Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

A MA N a t iona l H illcl im b Champion ship R o u n d B : Lou Car r iere M emoria l Nationa l H illclimb up next, and he chose th e same starting ru t as Wat so n d id . D i sb enn ett ro ll e d o n th e thr ottl e as th e tw i n l aunch ed o ff the lin e . H e n e v er back ed it off up to the second jump and th en h ad t o feat her the th rottle wh en he landed to keep it from loopin g out. A fte r a wi de- open run to the t im er s and an 8. 9 9 3- second effo rt, th ere wa s a new lea de r. "T hat was pretty good, but I made a co uple of little mistakes," Disben nett said . " I ca n go faster , and I fig ure I'll ha ve to ." Phi l Libhart, on the Kr eeger and S T O RY AND P HOTO S By D A VID L. P A TT O N J R. FREEMANSBURG,PA,SEPT.7 had Disbennett celebrate d his 30th birthday in style, with a cl utch performan ce on his final run , cla iming his second 540cc national wi n of the season. Disbennett ha s wo n th e last three hillclimbs held at th e Bu shk ill Vall ey M ot o rc y cl e C lub an d is the only 540cc ri der to beat Dave Watson in th e 2003 AMA Nation al Champi on ship Hi ll cl imb Seri es. Defend in g 540 and 800cc National Champion W at son finishe d seco nd ahead of Wa lter "Tiger " St rank J r . Stran k recorded his fourth win of th e year in th e 800cc class and handed Watson his first wi nless week end of th e season. J am es Large ca me up .004 of a second short o f Str ank for first pl ace but edged out Watson for second as the th ree ri de rs contin ue t o battl e it out for th e number-one pl at e in th e 800cc cla ss. C stun ned the crow d with an 8.4 75 -sec on d ti me. Stran k wasn 't abl e to pu t tog eth er a clea n run and had to rely on his first round tim e for third ov er all . Disbenn ett wasn't rea dy to settl e for second j u st ye t and w as on th e gas as he la unched off th e lin e. How eve r, he ra n into tro ub le befor e the firs t jump as th e front end ca me up. "When it wheelied, I tried to back off just a little, and th en I j ust he ld it on ," Disbennett said. Dis bennett was all crossed up over the second j ump , b ut h e k ept it pinned and was ab le to line it up for 540CC Charlie Rob erts was the first ride r to c hallenge th e 500 -foot h il l, and he neg otiated the three j um ps in 13 .720 seconds to get things rolling . Watson blasted off on the far l eft side and lined up for the fi rst jump at 150 feet. He k ep t it p inn ed over the j ump an d then sailed off th e bigger jump at 275 feet. A ft er a stra igh t shot over the final j um p, he sto p ped th e clocks in 9 . 1890 seconds. Str an k also put in a qu ick rid e o n th e D r. B ob Rac ing backed Yama ha R6 on his first pas s, - - 9:309 -secona run . a "I kind of eased it off th e bottom , but th en it h o o k e d up a nd was smooth ov er th e j um ps," Strank said . " We fi nally have the su sp ens ion set up just right. " Th e B o ' s Rad ic al Ra c ers /Th o r b acked Triumph o f D isbennett was 52 S EPTEM BER 2 4 . 2003' cu e Sons Pro Hil lc lim b Team/ Amsoil/Tuff Plates-back ed Triumph twin , was the last rid er of the round, but he wa sn't ab le to crack th e top fi ve. Ma ny of the riders made changes to th eir bik es, but Wa tson 's pla n was to "j ust rid e better. " J ef(Th omas , a fOilTIer winn er at Fr eem an sbu rg , clic ke d off a 9 .37 1seco nd run on his Honda CBR to earn fourth ; Wat son th en made hi s m ove, On ce ag ain li ning up on th e left , he un corked th e CBR and found th e rid e he was looki ng for. Sta y in g arrow st raig ht and n ev er ba c k in g off, he I e n e vv s the finish. His do -or-d ie attitude paid off with an 8 .33 1-second time that had Watson sha king his head . " I t hough t h e wa s done w he n i t wheelied at the bott om , but he had a smoking fast ri de th e rest of the way," Wat son said . "T hat wa s a gre at run ." - - PaLi P nsonnault ,'the- only rid er to ( l wi n five stra ight eve nts at Fr eem an sbu rg, cl im bed into fifth place after a 9 .72 3 -second run. Libh ar t fin i sh ed th e day wi th a 9 .93 7 - second tim e, sec uri ng Disbennett's win , " I th ou ght Watson ran an 8. 1, so whe n I got t o th e t op of the hill and I heard 8.33..." Disbenn ett said. "I was bummed out unt il I got to the bottom and found ou t I had th e day 's fast est run . This hill's been good to me . I am just glad we were able to sneak in there. Dave's been running strong' all year." BOOCC ! Stran k was on a m ission when t he 800cc cl ass came to th e li ne. "I h a v e to st ep it up today ," h e said. " l am tired of bein g in the lea d, dropping bac k to second, bei ng tied for the lea d, and now I'm tied for second . I have to get it don e today. " I Bra ndon Kreeg e r led off o n th e Kr eeger and So ns Pro H illclimb T eam's Trium ph Tr ipl e, but he got out of shape near th e seco nd jump a n d c r as hed . J im my W o l f e r an a 9.357 -second t im e on hi s Yamaha XS twin t o set the pa c e , whil e ro u nd seven wi nner La rge wh eel ed hi s XR 750 to th e line. La rge bla st ed the big Harley off th e line and fl ew up th e hill. He never let off until clea ring the fina l j ump. Th e ruts fina lly got him crossed up , but th e th ree-t ime 8 00cc Nationa l Cham pion ma de it past the lights in 8 .346 seco nds . Th e th ree riders lea d ing the ser ies all drew sta rt ing posi ti ons back - t o -ba ck , so a s Large descended on the return tra il, Watson was making h is ru n. Watson had a few little bobbles and en~ed up with an 8 .960 -second time. Strank was up nex t and turned the Yamaha R1 loose as he went for the win . "I came off the secon d jump, and th en it wheelied," Stra nk said. "When I got to th e third j um p , it came up again; then'l lilf il'l{icKer goi ng off tile j um p." He actually leapt over th e rutted -up land ing area aft er th e fin al !j um p on the fac e o f th e h ill , but he he ld on and m ad e it throu gh th e li ght s in 8.342 seconds, .004 in front of J 1mmer. " I rem em b er go ing over t h e last j um p and th ink in g, 'Man, I am reall y

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