Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA National Hillclimb Championship Round 5: Greasy Ridge STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID L. PATTON JR. HAYDENVILLE, OH, JULY 13 or the second-straight race Dave Watson and James Large shared the top spots as the 2003 AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series, presented by Pace American Trailers, traveled to Haydenville, Ohio, for round five. For Large it was his second-straight 800cc win of the season and helped him reel in Watson and Walter Strank Jr. in the race for the number-one plate. Large also extended his Haydenville winning streak to four, dating back to the 2000 season. Dave Watson also continued his 2003 winning streak with his fourth 540cc win of the season; he has at least one victory at every national so far this year. Strank had never scored a top-three finish at Greasy Ridge, but he stepped up with two runner-up finishes ahead of Chad Disbennett, who carded a pair of third-place finishes. F 540cc The 260-foot hill was washed away in Saturday afternoon's severe thunderstorms. On Sunday morning promoter Drew Wolfe and the Action Sports Superstaff fired up the bulldozers and created a challenging new hill for the event. In the past the key to victory was a clean launch off "The Ledge" and then a solid landing, and then it was 80 feet to the timers. The rains changed all of that. "This is going to be a fast hill, but it's going to be a rider's hill," 10-time national champion Earl Bowlby observed. "It will take more than a fast motorcycle to win here today." Strank, on the Dr. Bob Racing/B and B Cycles-backed Yamaha R6, was the first rider on the hill. He had to negotiate a new kicker 20 feet off the line. Strank eased over the kicker and through the transition, then he rolled up and over The Ledge and rushed past the finish line for a time of 7.110 seconds. Defending 540cc and 800cc National Champion Watson decided to leap off The Ledge on his Honda, but he lost a lot of time on the two kickers at the bottom and couldn't catch Strank, running a 7.310-second time. Ken Bonnema cracked the top five with a 7.767second pass. 2002 winner Chad Disbennett from nearby Logan, Ohio, charged off the line. His Bo's Radical Racers/Thor-backed Triumph twin nearly endoed off the first kicker, but he held it open and stayed on the gas leaping over The Ledge, pulling into third with a 7.370-second run. "I had a lot of problems on that run," Disbennett said. "If I could have gone straight, it would have been a lot faster." Phil Libhart, who was also Triumph mounted, had problems with the ruts developing at the bottom of the hill, James "Jammer" Large took his second consecutive win of the year and now sits one point behind co-leaders Walter Strank and Watson. 52 JULY 30,2003' cue I .. n u VII' s but he stayed on the gas and flew up the left side of the hill in 7.500 seconds. Brian Bowlby got caught by the ruts to end the round. As Strank Jr. watched, Rookie Joseph Gerow put together his best ride as a Pro and edged out Bonnema with a pass of 7.547 seconds for his first top-five finish. Watson spent a lot of time looking at the bottom of the hill trying to find the winning line. "We geared the 540 down for the second ride," Watson said. "It's a little strange today; the hill's really tricky. I want to jump off the first kicker then wheelie into this transition area so I can get a good run at the jump." He started out in the center, but the ruts forced him to the right side. He held it on and kept it pinned off The Ledge and hammered to the lights in 6.7960 seconds to take the lead. "The 540 run was just about perfect," Watson said. "The bike ran great. " Disbennet set out after Watson's time and was really moving when he launched over the jump. "I had a great run going, and I think I could've won if I could have landed it," Disbennet said. "I was crossed up, and when I landed, it jerked the bars and tossed me off." Libhart also ran into problems, and Brian Bowlby wasn't able to crack the top ten. Strank shot off the line to try to steal the win. He had a tough run through the ruts at the bottom and couldn't get a clean shot at the top and had to settle for second. Watson got his fourth win of the year, while Disbennet took third ahead of Libhart and Gerow. Dave Watson got his fourth win of the year at Greasy Ridge. BOOcc Anthony DeHart led off the 800cc class with a smooth 7.619-second run on the Dr. Bob Racing Kawasaki twostroke triple. Disbennet dropped the hammer on the Thor-backed Triumph. He took it easy over the first kicker, then he cranked it on to fiy up to The Ledge. He had a rough landing, jamming his ankle, but he stayed on to break the lights in 7.038 seconds. Watson has never won the 800cc class at Haydenville, but he was going for it on his first pass. He had a clean run through the kickers, but the Honda didn't seem to run as hard as normal, and he didn't get a lot of lift off the Ledge. He was a tick behind Disbennet with a 7. 155-second effort. "I think the 800 is geared too high," Watson said. "It didn't rev up the way it can." Large came to Haydenville on a roll, and he wasn't holding back as he launched the XR 750 off the line. "I came out of the pit a little light until I got on the top of the kicker, then I just tried to keep the throttle steady," Large said. "I left it on over the big jump, and when I landed and got past the lights, I was ecstatic. I knew that was the best I could do with the conditions we faced today." Family and friends exploded when Large's 6.455 lit up the timer display. The last rider of the round was the 200] National Champion Strank, and he certainly watched Large's lines. Strank launched the Yamaha Rl off the line but took it easy over the

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