AVOCA, NY, JUL. 11 - At round three of the AMA Pro Hillclimb Series at Avoca, NY on July 11, rookie Josh Lingle did the "Hillclimb Hat Trick," winning his third Pro Sport hillclimb in a row. Nate Redmann took top honors in the Xtreme Class and Shawn Farnsworth posted the only sub-nine second ride for the win in the Unlimited Class.

July 11 dawned a picture perfect day in southern New York as the pro hillclimbers gathered to face off for round three in the 2010 series. A field of 32 riders and 47 bikes turned out for a chance to top the hill and the podium.

Xtreme Class riders assaulted the hill first and the early riders seemed to have the advantage with Redmann, Phil Libhart and Scott Wentz, Jr. standing one, two, three at the half.

By the second half, according to Redmann, "the hill became a single-line hill with a wall at 300 feet. Get over the wall and hold the line and you could get into the top three." Redmann and Libhart indeed held onto their podium spots while Anthony DeHart and Chris VanHyning found that line and bumped Wentz back to fifth.

In Pro Sport, it was Lingle all the way. He was on top at the end of the first half with a 13.649 second time, followed by Scott Hoke and Brandon Novak. After intermission, Lingle opted to sit out to see if his time would stand. It didn't as Hoke, Novak, John Mosko, and Joey McKrush posted rides ranging from 11.9 to 12.745 seconds. Lingle studied each ride and when his turn came as the final rider, it showed that he had paid attention. He crossed the line at 11.56 seconds, one-third second faster than Hoke for the win.

Unlimited Class riders let it all hang out with spectacular results. In the first half only four riders crested the hill. The rest were credited with distance, either because they went out of bounds or due to a wild bike flipping crash. VanHyning rode next to last in the order, picked the right line and set the time to beat at 9.682 seconds. Scott Campbell and Michael Farnsworth trailed by eight tenths and three seconds, respectively at halftime.

In the second half, VanHyning watched his time get knocked back successively as Libhart, Colby McCutcheon, Tiger Strank and Alex Benner found the line and put in times in the low to mid-nines. Then Shawn Farnsworth roared to the top with a style that looked like a cross between hillclimbing and rodeo bull riding and posted the only sub-nine second ride of the day. VanHyning rode last in an attempt to take the win but he was unsuccessful, winding up in sixth.

Series points leaders, first through third, are: Unlimited- Shane Green, McCutcheon and Libhart; Xtreme- Redmann, Libhart and VanHyning; and Pro Sport- Lingle, Hoke and Mosko.

AMA Pro Hillclimbers will race next at the White Rose MC hill in Jefferson, PA on July 25 for a non-points event and then to Muskegon, MI for round 4 on August 1.

Results
U/L: 1. Shawn Farnsworth (HD); 2. Phil Libhart (Tri); 3. Colby McCutcheon (Suz); 4. Tiger Strank (Hon); 5. Alex Benner (Hon).
Xtreme: 1. Nate Redmann (Yam); 2. Phil Libhart (Tri); 3. Anthony DeHart (Hon); 4. Chris VanHyning (Hon); 5. Scott Wentz, Jr. (Hon).
Pro Spt: 1. Josh Lingle (Yam); 2. Scott Hoke (Suz); 3. Brandon Novak (KTM); 4. John Mosko (Hon); 5. Joey McKrush (Suz).