Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Strank Crashes and Wins at Bushkill Valley or the second hillclimb in a row, Chad Disbennett and Walter "Tiger" Strank Jr. left the competition in their roost as they dominated the field at round seven of the AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series at Bushkill Valley in Freemansburg, Pennsylvania. Strank, the S40cc points leader, claimed his fourth win in the class this year, stretching his lead over defending champion Dave Watson , who suffered a broken leg at the last round and will miss at least two more rounds. In the BOOcc class, it was F Disbennett securing the win over Strank, and Jeff Thomas who suffered a big get-off in the 800cc class, looping out . With Watson out of competition, it was Strank's chance to take over the championship points lead in the 80Ccc class, and by the end of the day he had accomplished that goal. But just as things started looking rosy for Strank, he crashed on his final 540cc run of the day, breaking his wrist . John Hamilton Jr. led Strank going into the final S40cc round, but Strank's final run was just too quick to catch him. "I was holding on so tight near the top that my forearm pumped up and 1 couldn't get off the throttle," Strank said. ''As I got to the top, I had to jump off, and the bike kicked up and hit me and spun me around in the air. If I can move my fingers enough to pull in the clutch , I'll ride the next round at York:' Disbennett has owned Freemansburg, in the 540cc class the last couple of years, but a broken primary chain on his first S40cc run led to a more conservative sixth-place finish, as he chases Tiger and Watson in the 540cc championship. "I hated to see Dave [Watson] and now Tiger [Strankj get hurt ," Disbennett said. "I want to beat them on the hill, not because they have to sit out. I've been knocked out of the series a couple of times because of injuries. and it sucks." The Bushkill Valley Motorcycle Club's SSO-foot-high hill also hammered former champion Jeff Thomas, who claimed third in the 540cc class before he looped out his 800 and crashed hard, finishing third in that class as well. Disbennett had a good day in the 800cc class, as he put together the day's fastest run, a 8.097-second blast that earned him the win as he chases Strank, who finished second with his first-round 8.50 I-second run, for the number-one plate. Strank leads the S40cc championship with 98 points, over Watson on 77 and Disbennett on 75. In the 800cc class, Strank leads Disbennett 9S to 86, while Watson sits in third with 82. David L Patton Jr. ISDE Under Way • In Poland T U.S. Trophy team rider Nick Pearson rails a berm in Poland at the 79th ISDE. 10 SEPTEMBER 22,2004 • CYCLE NEWS "Tiger" Stronk won the 540cc class at Bushkill Valley• he weeks of dry weather prior to the start of the 79th International Six Days Enduro in Kielce, Poland, resulted in the ride rs spending much of the day (September 13) riding through choking dust , with the dry terrain ensuring that regular filter changes were the norm at all but a few of the day's service points. With little wind to clear the dust, many riders suffered as they were slowed by the dust of the riders ahead of them . At the end of the first day 's competition, UFO Corse Yamaha ride rs Bartosz Obluckl and Stefan Merriman were joined by Finnish KTM rider Samuli Aro as the day's big winners. The three WEC regulars topped the Enduro I, Enduro 2 and Enduro 3 classes, respectively. At the top of the Enduro I class, Bartosz Oblucki claimed a narro w win just 2 and a half seconds ahead of Italian Honda rider Simone A1bergoni, with British rider Paul Edmondson claimingthird. At the top of the Enduro 2 class , Australian Stefan Merriman finished 40 seconds clear of Finnish rider Juha Salminen, after winning all but one of the day's special tests. With many considering the condit ions to be more Australian than European, the size of Merriman's w inning re sult came as a surpr ise to many. since Merriman has been campaigning a 250cc four-stroke during this year's WEC events. E2-c1ass runner-up Juha Salminen's day one of the ISDE didn't start quite as well as the five-time World Champion had hoped . He fell early in the day and later suffered from rear-brake problems. Placing in surprise third was young Finnish rider Valtteri Salonen. Finishing as the only non-European rider within the top 10 of the E2 class, U.S. rider Kurt Caselli placed an impressive fifth. At the head of the Enduro 3 class, WEC regulars Samuli Aro, Mika Ahola and David Knight claimed the first three positions, with Aro finishing 14 seconds clear as the winner. In the Trophy team competition, Aro's class-topping performance helped Finland claim an early, and expected, lead in the Trophy team class as they finished the day ahead of Italy w ith France claiming third . In , 40th Anniversary the Junior Trophy team competition, Italy claimed an early lead, ahead of Spain and Italy respectively, while last year's winners, , France, placed seventh . The United States World Trophy team did not have a good start and holds down 12th place overall. The team , made up of Fred Hoess (Husqvarna), Tim Taber (KTM), Jimmy Jarrett (Yamaha), Kurt Caselli (KTM), Nick Pearson (KTM) and Nathan Kanney (Yamaha), had an unofficial score of 13: 15.00, while the leading team of Finland has a low score of 3:08.00. And things aren't any better for the U.S. Junior World team. The four-rider U.S. squad is currently in last place ( 13th) but still has high hopes of working its way up. The U.S. team is made up of Wally Palmer (Gas Gas), Ryan Powell (Yamaha Paul Neff (Gas ), Gas) and Cody Mastin (Gas Gas). In the three-rider Club Trophy competition, the American SKUNKWRx.net Gas Gas-mounted team, made up of John Barber, Dylan Debel and Kyle Nelson , was the highest-placing U.S. club team, out of eight teams, with a score of 12:58.00. The Italian team Moto Club Azzurri leads that division with a score of 5:04:00. Caselli had the best day of any Amer ican, finishing II th overall, beh ind Merriman. Jonty Edmunds and Steve Berkner

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