AMA Hillclimb Grand Championship rescheduled for Sept. 19-20

Event moved from Wisconsin to Washington County, Ohio

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The 2020 American Motorcyclist Association Hillclimb Grand Championship, the amateur national championship event for motorcycle and ATV hillclimb, is rescheduled for Sept. 19-20 at the Pioneer Motorcycle Club in Waterford, Ohio.

The event, originally planned for Aug. 7-9 in Wisconsin’s Pierce County, was canceled in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Pierce County Health Department’s decision not to allow our originally planned event to move forward was understandable in light of Wisconsin’s state-mandated restrictions at the time,” said AMA Track Racing Manager Ken Saillant. “Thanks to the hard work of the Pioneer Motorcycle Club and the Washington County Health Department, however, we have an Ohio-compliant plan that makes this event possible in this new location. We look forward to recognizing several champions this September at the 2020 AMA Hillclimb Grand Championship.”

To comply with the AMA’s requirement to reschedule the event, Pioneer Motorcycle Club President Les Wolfe and the WCHD created a COVID-19 mitigation plan, including health checks, face masks, social distancing, hand sanitizers, appropriate signage and a spectator ban.

“We were eager to work with the health department to ensure this event can take place while keeping everyone healthy,” Wolfe said. “One of the key requirements, in line with state guidelines, is that only racers and pit crew are allowed on site. We ask all racers to respect this requirement, because we are limiting attendance to necessary personnel only.”

Each year, the nation’s top amateur hillclimb racers, on both motorcycles and ATVs, compete at the grand championship event for AMA No. 1 plates, as well as vie for awards recognizing the AMA Hillclimb Racer of the Year, AMA Vet/Senior Hillclimb Racer of the Year and AMA Youth Hillclimb Racer of the Year.

As with most AMA amateur national championships, and in recognition of the range of participants in amateur competition, the event offers multiple competition classes based on rider age, engine displacement and motorcycle configuration.