Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ieh arnplonshlp H•illchrnb S erles . . · ""' A M A N at · lonal R oun d 6 : L ucifer's Ladder H illcJirn b the n rolled th e Spe ct re Oils /W at son Raci ng Ho nd a CBR to the line, looking for his th ird -stra ight 800cc win. "I just want ge t a s mooth, straight run through and see wha t ha p pens," Watson sa id. Watson was on line up to the b ig jum p, a nd he timed it perfectly, kee ping his momentum u p a nd the b ike close to the ground. The fastest bike in th e 800c c class gobbled up the top part of th e h ill for th e da y 's fa s te s t tim e, a 6 .135. Tim Frazier turned a low seven-second run to close round one. Th omas ran hard on h is sec ond pass , but he cou ld n' t c a tc h Watson , settling for se co nd. "I ha d two good EASTPAl£STINE, OH, J(]NE 25 me rica n Honda has been searching for a dominant dirt champion since Jeremy McGrath moved to Suzuki in 1998. Perhaps the company should look to Pro Racing's oldest sport, hillclimbing. The National Series has long featured close-fought battles between a va riety of motorcycle brands , but Da vid Watson has turned the 2000 series into a Showtime-style vic tory to ur on his Ho nd a CBR four-c1yi nder bike s . For th e second weekend in a row, Watson swept both classes to pull out a double-digit points lead in the 800cc class. For only the second time a ll season, Watson trailed in the 540cc class after his first run , but he picked up the pace to take his fourth win of the season. He was also able to hold off Jeff Thomas for this third-stra ight win in the 800cc win. A 540 After getting the "g o" signa l from AMA referee Haro ld Wh ite , Kenny Reif made it up and over, but he was BRIEFLY••• Luci f er' s La d d e r has a ramp and a jump right off the line. then a steep uphill to the big jump halfway up the hill. The hill flattens out between the seco nd and third j ump. then has a sho rt run to the fin ish hne. Bobby Templeton was the only rider t o atte mpt do ubli ng a c o up le o f t he mounds. but he cased it so hard that the rest of the riders thought better of it. Tiger Stran k wa s the to p competitor last year when Pirate Promotions ran amateur ev e nt s on Lu cif er' s Ladde r. so rid er s picked his b r a i n about the 350-foot hill. 28 J ULY 12, 2 0 0 0 ' cu e I e IA b ove) Honda's f a cto ry m otocross team may not be doing much of late, but Honda rid e r David Watson has become a Jeremy-esque dom i nant f o rce on the NatIonal Hlllclimb c ircuit. He won both c lasses i n Ohio. (Rght) Mike Templeton gets his p i c ture In p rint l and sends an offi c ia l In to h iding) In h is first hlllclimb of the year . underpowered for this hill. On his Kleeburg Sheet Metal /Troy Lee Designs -backed Honda , Watson was g lad to have an early number. "It looks like we might get wet again ," he said. "We have the same setup we used las t week in the mud at Avoca, New York." Watson was stra ight and smooth off the bottom, and he tried to snap the throttle shut just as he crested the second jump. He cranked it back on and jumped close to the tim ing lights to take the lead with a 6.742. Paul Pinsonnault stunn ed the crowd with a pass of 6.409 seconds, saying , "Go ing to top it seemed to be pull ing good , and when I backed off at the top, it got a lot of air. I thought it m ight be a good time, and it was." Tiger Strank ran a 6 .530 with a m inor problem. "T he b ike bogged a little over th e big jump, so I'm going to gear it down a little for the next pass ," he said. Tim Friedhoff checked in with a 6.483 and a s m ooth run , choosing to leap off th e big jump inst ead of rolling it. After Phil Libhart's 6 .668 , Anth ony Dehart closed out the round with a 7 .123 run . "I have a bunch of ground to make up ," Watson said. "I'm in