his fina l run and he p ut in his fast est ru n of the d ay, a 6.384, for third overall. Libhart was the only 540cc rider wi th three sub-sevensecond rides . Toby Thompson had a s ho t at his firs t win of the year bu t got a littl e sidewavs a t th e bott o m a n d w hen h e cra nked it on. He did .a grea t job to get over the top in 6.564 for fourth place. Dis be nnell was re ad y to pu t it together on the "mo ney" run . He d id a solid job on the bo tto m, an d then he let the John Hamilton Sr .-tuned Triu mph horsepower loose. Disbennet t roosted up the hill and leaped all the way to the timers o ff the las t cut for a S.946-second · pass. "W ha t a fa ntastic dav," he sai d. "I w ish w e ra n the w ho le se ries a t this hill." Disbennet the n watc hed Tim Friedhoff line up for the final S40cc ru n of the day. Fried hoff' s best ru n of the da y was good enoug h for eighth. Th e 800cc cl ass lin ed up for th ei r fina l run of the day with one big problem - David Watson a nd his five-second Hon da. Wat son turned th e fas tes t times in th e first and second round s,

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