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/726231
IN THE WIND P50 SALLSTROM'S HILLCLIMB HAT-TRICK J ay Sallstrom took wins in the Unlimited, Xtreme and Expert Singles classes at round eight of the AMA Pro Hillclimb in Free- mansburg, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 10-11. It was his second set of triple wins in 2016. Sall- strom's wins widened his lead in each class to 17, 9 and 10 points in Unlimited, Xtreme and Expert Singles, respectively. Bryan Rusnak took the win in exhibition Hill-Cross competition. Expert Singles riders climbed first with Devin Sweitzer setting the bar at 20.494 seconds. Phil Libhart followed up with a 17.603 E.T. Nick Briggs, Jockamo Baldina and John Mosko each posted in the mid-17's. Then Joseph Lowe dropped into the 16-second range and John Koester into the 15's. Sallstrom crested in 13.865 seconds for the lead at the half. After intermission no rider could match Sallstrom's time. Koester bettered his own time by a half-second to retain third and Rusnak posted a 14.451-second time, moving into second place. John Mosko was first among Xtreme-class riders to crest the hill. He posted a 15.525-second E.T. Libhart rode next, stopping the clock at just 11.93 seconds. Baldina bested Libhart by two- tenths for the lead. Lowe rode in 13.649 seconds and Cory Strick- ler in 14.088. Sallstrom crossed the line in 11.059 seconds for the lead at the half, followed by Baldina and Libhart. In the second half, Anthony DeHart led off with a 13.549-sec- ond ride. Koester posted an 11.986 E.T. after a disappointing first half performance, but still found himself just short of the Xtreme class podium. Sallstrom's first-half time stuck for the win. He shared the podium with Baldina in second and Libhart, in third. Matt Luna topped the hill first in the Unlimited class, posting a time of 14.673 seconds. John Harper set the bar at 13.261 seconds. Libhart lowered it to 12.674 seconds and Koester bested them all with an 11.629 E.T. Sallstrom stopped short at 360 feet. In second-half Unlimited ac- tion, Sallstrom set the new time to beat at 11.185 seconds which was nearly a half-second faster than Koester, forcing him to de- fend his podium place. Koester's attempt on a rutted hill under dustbowl conditions fell short. In the end, it was Sallstrom for the win—his fourth in a row—followed by Koester and Baldina in sec- ond and third, respectively. The Hill-Cross final came down to Sallstrom, Rusnak and Libhart. Rusnak took the win fol- lowed by Libhart and Sallstrom, in order. Sallstrom holds a strong lead in series points with a pitched battle for second in Unlimited and Xtreme classes between Koes- ter and Libhart, who are sepa- rated by just one point. In Expert Singles Koester lags Sallstrom by 10 points with Lowe in third. Jeff Whitehead U/L: 1. Jay Sallstrom (Yam) 2. John Koester (Hon) 3. Jockamo Baldina (Hon) 4. Phil Libhart (Tri) 5. John Harper (H-D) Xtreme: 1. Jay Sallstrom (Yam) 2. Jockamo Baldina (Hon) 3. Phil Libhart (Tri) 4. John Koester (Hon) 5. Bryan Rusnak (KTM) Expert Singles 1. Jay Sallstrom (Yam) 2. Bryan Rusnak (Suz) 3. John Koester (Suz) 4. Joseph Lowe (Kaw) 5. Justin Fowler (Hon) Jay Sallstrom on his way to the Unlimited Class win at Freemansburg, Pennsylvania. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF WHITEHEAD