Reprinted from Dragster Australia - 566 March 9, 2001
The Firepower Top Comp bracket was bolstered by the appearance of Robin Judd and Lindsay Murray's Doorslammers - also on the hunt for track time before the next Doorslammer round here at Quit Motorplex.
Qualifying was exceptional with a number of good runs being recorded. To give you an idea of how tough the supercharged ranks are in Perth, the CC/A twins of Morrison and Sheehan sat in sixth and eighth places respectively both with 7.0's split by Grant O'Rourke's AA/G 6.62 only good enough for seventh!
At the top of the field was the CC/G Torana of the Wood brothers who sat in front of the Judd 'Slammer'. Judd was well pleased with back to back 6.3's during qualifying with the better 6.353 putting him into second. Stuart Rowland again showed his tuning prowess with an AA/FC 6.45 to hold down third. The crowd enjoyed the "Zap's Rat" AA/AP 6.81 which put Zappia into fourth while Wayne Keys was pleased to get to the other end without ventilating the KB, moving into fifth with his AA/AP 6.99.
In eliminations Rowland's one-two shift problems continued. Rowland was momentarily distracted by the problem only to look up and see one of those pesky timing blocks in front of him. He hit the block which not only disqualified his 6.84 time but also damaged the body. Rob Pilkington's AA/G HG ute was in the other lane and his 7.16 would have been tough to beat in any circumstances. Marty Miller's BB/D found itself in the unenviable position of fronting the "new kid on the block" (?) - John Zappia. Zappia was in no mood for playing around, punting the Southside Engine Centre "Zap's Rat" to a respectable 6.84/215 [331].
Judd may have taken the win over Sheehan with a 6.72 to the CC/A's 7.40, but there would have been no joy from the time card that was produced. Trevor Morrison was not only producing the numbers - but also the consistent 7.0's would give the team something to tune from. Morrison winning 7.05 to 7.13 from the John Napier TA/FC running in AA/FC trim.
A lot of people have an aversion to the devil's number, but the sight of the 6.66 on the read out boards in Wayne Key's win over the Hudson family's AA/AP pick-up brought much joy and merriment from the BMW's team on the start line. Not only were they back - but they were in business!
Other winners were the Wood brothers who had a solo by virtue of their top qualifying position and Grant O'Rourke who also had his AA/G Torana in a bracket like consistency with a solid 6.62.
In the finals the above said consistency went out the door as the Wood brothers took a good win over the O'Rourke Torana while Zappia and Keys fronted each other for the money run in an all-AA/AP final.
Zappia had a huge advantage over Keys off the line with a .478 RT to Keys' .638 but Keys' "Blown Beemer" went hurtling past to record another 6.66 at 2.14mph [344] as "Zap's Rat" threw a blower belt at half track. After the run of bad luck endured by the Keys team it was a well deserved win - but with back to back 6.66's I am a little worried about who may have helped him!
