Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIPace American National Hillclimb Series Round 9: All-Star Challenge National DbhartAndStrank ro rhe rop! (RIght) Phil Llbhart was able to beat Watson for his first win of the year on his 540Cc Triumph·powered bike. Libhart now trails Watson by 15 points in the championship points chase. (Above) TIger Strank got his second 800cc win of the , . . at the All-Star Challenge In York, Pennsylvania, beating David W_n with a 5.995seconcI run on his Yamaha A1-ba.... hillclimber. STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID L. PATTON JR. YORK, PA, AUGUST 5 ennsylvania riders Phil Libhart [540] and Tiger Strank [800J raised the first-place trophies at Round nine of the AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series. The White Rose Motorcycle Club hosted the annual All-Star Challenge event, which featured a third round of competition among the day's top ten riders in each class called the "Money Round." After Libhart's first victory of the year in the 540cc class, and Strank's second 800cc win of the year, ended David Watson's national win streak at nine races. However, the defending 540cc and 800cc National Champion rebounded with ~ the 540cc win in the "Money Round." Perhaps overshadowing Watson's win was the record-setting 5.134-second performance by Bobby Templeton to claim the first-place prize money in the 800cc class. P the bottom about 30 feet from the starting line that the riders have to try to crest with the maximum momentum and minimum airtime. After the breaker, the hiJI gets very steep and has a lot of soft dirt in the middle, then the riders must clear the top jump before the finish line. Watson showed how important horsepower was on his first run. Watson charged off the line, but he mistimed the breaker and had to try to make up for it on the rest of the hill. Watson ran a 6.811-second run, but he would come on strong later in the day. Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, resident Phil Libhart is in second place in the 540cc points chase, and he eclipsed Watson's time with a 6.713-second run on the Tuff Platesbacked Triumph Twin. "We've changed the fuel injection and the bike is running a lot stronger now," Libhart said. "I just hit the breaker too fast and lost time in the air over the transition." Jeff Thomas set the fastest time of the first round with a 6.403-second run, but he knew he would need to go faster to win. "The A.R.C. Levers/Motul/Thorbacked Honda was a little too long and it spun too much off the bottom," Thomas said. "I timed the breaker better than I ever have before and the bike was really pulling hard in the middle. When I hit the top jump, it almost threw me over the bars, but I made it to the lights. We'll shorten it 540 Watson RacingfTroy Lee Designsbacked Michael Goncalves was the first rider to challenge the 300-foot hill as his sponsor David Watson watched. "Mike [GoncalvesJ timed the bottom breaker, which is the key to this hill, perfectly," Watson said. "He held it wide open to the top jump and hit it straight. He probably doesn't have enough horsepower to win here, but he just had one of his best rides." Goncalves' 6.978-second run would earn the Rookie of the Year points leader his best finish of the season - eighth overall. The White Rose Hill has a ramp, or breaker, at 36 AUGUST 22. 2001 • cue • • n e _!IS - before the next round, so it should hook up better." John Hamilton Jr. won Round three of the series, held at York earlier this spring, and he climbed into second with another solid run over the breaker. The hill was rutted and dried out for the second round. making it hard to put together a clean run. Watson put his Honda CBR on top with a 6.364-second effort. "On the first ride, I jumped off the breaker and the bike wheelied in the middle of the hill and I had to back off," Watson said. "This time, I didn't get as much air, so 1 was able to go faster. The hill is drying out. and getting slower." Libhart followed with an exciting ride. "It really took off at the start," Libhart explained. "I was going too fast near the top of the breaker, so I clutched it and grabbed the front brake. I panicked because I thought I slowed too much, but the rear wheel stayed on the ground and kind of walked across the breaker, then I turned it on. I hit the top jump hard and flew through the lights, but I didn't hear my time. When I got to the- bottom, my pit crew said I ran a 6.3 [second run], so I said, 'A 6.3 what?'" Libhart's 6.334-second time would be enough to take the 540cc win. Thomas and Hamilton were not able to improve on the first-round time and would finish third and fourth with Chad Disbennett, pulling into fifth after a 6.617 -second run. BOO The 800cc riders were watching the 540cc racing very closely, and the top eight riders ran in the six-second bracket with Libhart and Richie Scheuermann running 7.1 s to round out the top ten. Watson set the early pace with a 6.098-second time. "I had a pretty good run, but I hit the breaker too fast and got too much air," Watson said. "On this hill, you have to time the breaker right, then you just have to hold it wide open and stay in bounds." Templeton also had a good run on his Harley-Davidson. "I hit that hump in the middle, and it bounced me into the soft fill dirt and I spun in the loose stuff," Templeton said. Templeton held down third with his 6.214-second time, and Strank ran near the end of the round and spun his Yamaha R1 badly off the line. "I saw Dave's first run and it was really good, then I lost all that time out of the' hole," Strank said. "I should be able to run faster on my next run." Strank was still close with a time of 6.110 seconds. The 800s had a lot of traction problems as the hill dried out, but the top guns still got it done. Watson slowed down on the bottom and had a cleaner run, but it was .008 of a second slower than his first run. "I just never got in that one ride where everything clicked," Watson said. Thomas snagged fourth on the Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson Sportster. "I overshot the breaker, then I had to back out of it before the big jump," Thomas said. "I fell back on the seat so far that I barely made the light before it got away from me." Thomas ran a 6.340-second run to edge Rodney Smith's 6.740-second time. Templeton, like Watson, came up a little short on his first run and took third, but he put it together in the "Money Round." Strank and Bob Shreiner shortened the Yamaha R1 right before his run and it really paid off. "I only saw one straight, smooth rut, and I was able to stay in it off the line." Strank said. "It carried the front wheel from the breaker to 25 feet from the big jump, just dancing about a foot off the ground, and I never had to back off. I just feathered the clutch a little to get the front end on the ground before the big jump and it stayed straight to the finish. I knew I had a fast run going, it felt great." Strank's 5.995-second run was fast enough for the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, rider to clinch his second win of the year. "I'm getting the R1 figured [out], but all we can do right now is try to make Dave [Watson] work for it at every Hillclimb," Strank said. THE MONEY ROUND The top-ten riders in each class competed in a one-run shootout to

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