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AMA Natio nal C h am pion ship H illclimb S e r ie s
R o und 5: Hor nell M .C . Hill
Da vid Watson made histo ry
by b e ing t h e first rid e r t o
w in both 5 40 a nd 800c c
Natio nal Hillcli m b s o n the
same day.
S T O RY AND PHOTO BY
D A V I D PA TTO N J R.
AVOCA, N.Y., JUNE 18
n a muddy, rainy day in western
New York , Davi d Wa tson be came
th e first rider in Pro Hillclimb history
to win th e 54 0 a nd 8 00cc cla sse s on
the sa me da y. Many ride rs felt before
th e e ve nt th at the fa st, roc ky hill wa s
pe rfect for Wats on 's fo u r- cy linde r
Ho n d a s , a n d t h e y were r igh t. He
score d two convincing wins , despite
ra in a ll aft ern oon and a hill that "we nt
all to hel l" in th e wo rds of Mike
De Bu s k , who fi nis he d fifth in th e
800cc class.
T he 400-foot Horn ell Moto rcycle
Club hill is t he fa ste st on the circuit.
At 9:30 a .m . it b e g a n t o ra in a n d
nev e r let up until th e end of the da y.
O
540cc
Chris Va nHyning wa s th e first rider
on the hill o n his Ho nd a CR54 0. He
p ut tog eth er a n ic e smooth ride bu t
the m o ist ur e ca used a tim e r pro ble m
for cing h im to ru n ag ain , d itto fo r
RRP/ Watso n Ra c ing -ba c k e d Rich ie
Sc heu rerman. Mike Living s to n was
the firs t ride r to trip th e lig hts, covering the 350 feet to th e tim ers in 7 .7 60
s eco nds . Defendin g Na tio na l Cham p ion Te d Wilkins had problems wit h
the ce ntrifu ga l c lutc h o n h is Rota x,
but he ke pt it pegged and took over
t he lea d wit h a 7.3 09 . T he hi ll fe a tures a kic ker a t 100 fee t a nd th e big
kicke r at 250 feet. The la nding area
a fte r th e b ig kic ke r w as g e t ti n g
chewed up and it would become th e
cr itical sect ion . Pau l Pinsonnault
c hos e a new start ing -line rut o n the
far right and had a clean la unc h up to
and past th e first kicker. He blitzed
past th e finish line in 6 .542 seconds.
Richi e S ch eu erm a n t rie d to m a t c h
Pins onn ault' s run a nd c a m e up ju s t
short with a 6 .600 .
Ho we s Tr iu mph-spo nsored Phi l
Libh a rt dr ove a ll night fro m the rai ned
out Miner a l We lls dirt tra ck to run his
Trium ph twin straight up the groove .
Libha rt a lso ha d pr obl e m s afte r the
second kicker, bu t he c hecked in with
a 6 .7 48 to climb to third. Th e 540cc
poi nt's leader , Watson , lined up o n
the fa r le ft side o n th e Kleebu rg
Sh e etm eta l/ Sp e ctr o Oi ls Hond a
CBR54 0 . Da vid left a big roost off the
line t h e n hit th e n o tch on the firs t
jump. He got crosse d up ov e r the first
j u m p a nd ha d to ba c k off ; th en h e
wicke d it and h it the second kick e r.
He go t s idew ays ag a in but he ju m ped
over the c he we d up landing a rea a nd
da s hed th rou gh the lig ht s . Wa ts on 's
6 .209 wo uld turn o ut to be th e day 's
fastest run .
" I was luc ky t o ge t m y rid e in
be fo re the hill got too bad ," he s a id. "I
ju s t wante d to g et a goo d, s t raig ht
ride and let my bik e do th e work ."
Mac 's Kawas ak i/Wise c o - b a ck e d
S c ott McN e el y also roll ed into th e
s ixe s with a 6 .76 8 pa s s . T im Fr eidhoff c losed o ut th e firs t roun d a little
off th e pa c e with a 9. 64 as th e rai n
continued.
Af t e r th e 800 's fir st
ro und , th e 540s ro lled ba c k
to th e line fac ing a de e ply
ru tt e d s tarti ng lin e and a
rip p e d up hill. Rich ie
S cheu erm an pu t to gether a
7. 543 o n his last a tte m pt
th a t wou ld turn o ut to b e
th e fas test run of the ro und
but we ll out of th e top five.
Watson hadn 't expected his
time to hold up but it was
un bea table , earning Watson
his t hi rd 5 4 0 win of the
year.
"I've nev e r be en muc h of
a mud ride r, today wa s just
o ne of th o se days ," Wat son
sa id .
Paul Pin s onnault t o o k
s e c on d
w ith
Richi e
S c heuerm a n 's firs t- rou nd tim e good
e n o u g h fo r th ird. Phil Libhart a n d
S c ott McN e e ly round ed o ut th e top
five.
BOOcc
In th e 800 cc cl ass , Dr. Bob Rac ing 's Tige r Stran k p ut in a goo d first
rid e o n th e Ka wa sa ki tw o -s tr o k e
Trip le , b ut h e went o u t of b oun ds
a fte r the se co nd kicker. The first fas t
time was pu t in by T im Fra zie r on t he
H-D Rac ing /Gere nce(s H- D of
Elkhart/Thor XR750. Fra zie r cranked
it up o ut of the ho le a nd t hough his
big Ha rley s lithe re d up th e greasy hill,
he never ba cked off. Fr a zie r p ic ked
up a 6 .633 a t the light s . On ly seven
of the 17 800cc ride rs m a de it to the
to p in round o ne . Bran don Kreeger,
o n th e How e s T riu m p h t rip le , hel d
fourth with a 8 .886 , the n Bobby Tem p le to n sl id p ast t he l ig ht s w ith a
7 .0 17 .
