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/142444
r · ,----- ----- ---- ------------- --------- -- ------- ---- --- -- -- ---------- ------------------ ---- -e • m :, CN 00 en ~ t·_ ~ ... ~ • _ ... . . . . r .' '2 l '\ ., _ .. . _ ~ I, , . , t had something else working for him. Nebraska has received a lot of rain this year so the hill was tacky at first. 'But the hot sun began to dry it out as th e day progressed. And McGraw was the first to go over the top so th e upper part of th e hill was still compa cted . But the drying of the hill and th e churning of th e tires caused it to loosen up, thus th e loss of traction, especially by the large-engined multicylindered machines. They made a lot of noise and spun a lot of tires. The Semi-pro riders ran last , but m any of the amateur riders who ran earlier had better times. The last rid er tr ied th e hill at 7 p .m . as the temperatures began to drop as the sun set in th e west. It was now down to 102 degrees! Sunday . ~ailen McGraw and hi,sBultaco 200 owned the weekend's fast time. Open winner Gary Waddell (inset) starts up. McGraw, Topliff, Waddell quickest at Nebraska hillclimb 'By Dick Ainsworth PLATTSMOUTH, NE , JULY 3-4 The city of Plattsmouth has a population of 6,300, but it literally doubled on firecracker weekend as over 6,000 ·fans turned out for two days of the best n a tion ally-ran ked hill- . climbing competition to be seen in recent years. This even t was d i . I b h Ca ~romote jomt y y t .e vahers Cycle Club, WhICh was 24 first established in 1935, and those ' purple folks , " Team Pl um Cra zy," a l arge group of organized hillcl imbers who pa int th eir van s, bikes, helm ets. too ls, shovels, tra ilers , .wives, kids , etc., the das tardly color of purple! Na turally, T-sh irts, leathers, ha lter tops, caps, etc., all come in one co lor. Entries over th e two-d ay pe riod amounted to 260 ama teur s and 94 Se~i -pr? clim~er~ . Troph~es . s ~rted a t.over S I X feet In size and diminished with excelle nt cash awa rds for the Semi-pro clim bers. Between the Saturday climbs and the Sunday finale was a super cl ub-sponsored party . with th e popular band " I.C. H ot " blow ing everyo ne' s mi nds. The ama teurs ra n firs t on Sat urda y with th e Semi-pro cli mb ers last. On . the follow ing da y, the or der was reversed, wi th th e first Sem i-pro leavi ng the line at 10 a.rn, T he cl imbers made their in itial runs on Saturday, party tim ed a bit. a'nd regeared for their final run on Sunday. Their best run of the two da y's was their top score , and that's how they placed in the finals. Saturday The well-groomed h ill was greeted by 177 amateurs and 67 Semi-pro climbers on the first really hot da y of 1982. The entire 100and 125ccclasses were run before anyone went over the top. Gailen McGraw rifled his 200 Bultaco through th e timing lights at an astonishing 5.45 seconds. The reason th is is so amazing is that nobody, "not even the Semi-pros' 1300cc fourcylinder super-charged monsters with cha ins on the rear wheels, could come close to McGraw's tim e. Semi. pro Kevin T ilson, a 650cc Expert climber, did pull a straight-as-a-bullet ride of 5.71 seconds on his Yamaha twin. Bu t McGraw was in a class all by himself today . Aside from being an outstanding hi llclim ber for years, McGraw al so The first Semi-pro climber blasted off the line at 10a.m. while it was still cool (only 93 degrees). As the da y wore on it would rea ch a blistering 109. The hill got quicker, much to th e surprise of many, as the heat and · drying-out should have caused less traction and more wheelspin. But times got better except that Gailen McGraw's . time would stand, and even Gailen himself could not top that exceptional time. Kevin Tilson, Dan Bernth and · Tracy Homandberg all tied for first in 500cc Amateur Saturday with identical 6.65 times with Maris Masen gill (6.75) and Terry Soutar .(6.79) closely behind. But David Mabe blistered the hill with a 5.8-second run to break all first place ties. Tilson ran a 5.9 to wrestle second place away fro m the rest. Another tie occured in the Sem ipros, but it had to be decided with a run-off. Texan Henry Polley and Midwestener Tim Hom turned a 6.35 on Saturday and a 6.75 on Sunday. The only problem was Polley turned a 6.75 Saturda y and a 6.35 Sunday! They ran it off, and Polley edged Hom by .02 seconds. Former AMA National Open Champion Gary Waddell got hot on Sunday and ran off with the 500cc and Open Expert wins in Semi-pro plus taking the Saturday "cash dash. " Waddell is 29 years old but has 26 years of competition under his belt. The top lightweight and heavyweight amateur times made a final run for six-foot tall trophies. Gailen McGraw couldn't better his Saturday time, but he did dazzle everyone to take the top small motor honors. The heavyweights were something else. Waddell was the third from last · rider to ride and blew everyone away with a sizzling 5.75, but Gene Topliff . was next and turned a 5.65! One rider to go... Kevin Tilson. He turned the hill in a 5.60. His pit crew remarked to Topliff's, "Close but no cigar," after that run . Topliff's crew answered back with a grin, " Wait until next time!" • Result s SATURDAY SEMI-PRO 500 NOV: 1. TIm Horan (Yam) 6.35 sec .; 2. Dan Bernth (Han) 6.40 sec .; 3 . Tracy Hamondberg (Yam) 6.45 sec .; 4. David Mabe (Yam) 6.50 sec.; 5. .flon Bowman (Han) 6.60 sec . 650 NOV; 1. Arlo Borton (Yam) 145 ft.; 2. Kevin Newman (Tri) 120 ft.; 3. Randy Schulte (Yam) 100 k , ' OPEN NOV: 1. Bill Toman (Tri) 6.55 sec.; 2. George Carlisle (Tri) 7.65 sec .; 3. Henry Polley (Tri) 8.05 sec .; 4. 80b Lockhart (Kaw) 8.30 sec .; 5. David Gonschaulk (Kaw) 155 ft. . 500 EX: 1. Gary Waddell (YamI6.35 sec.; 2. Kevin TIlson (Tri) 7.10 sec.; 3. Henry Kelley (YamI8.3O sec .; 4 . Don Flusher (Tri) 9.30 sec .; 5. M ike Visser (Suz) 13.0 sec. 650 EX: 1. Kevin Tilson (Yam) 5.70 sec .; 2. Gene Topliff (Tri) 6.30 sec.; 3. Don Flesher (Tri) 7.00 sec .; 4. Craig Street (Tri) 7.55 sec.; 5. Maurice Brown (Yam) 145 ft. OPEN EX: 1. Gary Waddell (Yam) 5.50 sec.; 2. Keith Felton (Kaw) 5.60 sec .; 3. Gene Topliff (Kaw) 6.00 sec.; 4. Kyle Morris (Kaw) 6.50 sec .; 5. David Baldwin (BSA) 6.65 sec . . , SUNDAY SEMI-PRO , 500 NOV: '1. Mabe (6.0); 2. Polley (6.35); 3. Masengill (6.65); 4. Horan (6.75); 5. Homandberg (6.9). .