Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I III 1111 ... • - AMAIPac e American N a t ional H illc lim b S e r ies 1 •• R o und 4 : B u s h k ill Va lley Motorc y c le C lub N a tio n al ,..., - Th~ma~an (Above) David Watson roosts through the Bushkill silt off the starting line in the 540cc race. Watson took second in the 540 class, but won the 800cc event later that day. (Left) Jeff Thomas gets crossed up on the way to a second-place finish in the 800cc class, after winning the 540 event earlier In the day. S T O RY A ND PH OT OS BY D A VID P A TT O N , JR . FREEMANSBURG,PA, JUNE 10 a v id Watson c o n t in u e d h is National Hillclimb winning streak a t Bushki ll Valley Moto rcycle Club ' s Spring event, Round four of the 2001 Pace American/AMA Nati ona l Cham pion ship Hillclimb Serie s . Wa tson 's third win in th e 800cc class this year giv es him a win at every ro und so fa r, and he has opened up a 15 -poi nt gap over second place in his quest to win ba c k -to -be c k nu mber-one plates in both classes. Jeff Thomas had to borro w Russ Vand er Ve en' s Harl e y Da v id s o n Sports ter fo r hi s second rid e and he sco red s ec o n d ove ra ll ahe ad of John Hamilton Jr., who is s ponsored by Vander Ve en . Forme r 540cc Nat ion a l Champ ions Greg Williams and Paul Pinsonnau lt also returned to action at the difficult 500foot-high hill, and both c arded top-10 finishes. D 540 AMA referee Harold White waved Curt Snelling to th e starting box precisely at 1 p.m . a nd then S nelling put in a smooth ride t o t he t o p to get 56 JUNE 27 . 2001 • cue • e th ing s under way . Th e Bushkil l hill fea tures a sma ll "ca me l hump" a bo ut 25 feet off the line a nd ha s three big jum ps on the wa y up th e ste e p fa ce of the narrow hill. Afte r Melvin Mease had a mechanica l problem , Dr. Bob Ra c ing's Greg Thompson m ade his first eve r ru n at the h ill in th e pro class. Thompson is le a ding the Roo k ie of The Yea r st a ndings a nd he had a smooth 10 .629 -sec ond ru n, but h e fell a t the top and broke h is c o lla rbone t o e n d h is da y prem a t urel y . Da vid a n d Da n Wat so n ro lled t h e C ycl e Ac c ess o r ie s [, Mo re / Orie nt Exp ress / Alpinestars -ba c ked Ho nda CBR to th e line with every intention of winn in g . T h e Bu sh k ill e ve nt is h is favorite hill an d he left the st art in a cloud of dust. Th e bo ttom of the h ill has a lot of silt , whic h m a kes it hard to hit th e c a m e l hump s traight-on Wat s on was c ro s se d up o ver the hum p but he got e veryth ing on lin e by th e firs t jump . The four -cy linder mach ine fle w 40 -fe et u p the face of t he hill an d Watson g u n ned it ove r the last two jum ps to stop th e cl ocks in 9.409 s econ d s to ta k e the lea d . Tig er Strank Jr. fo llow ed Wa ts on 's blast with a clean, fast 9 .984-second ru n on his Ka wa s a k i KX500 , then neVlls Th o m a s pulled the Motu l/W is eco/ ARC Levers/ HJ C/Tho r sponsored CB R to the line. He really dropped th e hammer off the line and the rear whe e l stepped out ov er the camel hump , but Thomas held it on. He wa s crosse d up ove r all t h re e ju m ps but he made it past th e lig hts to rec ord a 10 .4 2 7 -s e c o nd run , but h e would imp rove on his se cond p a s s . Ph il Lib hart a ls o fo ught the r ear whe el off t he lin e but the Kre e g e r Ra ci ng / Am soil backed -T riumph strai ghtened out a nd he fin ish ed off th e first round wit h a 9 .687-s econd pass. Watson watched , a s th e first 10 ride rs of the second round we re una ble to c rack the nine -second barrier. "The hill is getting worse as the day goes on," Watson sa id. "The first jum p is st ill okay, b ut the bo tt om a nd th e last two jum ps are rea lly rutting up ." Chad Disb ennett had a so lid 10 .2 second run o n his first pa ss and he de cid ed to try th e far right side of the hill for his fina l pa ss . He wa s perfectly s t ra ig ht ov er t he ca m e l h u m p an d th e n p inn ed the Bo 's Rad ical Ra cing/Thor backed -Triumph. Disb ennett nail ed th e first two jumps and flew to the to p, bu t he had to back off befo re th e la s t ju m p to get th e fro nt wh eel down , s low ing his ti m e . Dis bennett took ov er second with a time of 9.58 2 seconds . Wats on and Disbennett he ld the to p s pots u nti l th e e n d o f t h e round when Tho m a s p ut to gethe r a blistering run. "Eve rything was good on th e bottom but I was ge a red a little hig h a nd th e fro nt e nd ca m e up for a bo ut ha lf t h e rid e , " Th o m a s sa id . "Bu t y o u c an 't let o ff. O n a rid e like th at you ho ld on a nd h o pe yo u get p ast the lights." The huge c rowd responded wh en Th omas' 9 . 171 time went up . Libha rt m a de a couple of sma ll m istakes on his seco nd rid e b ut his first -r oun d tim e h e ld u p for fourth a hea d of Stra nk . " I h a ve n ' t really d one t h a t well here the last c ouple of yea rs , so a fourt h is a good day fo r us ," Libhart said. Watson left the line ha rd on the final 540cc ride and he was go ing a ll out. "J eff put a flying ride through , so I was go ing for it," Wa tson sa id . "I had a n ice , clean run off the bottom and the b ike was rea lly mov ing . When I went off the second jum p a nd went to turn it on , it just d ied. The belt to the fue l p um p brok e , probably fro m th e im pa ct." Thomas lo st to Wa tson last ye a r on the last run in th e 800cc class, but this 540cc win was special. "We fina lly got it ge a red right and [got J the length right, " Thomas sa id . " l kne w it was a s fast as Da v id ' s [Watson), I just had to ride it. I let off a little at th e b ottom - I could t ell when David went "t hro ug h th ere that he was a little b it faster. He's smart enough to see whe re he cou ld make up a little bit of tim e to be a t me , but it didn 't wor k out for him." BOO Brandon Kreeger was th e first 800 on the hill, bu t h is ba rs s lipped down after a hard la nd ing off the first jump. Th e hill was rea lly rou gh on the heavier b ik e s and Gr eg Williams , th e e ighth rider on the hill, wa s th e first into the nine -se co nd ra nge . Willia ms ' four -cyli nde r Honda had a high -s pe e d misfire, but he rode the wheels off it to set th e e a rly pace with a 9 .999 se cond run . Ham ilt on d ropped Williams to s e c o n d with a 9. 9 58 desp ite a major cro ss -up o ve r the first jump and losing a n ai r cl eaner over the second jump. Wats on lined up on the far left side of the hill to try to find a stra ight rut, but a s soon as he d ropped the clutch he was side wa ys . Watson re in e d the F a c t o ry Effex/ Harry 's Ma ch ine/Orien t Express -

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