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IN THE WIND P34 KOESTER SWEEPS JEFFERSON HILLCLIMB J ohn Koester made a clean sweep of the AMA Pro Hill- climb round nine at Jefferson, Pennsylvania, September 25, chalking up wins in all three classes. Koester's wins closed the series points lead held by rival Jay Sallstrom to 12, five and seven points in Unlimited, Xtreme, and Expert Singles, respectively. Xtreme class riders rode first with Nick Briggs setting the pace at 8.262 seconds. Sall- strom broke the seven-second barrier with a 6.953 E.T. Koes- ter laid down a perfect ride, stopping the clock at 6.097 seconds for the lead, and the eventual win. Jockamo Baldina posted a 6.872-second time and moved into second. Riding late in the order, Phil Libhart crested in 6.749 seconds to take over second and bump Sallstrom off the podium. In the second-half of Xtreme action, Koester sat out waiting to see if his winning time would stick—it did. Only Baldina upset the order, posting a 6.470-sec- ond E.T., taking over second and knocking Libhart to third. Sallstrom led off the Expert Singles class with a super-fast 7.974-second ride. Devin Sweitzer slotted into second with an 8.868-second E.T. Libhart rode mid-order and bested Sweitzer by less than a tenth to take over second. Koester posted an 8.979-second ride—not enough for a podium spot. Briggs rode last and moved ahead of both Libhart and Sweitzer with an 8.735-second time. Sallstrom waited through the Expert Singles second half, hop- ing his time would hold up. Both Baldina and Brent Nelson posted times in the eights, but not enough for the podium. Koes- ter upped his game, answered Sallstrom's challenge and topped the hill in 7.732 seconds for the lead. Sallstrom battled back, rid- ing last, but finished 0.068 sec- onds behind Koester for second place ahead of Briggs. Jack Mason kicked off the Unlimited class with an 8.578-second ride. Sallstrom chopped off two seconds for the lead with a 6.231 E.T. Koes- ter crossed the line in 6.227 seconds to take over first place. Baldina and Libhart both posted high-six second times with Baldina holding third at the half. After intermission Sallstrom chopped off nearly a 10th for the Unlimited class lead. Koester answered Sallstrom's ride by posting the only sub-six-second ride of the day, flying to the top in just 5.965 seconds for the win and bumping Sallstrom to second. Baldina bettered his own first-half time with a 6.222-second ride, holding onto third. Jeff Whitehead Unlimited 1. John Koester (Hon) 2. Jay Sallstrom (Yam) 3. Jockamo Baldina (Hon) 4. Phil Libhart (Tri) 5. Devin Sweitzer (Kaw) Xtreme 1. John Koester (Hon) 2. Jockamo Baldina (Hon) 3. Phil Libhart (Tri) 4. Jay Sallstrom (Yam) 5. Cory Strickler (Yam) Expert Singles 1. John Koester (Suz) 2. Jay Sallstrom (Yam) 3. Nick Briggs (Yam) 4. Brent Nelson (Hon) 5. Jockamo Baldina (Yam) John Koester had it his way at the Jefferson AMA Hillclimb in Pennsylvania. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF WHITEHEAD