Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128230
AMA N a t ional H ill c lim b Championshi p R ou n d 7: P o a g 's Hole Tuff Plates-backed T rium ph tw in int o the pit wi th a solid ga me plan . " I' m j ust going to ride like a wild ma n," Li bhart said. He caught a lo t of air over the dou ble but k ept it pinned and broke th e lights in 10.065 seconds to t ak e th e lead . "I wanted to ride early bec au se the hill is soft and gets che we d up w ith ruts as the day goes on ," he adde d. Strank had a few problems o n his fir st pass o n the Dr. B ob Ra cin g Yamaha R6, running a 10.965 , bu t he would get it tog et her on h is seco nd run . J eff Thomas ran a 10.320 on hi s fi rst pass on his Honda CBR. " I had a good run up t o th e last j u m p , but I didn't hav e th e f ro nt end high enough, a nd it cost m e ," Thomas said . At th e end of th e round, Wat son set out after the win . " I want to sta y low o ve r th e first j u m ps and th en try to h i t t he t o p j um ps as fast as I can," Watson said . He was c rossed up over the do uble, but he straight ened it out before h e la n ded . na il in g the th ro t t l e and nev er backin g off. He stayed on line over th e uphill jump, flying 4 0 feet up the hill o ver th e last jump , then stopp ing the ti mers w ith a 9 .99 6 -secon d effo rt. "I got a little too much air over the do uble, but it wa s a pr etty good ri de ," Watson said . Th e hill was ve ry rutted for round t wo a nd w as di ffi c u lt fo r the 540 cc bikes. Aft er throwing a c hai n o n h is first rid e, Disbenn et , on th e Bo 's Rad i c a l- ba c ked Triumph, laun ch ed o ff th e line a nd ov e r th e doubl e . H e p inn ed the thro ttle and tried to k eep it on two w h ee l s , prov ing wh y h e is c o nsid ered one of th e most aggres- S T O RY A ND P HOT OS BY D A VI D L. P A TT O N J R. DANSVILLE, NY, AUG. 17 he ra ce for th e n umber- one p lat e i n th e 800c c c l ass has b een a tremendous three -wa y battle of past and present champions , and it con tinued at Poag 's Ho le in round seve n of th e 2003 AMA National Champ io n shi p Hillcl imb Series . Defend ing champions Dave Watson and Walter "T ige r" Strank Jr. have been at the f ront a ll season with thre e -t im e cha mp io n Ja mes "J am m er" Large in hot pursuit. After a fifth-place fin ish at round six d ropped him five points back , Large knew he had to step it up to have a sho t at his fourth title. With a 9 .254 -second blast , Largeslammed his Ha rl ey in to victory lan e for his third win in the last four races . He earn ed - thanks to Arkport Cycles - a larg e c h un k of th e $ 2 6, 0 0 0 purse. Watson conti nued his inc redi ble season in the 540cc class, w ith hi s sixt h win in sev en rac es, as he opened up a hu ge 23 -point lead o ve r Triumph mount ed rid er s Chad Disbennet an d Phil Li bhart . T 540 Th e h ill at Dansv ill e has a dou ble jump 50 feet off th e line; it th en st ays flat to th e uphill j um p at th e 250 -foot mark, wh ere th e h ill go es ve rt ica l. Th e bi g jump at t he 3 30 -fo ot m ark lead s to th e stee pes t part of the hill for a 22 0 -fo ot sprint to th e fin ish . Mi k e Li vingston led off th e da y and got h ug e air off th e do ubl e; he then held o n to run a 10.980-second time. A few riders lat er, last yea r's winner Phil Libhart rolled the Kreeger and Son s Pro Hill cl imb Team / Amsoil / 40 S EPTEMBER 3 , 2003' c ue I e n e vv s (Ab ovel Jeff Thomas fin ished th ird on his Yamaha in the BOOcc c lass; behind James Large and Dave Watson. (Left inset) Large won his third race of the season in the BOOcc class, he remains in third in the po ints standings. sive rid e rs on th e ci rc uit. He le a pt o nto the podium with his 10. 