John Zappia gained valuable points for the ANDRA Top Doorslammer Championship at the Westernationals held last weekend at Perth Motorplex in Western Australia, with a Semi-final finish. The Striker Monaro was unable to continue the Semi-final pass against arch rival Garry Phillips, after the clutch failed reversing from his traditional long smoky burnout.
"I was unable to activate the clutch after reversing back, so I turned the engine off" said a disappointed Zap after the event, "It appears a pin has let go in the clutch - most probably the result of tyre shake of our previous rounds. The Striker Monaro was performing well this weekend, with two 6.06's in qualifying, and our first round win against Robin Judd with a 6.075et @ 236.22mph. The next best time in all the elimination runs was a 6.340et, so we were still ahead of the pack in performance."
"We have these little reliability issues, because we do more laps than any other Top Doorslammer racer in the country. Obviously the more laps you do, the more possibilities of incidents occurring. But we are committed to a comprehensive racing calendar both here locally in Perth, and nationally in the championship rounds. We just have to keep progressing forward in our maintenance program to increase the reliability factor."
"Our Naming Rights Sponsor Striker Crushing and Screening, and all our Major Sponsors and Supporting Sponsors are fully behind our growth as a team. We are progressing from a volunteer backyard operation, to a more professional Motorsport organisation. It takes time to affect the changes and our current way of doing things will have to be altered to ensure we give ourselves the best possible chance every meeting. We need more checks to be done between races to make sure the little things don’t fail and come back to haunt us."
"Garry Phillips has a lead in the Championship, but he is not unbeatable. He has had his fair share of luck this season, and and on most days the HQ can beat any Doorslammer in the country. Drag racing is the great equaliser, and as several teams have seen this weekend, the smallest of things can stop your best performance."
Several racers encountered problems this weekend - Ben Bray failed to qualify in his new Monaro, Steve Stanic was disqualified in Round 1 Eliminations due to his front air dam being too low for the stage beams, and several teams suffered terminal engine damage.
Zappia racing will now contest two local rounds of racing at the Perth Motorplex where further testing of new components will be carried out. Round 6 is scheduled for 28th April at Willowbank Raceway with the running of the Tin Top Championships - a unique event featuring all forms of slammer racing.
ELIMINATION RESULTS
No.
NAME
CLASS
LANE
RUN TIME
ET
MPH
RT
60' ET
330' ET
660' ET
660' MPH
1000' ET
RESULT
1221
VICTOR BRAY (QLD)
T/D
1
18:16:05
6.615
215.82
0.112
1.037
2.761
4.340
160.84
5.593
LOSE
5066
STEVE PACKMAN (QLD)
T/D
2
18:16:05
6.467
206.89
0.146
1.053
2.785
4.197
174.01
5.417
WIN
3262
GARY STEVENS (WA)
T/D
1
18:18:38
N.T.R.
0.00
-0.400
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.00
0.000
FOUL
7
BRETT STEVENS (QLD)
T/D
2
18:18:38
11.018
88.75
0.211
1.085
3.593
6.156
91.59
8.616
WIN
1693
ROBIN JUDD (WA)
T/D
1
18:27:25
6.393
237.46
-0.042
1.245
2.975
4.312
184.87
5.441
FOUL
846
JOHN ZAPPIA (WA)
T/D
2
18:27:25
6.075
236.22
0.151
1.052
2.708
4.008
190.56
5.123
WIN
76
GARY PHILLIPS (QLD)
T/D
2
18:28:48
13.897
0.00
1.809
0.000
13.896
13.896
0.00
13.897
WIN
5066
STEVE PACKMAN (QLD)
T/D
1
20:07:15
6.884
209.30
-0.052
1.085
2.931
4.501
158.59
5.805
FOUL
7
BRETT STEVENS (QLD)
T/D
2
20:07:15
6.340
227.84
0.116
1.033
2.813
4.196
181.52
5.358
WIN
76
GARY PHILLIPS (QLD)
T/D
1
20:10:16
10.142
85.47
0.239
1.108
3.003
5.215
98.91
7.663
WIN
846
JOHN ZAPPIA (WA)
T/D
2
20:10:16
N.T.R.
0.00
-0.400
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.00
0.000
FOUL
76
GARY PHILLIPS (QLD)
T/D
1
22:22:37
6.534
217.39
0.202
1.034
2.800
4.256
170.94
5.494
LOSE
7
BRETT STEVENS (QLD)
T/D
2
22:22:37
6.641
225.56
0.077
1.047
2.923
4.434
170.25
5.639
WIN
ANDRA TOP DOORSLAMMER POINTS TABLE (after Round 5)
