Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 8: TheWall Hillclimb HILLCL/MBAMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HILLCL/MB SERIES By David and Lora Patton EAST PALESTINE, OH, AUG. 29 he 1999 AMA a tio na l Charnpi, on sh ip Hillclimb Seri es retu rn ed to East Pal es tin e, Oh io, to cha llenge "The Wall" after a 22-yea r vacation. T he hill ho s ted 30 vea rs o f Pro competiti on fro m 1947-1977, and man y past winn ers were on han d to welcom e it ba ck to th e a tio na l circui t. Forme r a tiona l Cha m p ion Doyl e Disb en net t also ret urned to Pro Hillclimbing after a lo ng re tir ement. Do y le rod e a t Eas t Pal estin e' s last ev ent in 1977, a nd he wan te d to be part of Pirat e ' s Pro~ o tion's 1999 rebirth . Th e 1999 cha m pions hip chase h a s been tight in both classes all season, but East Palestine ma y have set the stage for 800cc rid er Bobb y Temp leton' s fir st ,National Champion ship, as he grabbed his third win of the season to break ou t of a tie with two-time and defending Nation a l Champi on James "Ja m mer" Large, wh o had a tou gh day, finishing eighth overall. In t h e 540cc cla s s, Ted Wilkins bou nced bac k from a 15th-p lace finish at round seven to take his first win in ove r a yea r. Wilkins also set the day's fastest time on his second ride aboard his Rotax two-st roke twin. Points lead er John Ham ilton Jr . took s eco nd ove ra ll to break the tie at number o ne with Paul Pinso nnault, who ended the day third . N ea rly 4000 fa ns s how ed u p on a bea utiful day in the Youngstow n, O hio, a rea, and Tim Frie dhoff didn't di sappoint them, going up and over the 200foo t, near -vertical hill to open the competition . Before the climb, everyone was concern ed with the shale ledge that ran across the face of the hill, but Fried hoff di dn' t have much tro ub le on his 4.082second pass. "That was pretty go od for th e firs t rid e," Friedhoff said . "It kicked a little in the rocks. I think we ha ve the sus p ension too stiff. Scott will fix it for the second run ." Th e fir st s ix riders were H onda CR500-mou n ted, with Pinsonnault th e fas tes t with a 4.045-second run aft er a preci se run at th e bottom. He w ould hol d the lea d until Wilkin s bli tzed the hill. Wilkin s d id n' t ge t a great holesh ot but blasted over the littl e hump before the shale section and held the throttle on to record a 3.839-sec ond tim e. " It felt s low coming out of the hole because it wa s spi n ni ng so mu ch ," Wil kin s said . "We co ul d n' t figure ou t w hy th e bike didn't ru n rig ht at Dansville, but on Frid ay my l -l-year-old son , Aa ron , sug gested w e try new fue l, a nd it ' s runnin g great now. " Be's Radical Racing 's Ham ilton la ter broke the lights wi th a 3.599-sec o nd pass to take the lead , but he nearly went off the side of the hill at the top . "I spun pretty bad, but I got throu gh that rock section pretty good, and I got it th rough the lights," Hamilto n said : Af ter th e 800'5 to re th e hill up , it wasn' t any bet ter for the 540 class 's second rou nd . The only rid er to shake up the top five was Wilkins . He a nd his brother Bill fine-tuned his Rotax before the second ru n and it really paid off, as Wil kins ri p ped off a 3.229 that would stand as the winning 540 time, and fast time of the day. II (Above) Ted Wilkins had his two-stroke Rotax s inging at "The Wall" in East Palestine, Ohio, as he set fast time of the day and took the win in the 54Dcc class. (Left) Bobby Temp leton ended up winning the 8DOcc clas s with his first-round time. (Below) Glen Petty Jr . "weights " the front en d to avoid a whee lie dur ing his s econ dround ride. Yes, he cras hed. Logg in g Harley -D a vidson . Th e 800cc ' points leader was wi de ope n ou t of the hole, but off line. "1 go t totally ou t of the line I wa nted to ru n:' Tem pleton said. "I was able to avo id the ledge (by go ing up the mound on the fa r left > an d the bik e sta yed on the gro und , and I kept it in bound s an d mad e it over the top." Temp leton left a trench 1 foot inside th e sideli ne wh ile recording his clas sleading 3.4·t3-seco nd time. Glen Pett y Jr. almo s t knocked Tem ple to n o ff th e lead erboard, but his 3.641 came up .018 seconds shor t. Petty had looked the hill over before the hillclimb and when his turn came up he knew w hat to d o. "We were both go ing to hold it on ove r th e ro cks bu t I wasn 't sure wha t was going to happen ther e." Right