Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

-- - --~ . . - - -~- . ....... --- -- ------ --- - AMA U.S. H climb Championship Presented by Pace American -~ .- --- -- - -- Round S: B --- - kill Valley MC Hillclimb ILeft) Chad Dlsbennett, here on his way to second In the 800cc class on his Triumph, won the 540cc class In Freemansburg. IAbove) Tiger Strank had a near-perfect run to top the 800cc class, but he could only muster a ninth in MOcc competition. IBelow) Dave Watson was consistent as always, finishing second In the 540cc class and third in the 800cc event. He leads the points in both series. scored an 8.712, the fastest firstround run in either class. Greg Williams, on his EX 540 twin, was up next, and he put together a clean 9.71. That moved him into second, but Watson was next in line. Watson had an excellent start, only to highside after the third jump on his CBR540 Honda. "The run felt good," said the former champ and current dual points leader. "The bike was running hard; then all of a sudden I hit something and I was looking at the trees. The hill looked really smooth in the beginning, but it's getting chewed up fast." Watson got a break, though, as championship contender Libhart also crashed at the top on his first run, leading to a pressure-packed second round. Before round two, the hill workers knocked down some of the ruts that were causing crashes, and the times began to improve. Disbennett decided to take advantage of the smoother hill and set out to improve his time, but he went over the bars as he neared the last jump. "We have a problem with the sprocket bolts, and they came loose again and it threw the chain and locked up the rear wheel," Disbennett said. This is Watson's favorite hill, and he made a calm but out-of-control pass. He had to back off after the start 19 get lined up for the first jump, then he got sideways in the air and had to straighten it out. He kept working and made it up and over in 9.351 seconds to move into second. STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID L. PATTON JR. ~SBURG,PA,SEPT.8 ~ncan't believe it. I got a threepeat!" were the words of defending 800cc National Champion Tiger Strank Jr. after his third straight 800cc win. The Johnstown, Pennsylvania, rider covered the 500-foot Bushkill Valley Motorcycle Club hill in 8.327 seconds to top Chad Disbennett by a scant seven-hundredths of a second. Points leader Dave Watson limited the damage yet again after finishing third, retaining his points lead. Disbennett was untouchable in the 540cc class, as he seized his third win of the series. Watson was once again up front, finishing second and actually adding six points to his lead over Phil Libhart, who finished eighth. Former 540cc National Champion Greg Williams finished third, but his day was ruined by a hard crash on his first 800cc ride that forced him out for the rest of the day. Both championships seem destined to go down to the wire. U These 540cc The first five riders weren't able to make it to the timers, but Tim Freidhoff, in his first race of the year, changed the trend to the tune of a lackluster 11.889 seconds. Disbennett was hoping to rebound from his poor showing at the previous round, and he blasted his Triumph twin up the left side of the hill. Even though the run wasn't exactly smooth, he 48 SEPTEMBER 25, 2002' 0: U 0: I • n e _ s "I had a few problems keeping it straight and wasn't able to catch Chad, but second would be good," Watson said before the end of the round. The last couple of riders had nothing for the leaders, and Disbennett, Watson and Williams filled out the podium. "Earlier this year, this hill sent me to the doctor, so it owed me one," Disbennett said. "Since yesterday was my birthday, this makes us even." BOOcc Honda-mounted Williams was the first big-bike rider on the hill, and he started way to the left. He got crossrutted over the first jump and went and plowed into the bank that lines the left side of the hill. He was pretty beaten up in the fall and was loaded up for the long ride back to Toronto. Rookie Jack Mason was the first 800cc rider to make it up the hill on his Yamaha, and he hammered the big twin into the lead with a 9.996second pass. Strank started his championship run last season at this event, and he was fast right from the start. He cranked his Yamaha R1-based hillclimber up and shot over the hill in 9.123 seconds to take the lead. "I was a little crossed up over the first jump; then it hooked up and wheeJied over the last two jumps," Strank said. "It's nice to be in the lead, but there's lots of room for improvement... Disbennett had a really tough day at the spring race, but he wasn't willing to change his style, and he went all out on his first run. After a tough beginning to the run, he had to fight to reach the top, but he clocked a 9.608 for second anyway. Watson ran near the end, and the ruts seemed to hamper his ride. He was still able to salvage a 9.787.

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