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/126493
,------ •• _ •• ------··.-._. malfunctioned. But, a quick check of the lighting on the track easily showed that the Florida rider had just made drag racing history. Bo coupled up his 7.08 clocking with a speed of 196.07 miles per hour. The remainder of the qualifying field was well over a half second behind O'Brochta's run with current NMRA Pro Stock Champion Terry Vance of Santa Fe Springs, CA, second at 7.77 at 174.75 on the Vance 8t Hines factory Suzuki. Defending NHRA World Champion jim Bernard of La Mirada, CA, placed third at 7.81 and 185.29 on Ron Teson's Yamaha, while Collins rounded out the top four with his Honda at 7.90 at 185.95 mph. Popular Marion Owens of Oklahoma City, OK, took the futh spot with his "Boss Hog" Harley-Davidson at 8.18 and 170.15, while Wayne Davis of Arcadia, CA, (Kaw) and Keith Ruxton of Fresno, CA, (H-D) com./ pleted the staning field. In the opening round of eliminations, O'Brochta received a single run due to the odd number of bikes in competition, and Bo backed off of his record performance with a 7.47 at 186.72 mph to advance to the semi-finals. Bernard, the two-time World Finals winner, also gained a bye run when his opponent, Wayne Davis, broke his Kawasaki. Bernard's Yamaha clicked the finish line lights at 8.15 at 181.45 to have the dubious distinction of racing O'Brochta in the second round. Vance, the national record holder in Pro Stock, moved into the semifmals by defeating Owens' Harley, but Terry's victory was costly. The Suzuki let go at about the l000-foot mark on the 8.28 and 157.89 run, and the popular local rider was out of action for the rest of the event. Owens suffered some traction trouble and recorded an 8.85 at 170.15 mph. Collins rounded out the first round of action with an easy win over Ruxton, who broke his Harley. R.C. closed in on O'Brochta with a 7.86 at 188.28 to the Fresno rider's 12.00, 116.58. The semi-fmals found CoUins with the single run due to Vance's misfortune in the previous round. Russ continued to show that he might challenge Bo with a strong 7.46 and top speed of the event at 196.50 mph. O'Brochta and Bernard matched up in the other semi-final with the Kawasaki taking the easy win at 7.50 seconds and 189.47. The Yamaha rider suffered some problems and shut down to 10.50 at only 94.55. So, the matchup between O'Brochta and Collins was set, and R.C. had slowly been closing in on Bo's quanermile clockings during eliminations to make a very interesting final round contest. However, the Gardena, CA, veteran was unable to make the call when O'Brochta staged his Kawasaki in the light bearns, and the Florida rider took his third consecutive Top Fuel victory with a 7.57 at 184.04. "I changed my style," CoUins told a reponer afterward, "I shouldn't have done that." Collins, in preparation for his initial bum-outs, had been rolling through the water forward funher toward the starting line before smoking the Sorcerer's huge rear slick. This time, however, he dropped the clutch earlier. At full throttle, he hit a small patch of water tracked forward by a car tire, and the eight cylinder machine over-revved into oblivion ,with a. resounding bang. It was a fitting climax for O'Brochta, who had set the drag racing world on its ear with his new elapsed time performance during qualifying. And it was very disappointing for Collins, who was attempting to return to the winner's circle after a brief retirement foIlowing his World Finals win in 1978. • w_ o 00 0") ...... 7