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Lou Gerencer Jr. attacked the hill and finished sixth in the 800cc class. Tim Frazier (left) won the 540cc class, while Harry Schreiber bested the 800cc class. Schreiber, Frazier conquer Bushkill Valley hill By Timothy Hall FREEMANSBURG, PA, SEPT. 13 he fall running of the Bushkill Val~ey National Hillclimb left no doubt that this hill is one of the steepest and toughest in the series. Tim Frazier's BSA locked on the hill and put him over in under 10 seconds. Harry Schreiber put his H-D on line and pulled first overall on his second attempt. All top three finishes in both classes went to veteran riders. Scott Everett took second on his Triumph and Paul Pinsonnault got third with his Honda to round out the 540cc class. Schreiber was followed in second by team leader Lou Gerencer Sr., and Team U.S.A.'s leader, Tom Reiser, made it look easy aboard his Harley. All three riders in the·8oocc class rode Harley-Davidsons running on nitro. In June, the pro hillclimbers got their first taste of this hill. Conditions were similar for both events, but that was not apparent to any onlooker. Only a handful of the bikes made it through the timing lights on 'both runs. The 600-foot mountain had T thickly grown grass on it, but just beneath was a mix of loose soil and rock. The net effect caused the riders to bounce between too little traction and digging in too hard and losing control. . As at every hillclimb in the series; the 540cc bikes opened up the event. Dave Duncan started it off with a creeping 22.47 second romp to the top. His bike looked like a roto-tiller as it quickly cleared hunks of earth out of its way. Dave gave it full throttle; it was simply not possible to gain more traction until the loose topsoil was cleared. Veteran Leon Everett, whose son Scott would finish number two in the 540cc class, took his Triumph just shy of the top timing lights before losing it in the steepest portion of the hill, flipping the machine over backward. When Tim Frazier's BSA came to the line, it soon became clear that the only way to beat this steep climb was to take it very fast. He put it over in 9.967 seconds and that time held as fastest for nearly the entire day in both the 540cc and 800cc class. Tim's ride started with the bike lined up on center, and using plenty of body english, he kept the throttle open for his quick ascent. Steve Dresser, in third place for the season going into this event, dropped his chain at 150 feet, knocking him out of round one. Ernie Pellin's singlecylinder Honda got a good holeshot and stayed in control until the last jump, and dumped at 450 feet. Ralph Kreeger's nitro-powered Triumph twin found a groove and kept it through the four jumps to turn in a 12.475. Of the top five 540cc riders, only Frazier and Kreeger got their fast times in round one. Pinsonnault had to leave the box and take his 10-minute allowance to try to convince his Honda to fire. Paul thought he had a fuel problem, but actually had ignition troubles, and fixed them too late to take his first run. Canadian Ted Wilkins brought his Rotax-powered machine in under 13, but that left him low in the pack overall. Ted pulled fourth place in June, but suffered a combination of hill ferocity and transmission problems. The 800cc class saw six of the top seven slots fall to Harleys. Wade Williams, first place in his class for the series, took his powerful fuelinjected four-cylinder Honda up the hill, losing speed in the air and recovering slowly on the return. His time was 14.014. Wade's disappointment Was obvious; he took first on this hill just three months earlier. His brother, Greg Williams, fared better, turning 11.958 aboard his Honda. Top-10 rider Jeff Yoder was the first H-D to challenge, and he grabbed too much earth and flipped out at 235 feet. Fellow teammate Tom Chatterton, from Avon, Illinois, turned a 12.017 which would lock him in the top 10 for the day, but at the cost of an injured leg. Tom called it a day and declined round two, finishing eighth. Lou Gerencer Jr. looked promising in round one, with great control of the bike dispite a few run-ins with rocks and turned in a solid 10.923. Team USA's Bobby Castledine and Tom Reiser both brought their Harleys past the timer in times fast enough to place. Round one ended for the 800s with Castledine, Gerencer Jr., Reiser, Gerencer Sr., and Greg Williams holding on to the top five seats. Round two for the 540s would witness only eight riders out of a field of 19 making the top. This course, with its four jumps spread out every 150 feet or so, was looking like a place that never could have been covered by a rich green grass only an hour before. What remained as the second round began was mostly rock and one deep groove snaking 600 feet to the top. The first round taught the hillclimbers to respect the first jump. More bikes wiped out hard in the first 200 feet than the last 400. There was little change in the second attack. Frazier's BSA was ready, but didn't need to be as his time stuck. Scott Everett did muster an impressive 10.755 on his Triumph bumping him into second, and Paul' Pinsonnault made good use of his second chance by cutting under 12. Pellin and Kreeger were unable to improve on their first pass. The 540cc class ended with Frazier, Everett, Pinsonnault, Kreeger and Pellin on top. As the 800cc bikes took their second attempt, everybody was falling victim to bad jumps and dumping. Only four bikes topped the hill, but that was enough to substantially rearrange the order. Lou Gerencer Sr. sliced over a second off his first run with a 9.887. Lou Gerencer Jr., who was in the top five after round one, made an aggressive holeshot, but got too much traction on the return and saw his Harley come back over and land on him hard. Tom Reiser dropped to a respectable 10.028, and Harry Schreiber, after dumping it at 300 feet in round one, set fast time for the class and overall with a brisk 9.847. The day ended with Schreiber, Gerencer Sr., Reiser, Castledine and Greg Williams 'taking the top five. eN Results 540: I. Tim FraZier (BSA); 2. Scot Everett (Tri); .'I. Paul Pinsonnault (Hon); 4. Ralph Kreeger (Tri); 5. Ernie Pellin (Hon); 6. Ted Wilkins (Rtx); 7. Bill Apicella (Kaw); 8. Randy Dillon; 9. Don Pinsonnault (Hon); 10.-Joe Pinsonnault (Hon); II. Alan Hoskins; 12. Paul Garrety (BSA); 1.'1. Dave Duncan; 14. Leland Rooney; 15. (TIE) Leon Everett (Tri)1 Steve Dresser' (Suz)/]ohn Hislop (BSA)/Aaron Brown (Hon). 800: I. Harry Schreiber (H·D); 2. Lou Gerencer Sf. (H-D): .'I. Tom Reiser (H-D); 4. Robert Castledine (H-D); 5. Greg Williams (Hon); 6. Lou Gerencer Jr. (H-D); 7. Tom Chatterton (H·D); 8. Bruce Ramsey' (Kaw); 9. Randy Gabriel (H-D); 10. Gary Miller (HD); II. Wade Williams (Hon); 12. Dave Overhulser (Kaw); 1.'1. Charlie Casey (Yam); 14. Michael DeBusk (Kaw); 15. (TIE) Rodney Smith (BSA)/]efI Yoder (H-D)/]ohn Williams (Hon).