Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

R ound 13: Dev Staircase i/'s Hillclimb AMA NA TlONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HILL CLIMB SERIES • ~I =l -l me ou t so much , [ cou ld n't have done an y of this witho u t them ." Glen Petty j r.' s bike cha nges reall y paid off. Petty ran u p the center of the hill an d he kept it low over th e jum ps . He ra n a 10.452, dropping jam m er one spot. Frazie r pu lled his XR-750 to the line. "We geared it down so it wo uld pull better, and took the tire cha ins off Lou's bike." Frazier got a great ho leshot and ra n th e far right side of the hill. " I kn ew if [ go t o ff th e bo t to m stra igh t [ could ge t a good tim e. O nce I go t over the first jump, I jus t kep t it on the rest of the way." Fra zier ra n a n inc red ible 9.208. jeff Thom as w he eled hi s Ya ma ha ba ck to the line to try to claim his firs t Pro win, but it di dn' t work out. "The bike slowed at th e top on my first run and we thought we had it fixed , but it w ouldn't ru n right. " eN By David and Lora Patton OREGONIA, OH, ocr. 10 im Fra zier and Paul Pinsonnault mig ht 've won the battle, but james "Jammer " Large and Ted Wilkins won the war at th e deciding round of th e 1999 AMA National Cham pionship H illclimb Seri es in Ohio. In o ne of th e most unpred ictable ye a rs eve r, it wa s on ly fitting tha t heavy rains days before . the even t turned th e lightning-fast hill in to an e nd u ra nce tes t, dramatically chang ing the seas on's points standi ngs. Tim Friedhoff worked his CR500 off the lin e and picked his way up the hill in 12.167 seconds to s ta rt th e day. He held the fast tim e until Rich ie Sche ue rmann 111 shot his C R500 u p th e hill in 11.04 seconds . After j eff Brow n got caugh t in th e mu ck , Ted Wil kins a nd hi s broth er / mec ha nic, Bill, pu sh ed his Rotax twin to th e start. Ted's miss ion for the day was to stay within one position of Pau l Pinso nna ult and w ithi n three of Phil Libhart to ca p tu re h is firs t 540 Cham p ions h ip. Ted sc rea med his two-s tro ke twi n off th e lin e an d over th e ta ke-o ff jumps for a soli d 12.100. "1 got too much ai r o ve r th e ju mps, and it's hard to find traction out there," he sai d. The last rid er of the round was five time 540 National C ha m p ion Pa ul Pin sonnau lt. He w as not bo there d by th e d ifficult cond itio ns. " I think m y se tup is th e way to go today - an MX-based hillcli mber ," he T . ~a id . Pins onna ult proved his poin t w ith a straight, trouble-fr ee ride th at was also ' b lis ter in g fas t, 9.785 seconds, to take ove r the lead. . Th e w eath er and th e hill didn 't im p rove by th e .seco nd ro un d . T ed Wil kins w at ched everyone figh t the hill and kne w he had to put in a grea t rid e . to w in the title. His first rid e was fourth fas tes t, but that w ou ldn 't b e g o od "e n o u gh , so th ey s hor te ned hi s b ike, loo king for traction. W ilkins moved to the far right side of the hill for the mo st importa nt rid e of th is life. H e dropped th e ha mm er and hi s ce n trig a l clu tch shifted all the wa y up the hill . H e began to slow after th e last jum p. , "When I landed off the top jump, it sta rt ed to spi