Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Mafaro's new Suzuki Kat ana set a National record at 7 .82, 170.90. With the win, Mafaro has taken the early lead in the Castrol GTX Motorcycle Series . Schultz, the current NHRA Castrol GTX Drag Racing champ, couldn't hold off Mafaro in the final round and was defeated by .08 seconds and nearly four mph . , NHRA Castrol GlI Championship Drag Racing Series: Round 1 Mafaro sweeps field, record book in Houston By John Brasseaux HOUSTON, TX,MAR. 10-11 Jo h n Ma faro did mor e tha n w in th e N ation a l Hot' Rod Associa ti on's Fram Supernationals. O n h is way to an appearance in the winner's circle, the Suzuki Katana rider led a performance parade of th e quickest and .. . f fastest nmes In the historyo NHRA Pro Stock racmg. The Supernarionals, he ld at the new Houston Ra ceway Park, provid ed a show never seen before. Mafaro kicked it off in qualifying by coming off the trailer and running a 7.87, 169.68..That was th~ first time a Pro Stock ~l~e had run In th~ ?80 second zone In NHRA co rnpeu uo n. That 169 mph speed was also th e fastest time ever recorded for th e class. (The cu rrent NHRA National record is 7.98, 167.97.) Unfortu nately, a coldfron t came through during the last day of qualifying and the event had to be postponed one John Mafaro, far lane, took out Dave 'Schultz in t he final of Pro Stock Bik!" at the NHRA Fram Supernationals. week. (How cold was it? The wind chi ll factor was only three degrees.) When the event resumed, NH RA allowed one day testing and tuning. Every competitor 'was allowed two passes down the track the day before eliminations. However, the times didn't count toward qua lifying, which was close, nor were any times run allowed to stand for NH RA National records. It was all practice, but the Pro Stock bikes came out in dead earnest. Mafaro, in his first session, ran a 7.93, 170.64, the first speed ever in the 170 mph range. He then made another pass later in the day and blasted to a 7.79, 170.48 to become the first Pro Stoc k rider to go into the 7.70 zone. Other riders were eq u a ll y impressive. Phi l Tannery, the rider of the Vance & Hines Suzu ki Katana, logged a 7.84, 169.66, and current Castrol GTX champ Dave Schultz, aboard his Eagle l -backed Kawasaki Katana, re corded a 7.93 , 166.57. Those numbers were a clear harbinger of what was to come in eliminations the following day, where both the elapsed time and speed record would be set and reset a number of ximes. What was the reason for the astounding times? There were three factors . First, Suzu ki riders were allowed to pare 15 pounds from their mi nim um weight requirement" which brought them closer to the Kawasa ki minimum weight. In drag racing, reducing weight is the same as adding power. Second, plenty of en gine and chassis research and development went on d uri ng the winter. NHRA Pro Stock racing is becoming very competitive and the riders spent a lo t of time and money during the off-season wringing more performance from their machines. Third, Houston Raceway Park is one of the best tracks in the country for good tim es. The facility is at sea level and a cool, dry weather system dominated the area during eliminations. That meant an abundance of oxygen was avai labl e which translated into more power. The track featured a 400-foot length of concrete at th e start of th e quarter mi le, which is th e best possibl e surface for maximum traction. Mafaro pointed to th ose factors, and a brand-new chassis, as the reason for the step up. The elim inations times were more astounding than those in qualifying and the test and tune session.Because 16 bikes didn't show up for qualifying, a number of riders received first-round singles. Mafaro was one and he hit a 7.86, 168.50 time, wh ich was the low elapsed time of the ' round. However, John Myers, now riding for George Bryce, showed that he was hot on Mafaro's heels by wi nning his heat with a 7.88, 165.77. Schultz, who went on to meet Mafaro in the final, recorded a 7.90, 163.87 on a single. Finally, Tannery put away R ick Stetson's Suzuki with a stout 7.89, 170.74 and thus became the second rider to run over 170 mph . In the second stanza, Schultz took out Tannery in a close contest. Schultz guided his mo unt to a 7.90, 167.34 while Tannery was righ t there wi th a 7.93, 170.81. Myers showed that he still had a hot hand by beating a red-lighting Keith Gray with a 7.88, 166.05. Gray, riding a Kawasaki Ninja, recorded an early shut-off 8.15, 149.57. Mafaro then defeated Suzuki rider Russ Olmstead. .T he Saddle Brook, New Jersey, rider stayed consistent with a 7.88' at a boom ing speed of 173.98 mph. O lmstead recorded a personal best of 7.98,164.71 for the loss. The las t run featured a single by Russ Nyberg, who had made the best run of his career with a 7.92, 170.00. That was also the first decent run the 23-yearold rider made on his Kawasaki all week. H e had been having trouble wi th h is wheelie bars and his bike was not runni ng straight as a result. He found the sol ution before 'that run and was ab le to make a good pass. The final four riders in competitio n provided four great r uns. Sch ultz laid down the q uickest pass of his career, a 7.88, 167.22 to defea t Nyberg, who ran a game 7.93, 162.45 time. Then Mafaro advanced to the final via a quicker leave over Myers. Myers recorded a great 7.84, 167.19 and Mafaro, a slower 7.87, 170.90. Mafaro had a quicker reaction to the green and that was the margin of victory over Myers. For the first time in , a long time, Schultz was going int o a final round not in the favored ro le - it was Mafaro who had th e good odds. He saved the best for last with a 7.82, 170.87 win over Schultz's good 7.90, 166.91. Mafaro's 7.82 elapsed time in th e final and his 170.90 speed in the semi finals were the new records. Mafaro had one good race last year and after that he became just a midd le-of-the-pace rider. With a sterling performance and a win under his belt after the first race of the new season, the rest of the field will have a hard time with Mafaro this year. •

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