141 -se c ond ri de, ri ght b eh ind Phil Libhart. Libhart was n' t able to improv e on his final cha nce at Wats on. " I ju st c o u l d n ' t g et th e re ar tire ho ok ed up out of th e hol e ," Libhart said. Strank had a smooth run , but it was o nly fast eno ugh for fifth place. Thomas also had problems in th e ruts and would settl e for fourth ahe ad of Strank. " T he hill was awesome toda y ; m y dad has the b ik es w ork ing r eall y w e ll , " W a t so n s ai d afte r c ar di ng ano the r w in . " I' d sure like to do th e same th in g in the 800 class ." BOO After his 54 0c c wi n, Watson lin ed up fo r the first r id e of t h e d a y in th e 800cc class. He launched his Honda o f f the l i n e a n d ove r t h e dou ble, keeping it pi nned thro ug h the tr ansi tion and over th e uphill jum p . Wh en he l an d e d , th e Hon da's fro n t en d bounced up in the ai r, j ust as he wa s about to lau nch off th e big j um p. He hel d it on , powe ri ng th rough the silt to reac h the top in 9.4 2 6 sec onds . Po in t s le ade r Strank put in th e next bi g rid e, but he caug ht too rnu ch air ov er th e double. He th en had to battle a hug e wh eeli e on the approach to th e b ig j u m p . Th e Dr. Bob Racing Yamaha Rl m a y h a v e th e most horsepower in the field , and Stra nk used all of it to stop the clock in 10.223 seconds. After watch ing his two ma in rivals. Large pu ll ed into the pit chasing the second D ansv ill e win of his caree r. He lit the torch on the Rei ser 's Cycl e Service- backed XR 750. the big twin roa ring out of the ho le. Larg e stayed low over th e double , keeping it pi nne d th ro ugh the t ran sit io n. Wi th his bike li ned up perfectly for t h e uphill ju mp, he never backed off as he shot toward the huge. diffic ul t , final jump. T he forme r p rofessional motocrosser leapt 40 feet uphill an d th en rushed to the top for a fantastic 9 .254 -sec ond run. "I had a grea t ride ," Large said . "I t felt good, and th e bike wo rk ed go od. Th e hill's extremely fas t, and I wasn 't ready for how fast it wa s." Poag ' s Ho l e is f o rm er 540cc Na t io na l Ch ampi on J eff Th om as' favorit e hill. He ro ll ed out the same Yamaha XS twin he wo n o n at Dansv ille i n 2001 . He blasted over the trans ition and ov er th e two ju mps on the top half of the hill for a 9.492second tim e. " I blew it on the bottom," Thom as said. " I got c rooked o ut of the hole and coul dn't clear the double jump. I still ran a 9.4 , but I lost a lot of time down there." D isbenn et ha sn 't had th e best o f luck at Dans v il le , but th e T r iumph rid er shot off the line on th e right side of th e hil l. He easily cl ear ed th e dou ble and fl ew acro ss th e bottom as he set u p fo r th e up hill j u m ps . After a smooth , strai g ht l aun ch off th e la st jump, he stopped th e c locks w ith a 10 .006 -second pa ss. The last rider of the round has also had a tough time at Poag's Hol e. La rge's t eam m at e , Gerr y Ben nett, w asn't able to reach the top h ere l ast y ear , but he o n l y needed 9 .71 1 sec onds t o scorch the hill on hi s first pa ss. " I had to feath er th e throttle near the top, so I know I c an go faster," Bennett said. " I need ha lf a second to take the le ad." Watson wa s looki ng for a double w in as he took to the hill for his final run , bu t he ca me up a little short. "M y r ide w as going g r eat until I went off th e last jump st raig ht up and down ," he said . " I t ried to keep the front end up on the uphill jump, and before I knew it , I was going off th e t op j um p . Wh en I l and ed , I lo st my m omentum. I still ran a 9.5 , but I lost a lo t of time up the re. The bike was running awesome, and I had the bot tom dia led in all day. I sc rewed it up." St rank also ran into proble ms . " I na il ed th e do uble j um p pe rfectly and c ame ac ross th e fl at , ri gh t on th e lin e I want ed. I hit th e uphill j um p, and it boun c ed m e a littl e , and th e front end started to c ome up . Wh en I we nt off th e last jump and wha cked the throttle open , th e front end we nt really hig h. I cl utched it and co uldn 't