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/128234
• AMA N ational H ill c limb C h a m p io n s h ip R o u n d 8 : G o s h e n Iron H o r s e m e n N a tiona l H illc lim b pass a nd would fi nish fifth be h ind Bau er and Livingston . Li bhart's crash on h is fi rst ride in the 80 0cc class, in w hich he banged his hea d reall y ha rd , ended up sending hi m to the to the ho spital wit h a suspected concussion, so he d idn 't rem em ber h is wi nni ng 540cc ride. " T hey tell m e my rid e w as reall y g reat ," h e sa i d. " I d o n 't rem em be r any thi ng fr om Sunda y , but th ey tol d me I won. " BOO 540 S T OR Y A ND PH OT OS BY D A VID L. Th e Go shen Iron Horsem en Motorc y cl e Club hill is un lik e any ot her on th e ci rc uit. It's a m an-mad e hil l th at i s on ly 170 -feet t all wi th on ly 13 5 feet of usable length . The hill's signature feature is the dou ble jump 3 0 feet off th e line. The rid ers need to cle ar th e second j um p at 60 fe et th en g et o n th e g a s f or th e 70 -fo ot dr a g ra ce t o the lights. Th e ra in sto p pe d by th e sta rt o f th e rac e, and Gar y B au er laun ch ed h i s Perform an c e T e c h n o l o g i e s Ho nda CR500 up the left side of th e h ill in 3 .71 7 sec onds t o get t h in g s under way . Two riders later D an and D av e Wa ts on rolled their Hond a CB R int o th e p it. "The hill looks kind of sli ck so we sh orte n ed the bike ," D av e sa id . " I want to try and hit the j um p and st ay nice and low." Wa tson blasted off the far left sid e and c aught m ore air than he wanted, bu t he st ill sh ot into the lead w ith a 3.36 1-second run. " I land ed ab out a b ikel en gth fur th er th an I wanted ," Wa tson sai d. " It spu n o n t he bottom so I l eft it o n long er t o ma k e sure I c lea re d it. It was a dec ent run ." Chad Di sbenn ett was up next, and he wa s going for two wins in a row , but things quickl y went bad . The Be 's Radical Racers/Thor-back ed Tri um ph reall y ho oked up o ver th e firs t ju m p P A TT O N J R. MIDDLEBURY, IN, SEPT. 14 he Goshen Iron Horsemen Mot or cycl e Club has two nationa l hill climbs a yea r, and the fa ll event has always play ed a major role in th e race for the number -on e pl ate . T h is year' s ra ce is even m ore critic al, as the top three 800cc rider s battl e to th e w ire in on e o f th e m ost exciti ng series in years. W eather wou ld also p laya facto r at round ni n e of the ser ies, as ra ins in the m orn ing and sporadi c showers durin g the ev en t made a tough hill m ore tr eacherou s. Defending 540 and 800cc National Champion Dave Watson was fac ed with a disastrous da y aft er a rar e m istake on h is fi rs t ride i n the 800 cc class, but he rose to the occasio n and scored his sec ond win of the ye ar in the class . At th e start of th e day in th e 540cc class he had a huge lead over runner -up Chad D isb enn ett ; afte r Disbennett crashed o ut, Watson took second and enough points that he can cli nch the champ ionship at the next rou nd. Phil Libha rt put in the best 54 0 cc ride of the da y for his first win of th e sea son, but h is bad luc k co nt inued in the 800cc class, as his Harley threw its chain ov er the double jump , slamming Libhart to the ground with a concu ssion . T 42 O C T O B ER 1 ,2003 · cu e I e n e vv s and sh ot him up in th e air. He lan ded with th e fro nt end rea lly h i gh , a nd when it snapped back t o the ground, it tos sed him off, end ing his day . Anthon y DeHart c li ck ed off a fast 3 .4 15 -sec ond time on th e AM Gen er a l /Frazier M ot or sp ort s Kaw asaki ZX6R , whil e Libh a rt pull ed hi s Tri umph tw in into the m iddle of th e p it. Libhart has never wo n at M iddl ebury but has m ore run ne r-up fi ni shes th an he ca n rem ember. He had a smooth , st raig ht launch , and as soon as th e rear wheel cl ear ed the do ub le, he wa s on t h e ga s. He ru shed t h rough t he lights in 3. 