Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 9: Bushkill Valley Hillclimb AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HILLCLI BSERIES M By David and Lora Patton FREEMANSBURG, PA, SEP. 12 ond a rid ers Pau l Pinson nault and Davi d Watson not on ly ha mmered the 540cc and 800cc classes, respectiv el y, a t the Bushkill Valley National Hillclimb , but also ad v anced in the points chase. Pinsonnault lept into the points lead for the first time this ye ar , capitalizing on the me chanical woes of form er lead er Bobb y Templeton, and Watson advanced past two ridetraction after mid week rains. Hamilton dropped the hammer and the bike stood straig ht up, launchin g so hard that it threw him off and loo ped out in the air. The bike landed on the legs of Hamilton, who was beat up but no t injured; his points lead , however, was in jeopardy. "Man that thing came ou t hard ," sa id Ha milton . "As soon as the clutch was ou t all I saw w as sky a nd th en my bike came af ter me." "Pvsquar ed " had won round three of the se ries at Freem an sburg, a nd had been look ing forwa rd to th is hillcl imb for weeks, exp laining, "Th is hill is long, a n d in y bik e runs really well o n top ' end." Pi nso n nault ' s nitro-b u rni ng Honda was really pulling all the way to H Brieflv... .Glen Petty finished 10th in the '800cc ranks despite riding with a broken wrist . Greg Williams has had bike problems since roun d fo ur. -and it was obviou s he hadn ' t found the proble m a's his four-cylinder Honda missed all the way up the hill. Williams rode the wheels off it. though. to take fi fth with a 9.082. One hundred feet off the line. BobbyTernpleton's b ike suddenly stopped. the motor silent because of an electrical probe lem. -We had a great year going. then.this happens." h e lamented. ' -1 had a good launch, was right where I wanted to be; then something got in the points'and shut it down. Now we have to win the last four to havea chance. It's not over," the top when he passed the timing lights in 9.422 seconds; he was the fastest in the round, though Wilkins had a fast ride goi ng until he ha d to back off to avoi d looping out. Wit h the season on the line, Ha mil ton could n' t go all out in round two, bu t he still rode hard, keeping the Triumph on line and close to the grou nd ove r the thr ee jum ps for a 9.537-second rid e. His fourth-place finish wasn't enough for him to retain th e points lead he had owned since the series opener: "I rod e a little too conservatively, bu t I had to ge t a ride in. I'm never happ y wi th second but fou rth is good eno ug h for the way this day we nt." Chad Disbennett ran a 9..753 on his first run, and he set aside his concerns over his father Doyle's injuries to nea rly ca tch Pinsonnault with a 9.470-se cond effor t (good for an eventua l thi rd) . "I was focused on w hat I had to d o: ' he sa id. "John had a ride th rough , so I jus t wanted to win the hillclimb. When I h eard m y time wasn ' t fa st enough, I rush ed back do wn th e hill to tak e m y dad to the hospital." Wilkin s pull ed in as th e last challen ger in th e 540cc class. Pin sonn ault was in his ridi ng gea r as Wilkins left the line on his two-s troke Rotax twin, which never bac ked off all the way up. Wilkins ma naged to keep the fron t down thro ugh the lights, an d the huge crowd went nuts w hen his 9.211 flas hed on the boa rd . "Tha t ride I wa s really on the throttle , but I got ou t o f the groove a lrttle and I couldn't ge t it ba ck on lin e: ' he said . Pinsonnault was faced with the same situation as he had been at the previous Freemansburg round, having Jed mos t of the da y only to have Hamilton outru n him. He was hopi ng for a repea t come back ride, and his perfec t start increased his chan ces. G earing the third jump and blasting through the timers, he had the da y's fastest time - an unbelievable 8.279. " I knew the hill conditions toda y would really suit m y setup," said Pinsonna ult . "The hill was smoother for the seco nd ride ." Paul Pinsonnault (far left) not only won for the second time this year at Bushkill, but also took over the 540cc points lead. Looking like a .factory Honda . MXer, CBRmounted David Watson (left) topped the BOOcc ranks . Wilkin s se tt led for seco nd, saying, "(Pinsonnault) is the best at this hill." Russ Van der Veen had problem s on his first 80Dec run, as the big bikes also had