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Outdoors
Outdoors
By Skip Schultz, President
MASTERS Racing Circuit
SOUTH RANGE —It was in 1991 that Whealkate Bluff in South Range coined the slogan, ‘If you’ve got the guts, we’ve got the hill.’ It not only took ‘guts,’ but persistence for any motorcycle hillclimber to crest the peak of the 500-foot bluff.
After numerous attempts, only one motorcyclist made it over the top. That was the 2019 and 2020 King of the Hill, Mike Kirtland. Kirtland went on to win this year’s Vollwerth’s Meat’s – MASTERS Motorcycle Hillclimb King of the Hill.
While he held on to the king crown by going 486 feet in the King of the Hill runs, it was earlier in the day that Kirtland piloted his Pat’s Motorsports Yamaha over the top. A feat no one else would do for the rest of the day.
When asked on the End of the Earth Entertainment live world-wide streaming, Kirtland stated, “No one is going to go over the top. The hill, with all the jumps holds your momentum down. Then right before ‘the wall’ you have the most challenging jump of all. No way is anyone going to make it over the top.”
Kirtland did break the timing beam at the top for a 21.04 second run.
It was only a few riders that even made it to the jump at the bottom of the wall. Crystal Falls’ Shane Bandola, Ishpeming’s Brad Havela and Traverse City’s Chaz Forcia. Forcia is originally from L’Anse.
In the Mod King of the Hill, Bandola set the bar by going up 474 feet. After Kirtland went 486 feet, the fans waited to see what Forcia was going to run.
“I’m going after Mike. I drove 10 hours to get here, and today was the first time I rode the bike,” said Forcia earlier in the day.
When the KOH runs began, Forcia suffered mechanical problems with the bike and was unable to compete. That insured Kirtland the crown, with Bandola getting a second.
Class after class, the winners were decided by setting the ‘high mark’ on the hill. This included the Stock and Mod King of the Hill runs. Houghton’s Terry Lahti saved his best run of the day to win the Stock King of the Hill. Lahti edged Mass City’s Erik Brown by a mere 3 yards, 107 yards to 104 yards.
It was Ontonagon’s 10-year-old Lucas Solberg that thrilled the fans when he took his 65 cc KTM 186 feet up the hill. Solberg was crowned the Wildlife Refuge Cabins Kids King of the Hill.
Other than Kirtland’s one run over the top, every run ended with an exciting finish. Kirtland also captured the Acciaca Forest Products ‘Crash of the Day’ when he got his bike only a few feet from the timing lights, before the bike went airborne.
Kirtland hurt his shoulder on that crash. He went on to the KOH runs. His last KOH run was the 486-foot run. Forcia was still scheduled for two KOH runs. When Forcia scratched, Kirtland didn’t need to try to climb Whealkate.
The Hillclimb was a part of the Mid America Snow and Terrain Expert Racers (MASTERS) Racing Circuit Hillclimb series.
Vollwerth’s Meats MASTERS Motorcycle Hillclimb
June 19 results
Premium Spray Foam & Coatings Mod King of the Hill: 1) Mike Kirtland, Mass City, Yamaha, 162 yards; 2) Shane Bandola, Crystal Falls, Honda, 158 yards.
South Range Convenience Stock King of the Hill: 1) Terry Lahti, Houghton, Honda, 107 yards; 2) Erik Brown, Mass City, Kawasaki, 104 yards.
Wildlife Refuge Cabins Kids King of the Hill: 1) Lucas Solberg, Ontonagon, KTM, 62 yards.
State Rep Greg Markkanen 250 Pure Stock: 1) Terry Lahti, Houghton, Honda, 86 yards; 2) Erik Brown, Mass City, Kawasaki, 85 yards; 3) Travis Hall, Mass City, Kawasaki, 69 yards.
Ron’s Auto Body 450 Stock/Tire Mod: 1) Shane Bandola, Crystal Falls, Honda, 165 yards; 2-tie) Erik Brown, Mass City, Honda, 105 yards 2-tie) Anthony Ernest, Ontonagon, Husqvarna, 105 yards.
Superior Transportation and Logistics Company 450 Mod: 1) Mike Kirtland, Mass City, Yamaha, 169 yards; 2) Brad Havela, Ishpeming, Honda, 168 yards; 3) Gage Havela, Ishpeming, Honda, 104 yards.
M & M Powersports 650 Mod: 1) Mike Kirtland, Mass City, Yamaha, 168 yards; 2) Anthony Ernest, Ontonagon, Husqvarna, 106 yards.
Matt’s Auto Body and Glass Open Stock/Mod Tire: 1) Mike Kirtland, Mass City, Yamaha, 173 yards; 2) Chaz Forcia, Traverse City, MI, 167 yards; 3) Anthony Ernest, Ontonagon, Husqvarna,120 yards.
Pat’s Motor Sports Open Mod: 1) Mike Kirtland, Mass City, Yamaha, 21.04 seconds; 2) Chaz Forcia, Traverse City, Yamaha, 161 yards; 3) Shane Bandola, Crystal Falls, Honda, 127 yards;
Diamond House International Kids Run of the Day: Lucas Solberg, Ontonagon, KTM, 62 yards.
Daily Mining Gazette/Eagle Radio Run of the Day: Mike Kirtland, Mass City, Yamaha, only run to make it over the top, 21.04 seconds.
Acciaca Forest Products Crash of the Day: Mike Kirtland, Mass City, Yamaha, crash right at the ‘Wall.’
Mosquito Inn Challenge Run of the Day (runner-up): Chaz Forcia, Traverse City, Yamaha, 167 yards.