IN
THE
WIND
P56
Phil Libhart is about
to land his Triumph
en route to the
Premier class win
at the Jefferson
AMA Hillclimb in
Pennsylvania. PHOTO:
JEFF WHITEHEADT
Libhart, Cipala, Koester
Top Hillclimb Opener
I
n a hillclimb series foreshort-
ened by Covid-19, Phil Libhart,
John Koester and Logan Cipala
scored round-one wins in the
Premier, 450cc and Twins
Classes, respectively. The
White Rose Motorcycle Club
hosted the AMA Pro Hillclimb
Championship opener in what
was a crowd-pleasing night of
hillclimb racing in Jefferson,
Pennsylvania, September 19.
New for 2020 is the Premier
class, a combination of the
former Unlimited and Xtreme
Classes, and the only top fuel
class in the series. A new Twins
class was also introduced, fea-
turing twin-cylinder machines
using gasoline and sporting a
knobby tire rather than spikes
or chains. The Twins class at-
tracted the first-in-years factory
involvement with an Indian FTR
750 ridden by Koester.
Twins riders tackled the hill
first with Justin Fowler post-
ing a 10.151-second E.T. Luke
Cipala jumped ahead with a
9.209-second ride but was
bested by his brother, Logan,
who crested the hill in just 7.713
seconds. Tyler Cardwell, riding
last in order, bumped Luke
Cipala to third when he stopped
the clock at 9.023 seconds.
After the sun went down, the
Twins competition heated up with
most riders posting faster times.
Luke Cipala took over second
with an 8.399-second run.
Cardwell battled back with a fast
ride but, at 8.771 seconds, it was