"The re is no tra ction a t th e to p , it' s
like soup ," he sa id .
As Wat son wa ited for his s ho t, he
was lo ok in g fo r a smoo t h line . He
picked a new rut o n the s ta rting line .
He di d n 't go fu ll b ore u nt il h e wa s
lined up over th e first kicke r, the n he
turned it loo se . Da vid couldn't m at ch
his 540 t ime bu t he d id ta ke th e 800
lea d with a 6 .533 resu lt.
"I tried to le a rn fro m la st we e kend ,
to kee p it under cont ro l a nd m a ke it
up the h ill," he said.
Glen Pe tty Jr. had an excellent run
go ing, but he lost it ove r th e second
kicker to e nd rou nd o ne .
c
ue
I
e
The starting line a nd the top of the
hill wa s re a lly g ett ing gn a rly by the
t ime the 800s ret urned to the hill. O n
his second try, Tig er m a de it up and
over but he was slowed by a bob ble
bet ween th e two k icke rs and co uldn't
c rac k the to p five . T im Fraz ier has
one come- from-b e hi nd win a lready
thi s year , and he was ready fo r h is
seco nd pass . F raz ier plan ted h is
Ha rley in the biggest, deepes t rut a nd
pro c e ed ed to ge t a gr eat laun ch .
On ce aga in his bike bounced on the
c he wed up hill, but he forc ed it ba ck
on line with out bac k ing off the ga s .
He 'nailed a 6.617 , just .0 84 behind
Watson 's tim e.
Paul Pin sonnaul t ran a 8 .6 2 2 for
eig ht h in hi s firs t 800 c c c lim b th en
Brandon Kre ege r's good day was lost
to an electrica l problem. J ohn Hamil ton Jr. whee led hi s Triumph to the
lin e s po rt ing a n 18 -in ch re ar c ha in
wh e el. Ham ilton tried a far right line
and he had a great run go ing until the
second kicker. His front end sh ot over
h is he ad a n d he bar e ly sa v e d it.
Ha m ilton was a ble to get across th e
line in 7 .3 4 8 for fourth overall. Mike
DeBu s k , o n a nother Dr. Bob Ra c ing / Yes ac c ess o ries .c om Kawa sa ki
triple , saved h is best for last , pu tt ing
in one of th e s moothest rides of the
d a y a 7 .595 se co nd r id e to c la im
fifth.
Bobby Temp leton was a fter a fast
t ime when he ro cketed of f t h e line
and hit the firs t jum p in the groove ,
and then th ings went wrong . "It [the
bike] nearly died ," he s a id. "We th ink
th e fuel pump s t rip ped some t e eth .
We ' ll take th ird ."
But th e ma n of the da y was Wat s o n . "Ma n yo u ju s t c a n ' t c o u n t o n
thi ngs turn ing o ut like th is , with two
wins, this is a weso me, " he sa id.
eN
Hornell M.e. Hill
Avoca, New York
Results : June 18, 2000 [Round 5 of 16J
80 0cc : 1. Da vid Wat son (Han) ; 2 . Tim Frazier
(H· D); 3. Rob ert Templ eton (H-D) ; 4. Jo hn Ham ilton
Jr. (T ri ) ; 5. Mi ke DeBu sk (Kaw) ; 6 . Phil Li bha rt
( BSA ); 7. Glen Petty Jr . (H·D) : 8. Paul Pinsonn ault
( H-D); 9. Tiger Strank (Ka w); 10. Brandon Kreeger
(Tri); 11. Harry Denham (H-D) ; 12. Russ VanderVeen
(H· D ); 13. Bob Cast ledine (H-D ); 14. J eff Thom as
(Yam ); 15. Harry Schreiber Jr. (H-D ).
5 40cc : 1. D a v i d Wa tso n ( Ho n ) ; 2 . Paul
Pinsonnault (Hon) ; 3. Rich Scheuerm an (Hon); 4 . Phil
Li bhart (T ri) ; 5. Scott Mc Nee lly ( Ha n ) ; 6 . T ig er
Strank (Kaw ) ; 7. Ch ris VanHyning (H on ) ; 8 . Tim
Fr azi er ( BSA) ; 9 . T e d Wilkin s ( Ro t) ; 10 , J o hn
Ham ilt on Jr. (T ri ); 11. Mike Li ving ston (Hon) ; 12 .
Cathy Tem pleton (Kaw); 13. Paul Gerrety (Kaw ); 14.
Anthony DeHart (Hon ); 15. Scott Frfreidhoff (Hon).
AMA 800cc NATI ON AL HIll.CUMB C'SHIP SERIES
POINTS STA NDINGS (After 5 of 16 rounds ): 1. David
Wa t son (72 /2 w i ns ) ; 2 . (T IE) Tim Fra zi er ( 1
win)/Robert Termpleton (57): 4. Glen Petty Jr . (54); 5.
Jeff Thoma s (47/1 win); 6 . Mike DeBusk (4 1); 7. John
Hamil ton J r. 8. Brandon Kreeger (33); 9 . Tiger Strank
(32); 10. James Large (28/1 win): 11. Harry Schreiber
Jr. (27); 12. Harry Denham (25); 13. Russ VanderVeen
(20); 14. Phil Ubha n ( 19 ); 15. Bob Castletine (1 2) ; 16.
Curt Sn elling ( 10 ); 17. Paul Pin so nn ault (8 ) ; 18.
Rodney Smi th (5 ); 19. Darre ll Fowl er (4); 20 . Tom
Reiser (3) .
AMA 54 0