IN
THE
WIND
P18
KOESTER, LIBHART, BRIGGS — HILLCLIMB'S HEROES
J
ohn Koester took the
Unlimited-class Champi-
onship and racked up wins
in both expert classes at the
66
th
running of the Devil's
Staircase Hillclimb, hosted by
the Dayton Motorcycle Club,
in Oregonia, Ohio, October
11. Phil Libhart dedicated
his championship win in
the Xtreme class to his late
brother and fellow hillclimber,
Todd Libhart. Nick Briggs
clinched the championship
in the Pro Sport class in his
rookie year.
Pro Sport riders tackled
the hill first with Joseph Lowe
setting the pace at 9.524 sec-
onds. Briggs topped the hill in
9.507 seconds for the lead,
momentarily. Luke Cipala set
the only sub-nine-second time
at 8.898 seconds, in his Pro
Sport debut for the lead after
one run. Another newcomer, Joe
McGurer, rode last and wedged
into second with a 9.358-second
E.T.
On their second attempts
in Pro Sport, only Briggs set a
faster pace and that was not
enough to move up the podium
steps. Briggs' third-place fin-
ish, one place ahead of his rival
Lowe, was enough to hold the
points lead and win the series
John Koester captured the AMA
Pro Hillclimb Championship in
the Unlimited class.
Phil Libhard claimed the 2015 Xtreme-
class Championship.