traction problems. Lou Ge rencer had to shut off ea rly because his bike nea rly flipped off the line . Then he go t too much air over tire jumps, lea ving him with a 9.691. Glen Petty Jr. entered the day tied for second in the points, but he got bounced out of the groove and went out of control, crashing hard and injuring his wrist. Watson su rged in to the lead wi th a contro lled, smooth 9.326, but the Kleebu rg She et Met al-ba cked Honda rid er wasn 't ou t of the woods ye t. Large has cap tu red tw o straight Na tiona l Cha mpio ns hi ps w i th clutch-situ ati on rid es; here, he was seven points ou t of first wi th five rac es to go , an d he needed a big ride. "Jam mer" pegged the Harley XR750 off the line and time d the ju m ps per fectly, bu t halfway up his bike went a little fla t on to p en d becau se th e in jection was n' t adj usted pe rfec t ly. H e s till clocked a 8.862. Poin ts lead er Bob by Templeton came up after Large , but his b ik e d ied o n the line and he h ad to scratch on his first attempt. Lou Gerencer hooked up off the line and had to back off to snap the front end down: "It hooked up right from the start, a nd I had to get off the throttle. Aft er that I knew I had to keep it wid e op en ." Mac's Cycle Supply / A & P Machinebacked Wa tso n loves the Bushkill hill . He kept the beast on a tight leash out of the hole, and then he unleashed his version of the Orient Exp ress . Watson kept it on line and he ju mped so 'far over the final ju mp th a t he nearly tripped the ligh ts while still ai rborne . His 8.414 moved him into the lead . " I took it a little easy off the line and it he lped m e go a lot fa st er:' h e explained. "I've bee n looking forward to this hill ." "Ja m mer " once again nailed the launch and hit his line on his ru n. He had the day's quickest pass up to the second jump, bu t then his bike flattened out aga in on the top third of the hill. Still, his 8.562 was strong enough for second. "We have a jetting problem," he said afterward . "I got to the second jump and thought it wa s going to go, then I heard it drop d o w'Il a little. We've been up and d own all yea r but today's been pretty good." . CN Bushkill Valley Freemansburg, Pennsylvania Results: September 12, 1999 540: 1. Paul Pin so nna u lt (Han) ; 2. Ted Wilkin s IRo ta x): 3. Chad Disbennett (Tri): 4. John Ha milto n Jr. ITri): 5. Scott McNeely (Ha n); 6. Phil Libha rt (Tn ); i . Rich Scheuerman (Ha n); 8. Chri s VanHyni ng (Ha n); 9. Tim Freidhoff (Han); 10. Mike Temp leton (Yam); 11. Charlie ' Roberts (Kaw): 12. [eff Brown (Hon) : 13. Mike livingsto n (Ha n); 14. Pau l Carrery (Kaw): 15. Aaro n Brown IHonl . SOO: 1. D.w id wa tson (Ho n); 2. Jam es Large (H-D); 3. Lou Ge rencer (H- D); 4. Tim Frazi er (H -D); 5. Greg William s (Ho n): 6. Bob Ca stled ine (H-D) ; 7. Jeff Thomas (Yam); 8. Russ Va nde rveen (H-D); 9. Harry Den ha m (H-O); 10. Glen Pe tty Jr. (H-O); 11. Rod ney Willia ms (TrO; 12. Robe r t Shreiner (Ka w ): 13. Mik e DeBusk (Kaw) : 14. Rodnev Smith (Yam ); 15. Mark Swem (BSA). AMA 540« ' NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IIILLCUMB SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 9 01 13 rounds): 1. Paul Pinsonnault (104/ 2 wins); 2. John Ham ilt on Jr. (102 / 2); 3. Ted Wilkins (99/ 1); 4. Ph il s Libhart (% ); 5. Chad Di bennett 183/ 2); 6. Tim Frcidhoil (70); 7. Chris VanHyning (58); 8. Aar on Brown (55); 9. Scot t McNeely (54/ 0 ; 10. Mike Livingston (53); 11. Toby Thompson (52/ 1); 12 Richie Scheuennan (51); 13. Charlie Roberts (40); 14. Roger McNeely (39); IS. Mike Tem pleton (31); 16. Jack Macau ley (251;17. Chris Brown (16); 18. Jel l Brown (3); 19. Alan Hoskins (1); 20. Brian Bowlb y (10). AMA 800" NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IlILLCLlMB SERI ES POINT STANDlNGS (After 9 01 13 rounds) : 1. [ames Lar ge (103); 2. David Wa tson 1'19/ 2); 3. Bobby Tem pl eton (96 /3); 4. G le n Pet ty Jr. 195 / 11;5. Tim Frazier 189/1); 6. Lou Cercn cer (81/ 2); 7. Greg WiUiams (56); 8. Harry Denham (52); 9. Jeff Thomas /Russ Vanderveen (42); 11. Mike DeBusk (4{)); 12. Willie Price (35) ; 13. (TIE) Bob Cas tled in e / Bob Shreiner (34); 15 . Steve Dresser (33); 16. Mark Swem (32); 17. Rodn ey Williams (30); 18. Terry Thompson (2')}; 19. Bran d on Kreeg er (20; 20. Rodney Sm ith (14). rrm en en en ~ ,,; N Q; .c ... ... en E 'E.. 41

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