Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128105
(Left) nm Freidhoff led the 540cc class after the first round. His B.19B-second ti m e was bettered only by Watson In round two. (RIght) Jeff Thomas nearly looped ou t In his attempt to overtake Watson In the BOOcc c lass. Thomas fi ni she d second. (Below) A sideways Ph il L1bhart fi ni shed seventh In the BOOcc class and fourth In th e 5 40cc class. David Watson then sailed over th e trick y d ouble an d ran stro ng to the ligh t s . bu t a t im e r problem w o uld for ce him to run aga in. When Tiger Strank Jr. took to the hill , he got too much air over th e dou ble and nearl y went o ut of bounds on th e ri g h t side . but th e 2000 -s eries runn e r -up k ept it in bounds for a 8.44 1-second pass . Tim Freidhoff on the Adam ' s Cy c l e Repair /Ho ff's Machine Honda CR500 handled the camel hump at the bottom of the hill and reall y ti med the doub le, m in imiz ing time lost in the air to stop the clocks with a great 8 . 198. "T he key is that doub le," Freidhoff said . " If you h it th at ri g ht, yo u c an j ust ho ld it o n to the top." Ph il Libh art put th e Howe ' s T riumph through it's pac es to grab second, with an 8.348 , and Chad D is bennett had an excelle nt ride go away when the timer m alfunctioned. Then Watson ro ll ed bac k in to the pit to m ak e up fo r hi s aborted earlier run . Wat son ran an 8.44 1 to m ov e to third , an d M ik e Livingsto n ended the round with a 9 . 12 0 -sec ond run on the Off Roa d C y c l e S upp l y /Ma c ' s Ka wasa k i Honda . Watson sta rted the second ro und, try ing to unseat Freidhoff, and he wa s reall y sharp over th e double. When Watson hit th e ground strai g ht an d wicked it on the race was over. There cu rrently isn't a 540 that will run with his bike in a st r a i g ht l in e , an d h e slammed through th e lights with a ti me off 8.135. " I knew I had to stay lower over the double and then try to hold it on a nd it worke d out good tonight ," Wat son said. The face of the double rutted up bad ly , and that made a fast second p ass d ifficult, but Chris VanHyning cl icked off an 8.311 -second run on the VanHyning 's Service/Arkport Cycles Honda to eam third for the night. Lib- hart's firs t -ro u n d time he l d u p for fourth, ahead of Chad Disbennett 's sec ond- round 8.461. Freidhoff go t cross rutted o ver the do uble and sw apped when he landed , but he wasn't too d isappointed with second place. "Last year, we ch anged the bike to nitro and d id n 't have it figured out," Friedhof said . "We finishe d 12th here, and now we 're l eavi ng here with a second . That's a good start." BOO Greg Williams was the first 800 on the hill , and he ran an 8. 635 despite h is Honda fou r not runnin g properly. Watson held fast time until Tiger Strank Jr. , on the Dr.Bob Raci ng /B £, B Sale s £, Serv ice Kawasaki two st roke triple , crossed the line. T iger was really crossed up over the dou ble , but he held on and ran an 8 .611 to t ake the lead. Bob Templeton , on th e n umber -three Harl ey -D av id so n , had a nice run going w hen his bike died halfway up the h ill. "The rotor in th e magneto broke," Templeton said . David Watson followed Templeton , but he had a problem -fi lled run with lo t s of a irtime and tro uble w ith th e bumps. Watson caught a break when the lights o nce again d idn't wo rk, so he would get another shot. Inn ovative Mo l d and Mac hi ne/Thor ri der J eff Thomas then hammere d his XS Yamaha fuel-injec te d twin over the camel hump and hit the double w ide open. Thomas never backed