168 second s to tak e the l e ad . K en B on n em a w as th e f ina l ride r o f t he ro u n d, b u t h e c o u ld n' t br eak into th e threes, so it w as Lib hart aft er the first ro und . Despit e th e rain the riders were getting every t h ing dia led in . Bau er put together a sm oo th 3.4 I 3 -second run to tak e fou rth ov erall, fo llowed by Watson try ing to catch Libhart. Wats on cau ght to o m uc h ai r ove r th e j um p , and his 3 .306-seco nd tim e would only be good enough for second. " I didn 't get the ride that I needed to ca tc h Phil today ," Watson sai d . Mik e Livin gston m at ch ed a career b e st o n hi s sec o n d r i de w he n h e sail ed his CR500 up th e hill in 3.384 sec o nds for third. " T he b ike ran g reat , and th e rid e was reall y smooth. " Li vi ngs to n said. D eHart cased his ZX 6 R on his fi nal Gerry Ben nett , the 2002 Rookie of the Year was up first, and he had the hill dialed. " Yo u ca n throw hors epow er a nd everythi ng else out on this h ill ," Ben nett said . " It is defin it el y a rid er 's hill. You have t o tu rn th e throttl e , th en shut it off on tim e as yo u go off th e first j um p , th en barely clea r the ju mp and tu rn it back on to wi n ." Benne tt pro ved his poi nt as he fle w the F and S Ha rl ey -Dav id so n XR up and over in 3 .135 seconds . His tea mmate Ja mes Large sits in third in the title chase two points behind Watson ; he was go ing after his second c areer Middlebury win . Large lined up on the far right side and was just a fraction quicker than Bennett to g rab the lead with a 3 .132-second ti me . He st ill h e l d th e top s po t wh en Wa t so n dropped th e ham m er. He c hose the left side of the hill , and as he c rest ed th e jump, the ruts sent him sid ew ays . He co rrecte d in mi dair and lan ded on th e top of the second j um p . The dis tanc e was perfect, but th e rear whe el sli d off th e side of th e j um p and into the c ha lk, ou t o f bounds , dro pp in g him to 13th pl ace. Last we ek ' s w inne r and w in ner of th e la st two ra c es at Middlebury , Wai ter Stra nk Jr. , st art ed from th e fa r left w he re La rge se t h i s f a st t im e . Strank ' s first ca re er win c am e here, and he was rea ll y on th e gas off th e lin e. He closed the throttle fo r j ust a heartbeat as he sail ed over the dou ble. then to re up to th e timers to take ov er t he lead wi th a t ime of 3 . 11 4 seconds . " T hat' s th e best r id e I've had o n th is h ill," St rank said . " I c o ul d have turned it o n a littl e harder whe n I landed , bu t I am real happy wi th th e ru n. I don 't kno w if it w ill st an d up, but I kn ow we ha ve m ore in th e bik e." Th e f ac e of th e j u m p w a s re all y rutted up fo r the fin al round , but Benn ett ha d a c le a n, st rai g ht r u n . His second run was .0 13 sec o nds slower th an hi s first run ; he would settle for f o urth . Jack Mason work ed h is wa y into th e top fiv e with a 3 .283-sec ond run. L ar g e tr i ed to ga in v a lu abl e points o n W at son , but he had prob lem s right off th e st art . " T he f ro n t e n d c a m e up o ff t h e l in e , a nd I c o u l d n ' t hold it ' w i d e o p e n ," Larg e sai d . " O nc e th e front