fifth , and I saw how Pau l a nd Tiger atta cked th e jumps, so hopefully I can pick it up ." Watson hit th e big jum p ha rder and cranked it ba ck on soon er and then n e Vll s sprinted to the lights for a 6.304, say ing , "I tried to do what Paul did , and I th ink I have a little faster motorcycle, and it pulled me through ." John Hamilton Jr. has been com ing on strong, and he put together a fast run to claim fourth. Ha m ilt o n edged Tim Frie dhoff with a 6 .468. Paul Pinsonnau lt got a great start in h is bid to retake the le a d but the second jump b it h im hard . His firs t run would hold up for third, but h e suffered a broken heel a nd m ay miss six to e ight weeks. Strank was very quick on the bottom of the hill, and he got everythi ng he co u ld from his Kawasaki KX500 , but he ne eded a litt le more horsepower. His time of 6.320 o nly .016 behind David. He was the last rider to post a top- five time, and Watson had his fourth 540cc win . "I knew I had to get a good run in toda y to keep the winning s treak go ing , or at least get a good finish ," he said. "It worked out for me today, but I th ink Pau l would have been th e re if he had gotten through ." SOD Jeff Thomas was the first 800cc rider on th e hill, and he was loo king for a fast run . He n e ve r ba c ke d off over the three jumps, and he jumped close to the timing lights to set the pa c e with a 6.212 -second run . " I landed crooked off th e last jump and cou ld n' t g et back on the gas before the light ," he sa id. "Th at cost m e a little time , bu t th e bike's running killer ." Stran k ran a 6 .647 to move into second , and then Bobby T empl eton came up short and c rashed . Watson runs today, and maybe it would have been faster to ro ll th e big jump," he sa id, "but I've never been very good at backing off. It took a perfect run to beat me, so we just need to stay consis tent and we 'll get a win ." Stra nk ra n a 6 .638 to improve , eventually taking fifth on the day. Watson watched as Frazie r blaste d past Stra nk to take fourt h with a 6.582 second run , whic h left Watson with the win. "To win both classes a t th e la st two races , t ha t's just a we so me, " he said. "Things are goi ng our way right now, but it' s a long season. I hope we can keep it up ." eN Lucifer's Ladder Hiilc limb EastPalestine, Ohio Results: June Z5, ZODD 800 : I . Da vid Wa tson ( Ha n); 2 . Jeff Tho mas (Yam): 3. John Hem llt cn Jr. (Tri); 4. Ti m Frazier (HD): 5. Ti ger Strank (Kaw) : 6. Glen Petty Jr. (H·D ); 7. Bobby Tem pleton (H· O); 8. Russ Van der Veen (H· 0 ) ; 9. Mi k e DeBusk (K8W ) ; 10. Brandon Kreeger (Trl) : 11. Harry Denham (H· D): 12 . Curt Snelling (Han) . 540: 1. Dav id Watson (Hon ); 2 . T iger Strank (Kcw) ; 3. Paul Pinsonnault (Hon); 4. John Ha m ilton J r. (T ri ); 5 . Tim Friedhoff (Hon) ; 6. Scott McNeely (Han); 7. Ted Wilkins (Rotax); 8. Phil Ubhart (T ri): g. Chris Van Hyning (lion): 10. Jeff Thomas (lion): 11. Mike Temp leton ( Y8m): 12. Roger McNeely (Hon); 13. Richie Scheuerman (Hon ); 14. Mike Uvingston (Han): 15. Anthony DeHart (Kaw ). AMA 800cc NATIONAL HIUCI.lMB C'SHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS ( A ft er 5 of 16 rounds) ; 1. David Wetson (87/3 wins ); 2. Tim Frazier (68/ 1 win); 3. Robert Tenn pleton (66 ): 4. Glen Pett y Jr. (64) : 5. Je ff Thomas (61/1 win ): 6. Jo hn Hamilton Jr. (50): 7 . M ike DeBu sk ( 48 ); 8 . T i ger Stra nk (43): 9. Brandon Kreeger (39) : 10. Harry Denham (3 0) : 11. (T IE) J ames Large (1 wi n)fR uss Van der Veen (28); 13. Harry Schreiber J r. (27) ; 14. Phil Li bhart ( 19) : 15. Bob Castleti ne (15): 16. Curt Snelli ng ( 14) : 17. Paul Pin sonn eul t (8 ) ; 18 . Rod ney Sm it h (5) : 19 . Darrell Fowler {4}; 20. Tom Reiser (3) . AMA 540

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