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merican National Hillclimb Series Round B: Greasy Ridge National STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID L. PATTON JR. HAYDENVlll.E, OH, JOlY 28 ast season, eventual 540cc and 800cc National Champion David Watson traveled to Haydenville, Ohio, with the points lead in both classes. Watson scored his first win at the Action Sports Promotions hill in the 540cc class while finishing behind James "Jammer" Large in the 800cc class, who was also enjoying his first Greasy Ridge victory. For these two champions, round eight of the 2001 AMA National Championship Hillclimb Tour proved that lightning can strike twice on the same hill. Watson raced to the 540cc win with the evening's fastest run and carded a third behind runner-up Jeff Thomas and Large, who thrilled his central Ohio fans with his come-from-behind ride to win the 800cc class. L (Left) DavIcI Wation keeps on winning. Wation got his sixth win In eight races so far this year in the 540cc claa. He MW leads In the points by 16 _ PhI Llbhart. (Above' L1bhart gets his Triumph vertical at Greatly Ridge just prior to crashing. Llbhart remains In second In the 540cc points despite having no wins In the class thus far this year. 540 Tiger Strank, on the Dr. Bob Racing/Fox Racing-backed Kawasaki KX500, opened the show on one of the circuit's toughest hills. Greasy Ridge is 300 feet in length to the timers, with a steep bottom section featuring soft fill dirt that offers mega traction before the ruts start to form. From there, the riders have to tackle the "Ledge," a steep, uphill jump. The top has a small kicker, then the last 30 feet is flat. Strank was in good shape, but he tried to time "The Ledge," and his 6.113-second time wouldn't even crack the top five. David and Dan Watson knew that their first run would provide the best chance to win, and Watson had the Honda CBR on the gas as he roosted up the right side of the hill. He was on line as he neared the Ledge and never backed off. He flew nearly 40 feet uphill and his rear wheel settled on the backside of the last kicker then hooked up for the run past the timers. The crowd approved as Watson's 5.141-second time easily eclipsed his 5.551-second record set last year. '" had to feather the throttle a little, but it wasn't too bad," Watson said. "Then' got a nice jump and landed in the center, where I was supposed to." Watson watched as Jeff Thomas pulled in his Motul/ARC Levers/Thor/ Motorite-backed Honda CBR540. Thomas ran a 5.675, despite a few problems at the bottom. "Jeff had a sweet run, but he landed a little nose-low over the jump," Watson said. "His rear wheel skipped on the ruts at the bottom. My rear 34 AuGUST 15, 2001 • Due • _ suspension is a little softer, but I'm sure he will dial it in for his second ride." Honda CR500-mounted Tim Freidhoff doesn't have the horsepower of the twins and the four-cylinders, and he came up short of the top kicker after a solid run off the bottom. He really nailed the landing, though, and the Adam's Cycle Repair/Hoff's Machine-backed Honda blistered to the top to crack the top five with a 6.059second run. Phil Ubhart has always ridden well at Haydenville, and he had the Kreeger Racing/ Amsoil/Tuff Platebacked Triumph wide open when he went over the Ledge. He landed with his front end way too high, and he had to back off to keep from looping out, but he gathered it up to edge Freidhoff with a time of 5.759 seconds. John Hamilton Jr. closed the round with a 6.286, a little off the pace. The second round is always tough at Greasy Ridge as it's run with the lights on in the dark of night. With Thomas out because of his ankle, the rest of the top five chased Watson. Libhart pitched it away over the Ledge as he was lopping out, and Freidhoff was cross-rutted on the face of the Ledge and got highsided when he landed. The rider who put it all together was Bo's Radical Racing/ Thor-backed Chad Disbennett, from nearby Logan, Ohio. Disbennett raced with a set of Viking horns on his helmet, and he kept the Triumph pinned as he crested the Ledge on n __ s the left side of the hill. He landed hard, but he stayed on two wheels to take second with a 5.648. "Well I have about 50 friends here to cheer for me, and horns on my head," Disbennett said. "I had to go for it or look really dumb. I want to make Motoworld for something besides crashing." Disbennett's teammate Hamilton ran a 6.17, and Watson had his sixth 540cc win of the year. "That ride was awesome," Watson said. "We got just about everything we could out of the bike, and it worked really well. Scott McNeely helped us out tonight, and Mike Carnelli has the suspension dialed in for us, and my teammate Mike Goncalves has two straight top tens as a rookie. It's been a great night so far." BOO Watson was the first 800cc rider on the hill, and he had the Factory Effex/Troy Lee Designs/Mac's Cycle Sales-backed Honda CBR running hard off the line. Watson was crossed up over the Ledge and lost time getting straightened out before stopping the clocks in 5.434 seconds. "When I came out of the hole, I got all crossed up," Watson said. "After that, I was just trying to hit my lines, and I wasn't able to set up for the jump. I tried to lean it way over in the air to get it on line and I was able to land it okay. I wasn't planning on that exciting of a ride, but there is poten- tial for a faster run next time if I get a good, clean ride through." Brit-bike fans watched as Disbennett followed Watson with a run of 5.743 seconds on his Triumph. BSAmounted Phil Libhart clocked a 5.831second run on his English Motors/R.L. Smith-backed twin. Reiser's Cycle Service/F&S Harley-Davidson-backed Large was up next as he tried to repeat his winning ride of last year. "I am going to come up to it (the Ledge] as fast as I can," Large said. "If I am out of control, I am not going to kill myself, but if things look good, I'll leave it on and see what happens." Large was straight off the line, but then the ruts slowed his charge. "I was a little wobbly," Large said. "I went a little to the left, then a little to the right. It killed my momentum over the Ledge." Large's 5.849-second time was the fifth best in the first round. Large had predicted that Thomas would be fast at Haydenville because he rides aggressively and Thomas really had the Indianapolis Southside HarleyDavidson-backed Sportster moving out of the hole. Thomas hit the Ledge wide open, and he barely kept the motorcycle under him as the front end was in his face. Thomas hit the ground with the bike still straight up, but he kept the throttle pinned and wrestled it past the lights in 5.396 seconds, the fastest run of the first round. After the lights, the hill that broke his ankle three years ago threw him down again - luckily with only a sprain. Thomas' crash ended his night. Watson tried the far left side for his second run, and though he was smooth, he wasn't able to catch Thomas.