n, and I was coun ting the 'seconds, '1,2, 3, come on lights.' I lost a lot of tim e there and I didn't kn ow if it 'would be fas t eno ug h," he sa id . I The d iehard fan s ro a red wh en h is "10.299 w as an no u nced. Now th e stage was se t, Pinsonnault held firs t, Wilkin s was in seco nd, a nd if anyo ne b e a t Wil kins and Pin sonnault won, Pinsonna u lt would w in hi s s ix t h cha m p io ns h ip; if Wilkins held o n to Pi nsonnault's rear wheel, he would wi n. I Phil Lib hart received some a dvice fro m Ted Wilkins befo re his ride. "If you are go ing to beat bot h of us, if yo u think yo u ' re go ing to ru n a 9.9 or so met hing, hit the br akes." Libhart was after the win after major pike cha nges. (. " Ralph Kreeger and Bret Rexroth put th e chai n rear w heel on," Libhart sa id . "I wasn't sure that was the right. move until I dropped the hammer a nd th e bik e shot au t of the ho le." Devil 's Staircase Libhart had a fast rid e going bu t he go t cross-rutted o ver the third jump and lost tim e near the top. " We gu essed on the gear ing and ran ou t of gea r before the top," Libhart said. Libhart ran a 10.400 for third overall. Tob y Thompson w as the last rider an d he had bike problem s at 300 feet, ens uring Pinsonn au lt's w in and Wilk in's firs t championsh ip . " I w as happy to get second toda y and firs t for the year," Wilkins sa id . Pinsonnault wa s glad to see his lon gtim e friend and rival w in . " If I could n' t win I'm glad Ted did," he said. Th e tri cky hill pr esented a different set of problems for th e faster, hea vier 800s. Bob Cas tle d ine had a ni ce run go ing until he w ent off the first jump. His bik e jumped ou t of gear when he landed e n d ing hi s fi rst p a ss . After fo rm er National C ha m pion Steve Dresser w ent o u t of bo u nds, Wa lt er "Tige r" St ra nk took his firs t sho t at the Staircase on his Kawas aki triple. Tiger hand led the bot tom , then had troub le ove r the first jump. "I go t sideways a fter tha t first jump a n d had to ba ck o ff . Th e o n ly o ther th in g I remem ber fro m th e ride is th e ad renal ine rush - that was a wil d ride," Tige r sa id . Mike De Bus k was m ounte d on inju re d Lou Gerencer's H arley-D a vid son for th is event, an d go t in trouble in the ru ts, as the hill got worse wit h each pass. jeff Thomas put in a grea t first ride o n his Yamah a XS650-based hillclimber , . "I had a good holesh ot and w heelied a ll th e wa y over the ram p ," h e sa id . "The key to goi ng fast tod ay is ga ining momentum off the bottom." He w as flyin g up the right side of the h ill wh ere Pinsonnault h ad run a nd (Above) J ames Large coul d . only pu ll off a fo urt h-place finis h at the Devi l's Stai rcase National, bu t it was good en ou gh t o wrap up the BOOcc ti tle. (Righ t) Ted Wil kins survived the sloppy conditions to wi n the 540c c Champ ionship. stoppe d the timers in 9.835 seconds. . Former 540 Nat ional Cha m pion Tim Frazier had a 12.894 ride to end the firs t round. " My r ide was go in g oka y , b ut I messed up tra ction at the top," he said . " My cha ins go t knocked fla t and th ey hooked th e knobs of th e tire and locked in p lace. In all my yea rs in hillclimbing, I've ne ver seen that