off and he wasn 't straight when he landed, but he forced the b ik e back on line and thrilled the crowd with his 8 .20 5 second run. Watso n didn 't waste any ti m e lining up for his second try of the round , though. He left the line hard and stay ed a little lo wer than Thomas over the do uble, an d it was j u st enough to climb past Thoma s, w ith a t ime of 8.022. Rodney Wil liams finished the first round with a solid run on his Triumph tw in to fly into fourth , with an 8 .60 8 . In the second round , Strank came up short on the double and wound up fifth on the strength of his first-round time . Templeton didn't have any problems on h is second run - h is Bob £, Donna Erskine/ Townsend Specia l ties Harley -Davidson put the power t o the g ro und. "The b ike pulled g oo d off the botto m," T empleton said . "I clea re d th e cy cl e .double and wa s pretty straight, but it ki cked in the middle and I had to ba ck off t o make sure I got a run in . If that had been the f ir st run I wou ld have l eft it o n t o see if I cou ld get Watson ." Watson the n watched as Thomas nearly loo ped ou t ove r th e double and had to settle for second, "I had a lo t of little problems, but I had two good rides ," Thomas said. "I had a chance to win if I could have gotten the right ride in ." Then Rodney Williams was all that stood between Watson and the wi n . Williams went all out, but he la nded hard over th e double and c ra shed out. W at so n had h is seco nd wi n of the night. "Ma n, you couldn't ask for a better st art to the season," Watson said. CN Moonshine H ill r Delbarton. West Vi ginia llesults: May 5, ZOOl [Hou d 1 of 151 800: 1. David Watson (Hon) ; 2. Jeff Tho mas (Y om): 3 . Bobb y T emp leton ( H· D ) : 4 . Rodney William s (Tri) ; 5. T iger Strenk, Jr (Kaw); 6 . Greg W illi om s ( Ho n) : 7 . Ph il L1bho rt ( BSA): 8. Mi ke Bebu sk (Yom) : 9 . Rodne y Sm ith (Yom): 10. Richie Scheuerm ann III ( ~ w ) ; 11. Brandon Kreeger (Tn); 12. John Ham ilton . Jr. (HoD) : 13 . Mort< Sworn (BSA): 14. Harry Denham (H·D) ; 15 . Russell VanderVeen (HoO). 5 4 0 : 1. Da vid Watson ( Hon) ; 2 . T im Fre idhoff (Han): 3. Chris VonHyin g (Han): 4 . Phil U bhort (Tri ): 5. O1ad Oisbenn ett (Tri); 6 . Joh n Hamilton. Jr. (Tn); 7 . Pa u l Plnsonn a u lt ( Hon ) : 8 . T i g ~ r S tren k. Jr . ( KlI w) ; 9 . M i k ~ Li vings to n ( Hon ) 10 . Gre q ory Thomp son ( KlIw) ; 11. Anthony D~H lI rt (Hon) ; 12. Curt Sn~lIing (Hon) ; 13. K enn eth Bo nnema (Hon); 14 . M ich llel Goncalves ( Hon); 15 . Pe u l Garret y (Ko w) . A M A / Pace American National Cha mpio ns hi p Hillclimb Series Points Standings ( After 1 of 15 rounds): 800 : I. David Wotson (IS): 2. Jeff Thomos (I 4) : 3. Bo bby Templeton ( 13 ); 4. Rodney Williams (12); 5. Tiger Stre nk . Jr ( 11) ; 6. Greg Willilims ( 10); 7 . Phil Ubhort (9) : 8. Mike Bebusk (8) : g . Rodney Smi th (7) : 10. Richie Scheuermann In (6 ); 11. Brandon Kreeqer (5) : 12. Jo hn Hamntc o. Jr. (4) : 13. Mort< Swem (3) : 14. Horry Denhom (2): 15. Russell ve noervee n (I). 540 : 1. Da vid Wetscn (15); 2. T im Freldhoff (14): 3. Chris VonHying (1 3): 4. PhH Ubh ort ( 12): 5. Chod Disbennett ( I I ): 6. John Hamilton, J r. ( 10): 7. Paul Pinsonnault (9); 8. Ti ger Strank, Jr. (8 ); 9. Mike Livin gston (7) 10 . Gr~go ry T hom p son (6); 11 . Antho ny Def-lert (5) : 12. Curt Snelll nq (4 ) : 13 . Kenneth Bonnema (3) ; 14. Micha el Goncalves (2) ; 15. Poul Gorrety ( I ). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Middlebury, Indiana. May 20 Round 3 - Jefferson. Pennsylvania, June 3 n e _ S • MAY 23, 2 0 01 21