from the s ta rt, Pet ty n ever le t off, a nd he man -han dled his Ha rley-Davidson through the shale led ge. . "I hoped tha t hold in g it o n would keep the back end down, and it wo rked ou t pretty good ." Glen ca me up .018 seco nds behind Tem p leton with a 3.461. , Tim Frazier opened u p Round 2 with a 3.920-second run, a nd n ob od y else even came close to Tem p leton's firstrou nd tim e until d e fendin g series champion Large took a shot. Larg e hit the ledg e fa st er th an anyon e a n d s top ped the tim ers in 3.2 seconds, but, u nfortunately, he wa sn ' t on his motorcycle a t the tim e. He end oed over th e ledge and the bike thr ew him thro ug h the timing lights, leaving him eighth on th e day, and a ll but e nsuring the win for Templeton , w it h only a few riders left to run. "I wa s surp ris ed th e time held up, but th e h ill deteriorated really well," Templeto n s a id after the win w a s sec ured . "The hill got worse, and the led ge didn't mov e, and tha t helped me win ." CN The Wall East Palestine, Ohio Results : Augus t 28, 1999 (Round 8 of 13) SolO: 1. Ted Wilkin!' (Rtx); 2. Jo hn Ha milton . Jr. (frO; 3. Pau l Pinso nn ault (Hu n); 4. Chad Disbennctt (Tri): .5. Ph il Libha rt (Tri ); n. Ti m Frc td ho ff (H on ): 7. Scott M ctc c el y ( H e n) : 8. Roger "I cou ld har d ly hang on to it ou t of the hole," Wilkins said. "I feathered the throttle a coup le of times to ge t ove r the rock to keep it from looping ou t." Hamilton wound up seco nd overall, wit h a 3.585. Former 540c c N ationa l Champion Tim Frazier was the first 800 on the hill in 22 years, and he had been observi ng the act ion. "I' ve been watching the 540s, but I would 've liked to see how a heavi er bike, a Harley, ha ndled the rocks," Frazier said . Frazier go t a st raight lau nch on the Ha rley- Davi dso n Ra cin g Pro Hill - climb I Ge re nce r' s H -D I T h or I Part s Unlimited XR750. The big bike got hammered by the led ge, but he held on for a 4.182-second time . Greg Williams im medi ately slipped past Frazier and int o the lead with a 4.103 run, renew in g th eir rivalry from their 540 days. After another couple of passes, David Watson put together a smooth run over th e rocks, and his Mac's Cycle Supply /Kleeburg Sheet Metal l A&P Machine Honda CBR800R wa s the first 800 in the th rees, with 3.976. The shale ledge continued to pound the big bikes until Templeton hit the hill on the Erski ne's PMS for Moto rcycles I Tow nsend Spe cia lties I Wa gner ~lcNl'e1y ( Hen) : 9. Aaron Bro wn ( Hon): to. Mike Living st on (Ho n) : 11. Mik e Te rnph..to n (Yam) ; 12. Ch ris Van l-lyni ng (Hon); 13. Rich Sche ue rman (Hen): U . Charlie Roberts (Kaw). 800: 1. Bobby Tem plet on (H · O); 2. G len Petty, Jr. (H-D); 3. Rodne y Williams (Tri): 4. Lou Cerencer (H-o); 5. Tim Ftazier (H-O); 6. Dav id W.lt son (Ho n): 7. G reg William s IHo nl: 8. Jam es Large (H-O); 9. Har ry Denham (H-O>; 10. Jeff Thomas (Yam); 11. Mike Dt·Rusk (Kaw j: 12. Doyle D is bcnn ctt (Tri): 13. Cur t Snelling (l-ion): 14. Rus s, Va nder v een (H-D); 15. Ilran d on Kreeger ITri). AMA 540cc NAT10NAL C H A M P JO N S H II' Hill CLlM8 SERIES r OI NTS STANDI NGS (After 8 of 13 round s): 1. Jo hn Hamil ton Jr. (90/2 wins ); 2. Paul Pinsonna ul t (89/1); 3. Phil Libhart (&); 4. Ted Wilki ns (85/ 1); 5. Ch.ld Disbennett (70/2); 6. Tim Freidhoff (63); 7. Aaron Bro wn (54); 8. Toby Thompso n (52/1); 9. mE> Mike Livi ngs to n /Ch ris Va nH yni n g (50) ; 11. Sco tt McNl't.·!y (43 / 1); 12. Richi e Scheue rm a n (42 ); 13. ROgt'T McNl't:'ly (39); 14. Cha rlie Robe rts (35); 15. (TIE) Mike Tl' mpl'r'lon!J.lck Macau ley (25) ; 17. C h ris Bro w n (16); 18. Ala n H osk ins (1 1) ; 19. Brian Bow lby (10 ); 20. Jeff Brown (9 ). A MA 800 « NATIONAL CHAMrlONSHlr H1llClIM8 SERIES eorxrs STANDINGS IAft e r 8 of 13 m un ds ): 1. Bobby Templeton (96/3 wi ns): 2. (llE) Jr. (l win)/Ja mes Large (89); 4. D.1Vid Watso n (84/1) ; 5. Tim Frazier (77/ 1); b. Lou Cere ncer (68/2); 7. mE) Greg c Willia ms /Harry D. nham (45); 9. Mikt' DeBusk (37); 10. Willie Pri ce (35); 11. Russ Van de rv een (34); 12. (T IE) Stt.Vl' Drt."SSt"r / k ff Th omas (33); 14. Mark Swem (3 J) ; 15. ' Bub Shreiner (30); l b. Terry Thompson (29); 17. Rodn ey W illi ,lms (25); 18. Bo b Castle di ne (24); 19. Bra ndon Kreeger (21); 20. C u rt Snelling ( 3 ). Upcoming Rounds: Rou nd 9 - S te e l City, Pe nns ylva nia , September 12 Round 10 Middleb ury, Indiana, September 19 en en en .n Q; .a E '" C. en '" 39

• Cover