happen ." Steve Dr esser po t together an 11.611 to tak e seven th overa ll, then Tiger ran a 10.923 to move up to third after DeBusk had bike problems. Curt Snelling made his pass, bu t w as a little off th e p ace. Wh en Snelling ca me up s ho r t, Large sewed up th e cha m pio ns h ip . H arry Denham then d ro pped .7 of a second off his first run 'for a 11.870, to g ra b ninth. Th en the 800cc cha m p took a sho t at the w in . Large tried to hi t a line o n the far right, but he drifted int o the mid dl e a nd almos t loope d o u t o ve r th e se co nd jump. H e still ran a 10.769, a few ticks slower th an his first pa ss. "We d id w ha t we came here for , and th a t was w in th e c ha m pi o ns h ip . It wou ld have been n ice to win the hill climb, bu t it wasn 't meant to be today," La rge sai d. "A t th e sta rt of th e yea r, I wasn' t rid ing a ll that grea t, but Tom and my family, friends and spo nsors helped Oregonia , Ohio Results: October 10, 1999 (Round 13 of 13) soo . 1 . Ti m Frazie r (!i- D); 2. Jeff ThOJThlS (Yam); 3. Glen Pett y Jr. (H-D); 4. James Large (H -D); 5. Wa lter S tra nk (Kaw): b . Bobby Tem pleto n ( H -D) ; 7. S teve D resse r ( H- D ); 8. G reg Wi ll ia ms ( He n) : 9. Ha rr y D enham H i -D) ; 10 . Da vid Wa tson IHo n) : 11. Boh C as tl ed ine (H · D) ; 12. Rus s Va ndervee n (H-D); 13 . Willie Price (Suz); 14. Curt Snellin g (Hon ); 15. Rod ney Sm ith (liSA). 540; 1. P,lu l P in so nn a ult ( He n ): 2 . T('tl Wilk ins (Rotax) : 3. Ph il Libha rt (TrD; 4. Rich Sche ue rmann 111 (H on): 5. Mi ke Templeto n (Ya rn): 6. Tim Frei d hoff (Hon); 7. C hris Va nHyning (Hun); 8. C had Disbennett (Tn) ; Q. Aaron Brown (H en): 10. Toby T hompson (85M ; 11. Brian Bow lby (Hon) : 12. Scott Mcfdeely (He n): 13. John Hamil ton [r . (T ri) : 14 . Ken ny Reif (H e n ): 15 . Ant hony Smoot (Kaw ). . I'" 1999 AMA 80 0 NA TIO NA L HILL C LlMIl C H A M r lO N S ll l r S ERI ES I'OINT ST AN DI NG S . (After 13 of 13 rounds): I. l.lIm 'S Larg e OSi /2 wins) ; 2. 111 Bobby Templeton 042/ 3); 3. David W,l tson 039/ 3); 4. Glen Pott y Jr. (13lJ / l) ; 5. Tim Frazier (133/ 2); h. Lou Ccrvncvr (93/2); 7. Jdf Thomas (85); 8. Harry Denha m (73); 9. Grl.'g williams (72); 10. Russ Vanderv een (66); .. 11. Stew Dre se r (55); 12. Mill· Dt.'Busk (53) ; 13. Bob s ~ Sh reine r (52); 14. Bob Castlcdi nc (49); 1.5. Willie I'rlo(45); 16. Mark Swern (43); 17. Terry Thompson (39); 18. ... Rod lll'Y Williams (32); 19. Cu rt Snelli ng (25); 20. Rodney •• Sm ith (23). W AMA 540 NATI O NA L IIILL CLI MB CIlAMr lON Sll lI' S EIl IE S 1'0 lNT STANDING S (A h l'r 13 of 13 rounds): 1. Tl.'CI Wilkins 0 55/2); 2. Pau l Pin sonnault (154 /3); 3. Phil Lihhart (150 /l);" 4. John Hamilton Jr. (132/ 2); 5. Chad Disb,.-nnett (120/2 win s); 6. Tim Frcid hoff (102); 7. Sco tt Mcxlecly (92/ 1); 8. Aa ron Q; Brow n (87 /1); 9. C h r is Va n l-lyuin g (8 4) ; 10. Richie .c Scheuermann 111 (78); 11. Mike Livingston (69); 12. Tt1 by o Thompson (67 /1); 13. Mi J.. l' Te mpleton (61); 14. Roger U Mc blcel y (50); 15. C ha r lie Robert s (43); 16. Ja c k Maca uley (25); 17. Brian Bow lby (20); HI. Chris Bro wn (16); 19. Jdf Brow n (3); 20. Alan Hoskins (11). 'a 1 III o 23

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