Quick man John Zappia and the Zappia Racing team turned up to the Perth Motorplex last weekend for the opening meeting of the 2007/2008 Western Australian drag racing season all set to carry out testing on new parts sourced from the USA.
The 2007/2008 season started months ago for Zap, as he competed on the East Coast of Australia in the opening rounds of the ANDRA Top Doorslammer Championship. Round 1 saw the Striker Monaro win the event for the third straight year with a 5.965et @ 240.85mph - around half a car ahead of Victor Bray who managed a 6.045et @ 230.33mph. Round two saw Zap suffer push rod breakage in the final at 1,000 feet whilst ahead of Steve Stanic – and having to settle with runner-up.
Zap now leads the Championship with 185 points, ahead of Stuart Bishop on 125 points, Steve Stanic and Victor Bray on 120, and last years Champion Garry Phillips on 100. Next round of the championship is on 30th Nov/1st Dec 2007 at the Golden State Titles, Perth Motorplex, WA.
“We put a new clutch in, and used our settings from years of testing on the first pass” said Zap, “But when I launched it just smoked the tyres with no slippage at all. That threw us a curve ball, so Gerry made what we thought were appropriate adjustments, and on the second run it lit the tyres up on the hit again. Amazing!”
“We did not really achieve much on the day as our afternoon and last sessions were cancelled due to the meeting running behind schedule.”
“Obviously the clutch materials and settings are significantly different to our old clutch. That’s ok – we can come back to that in testing later in the year.”
The meeting was also a chance for upcoming Top Doorslammer driver and Striker Screening and Crushing director Craig Pedley to experience competition in Super Street, entering his supercharged Striker Holden HSV GTS Commodore streetcar. No slouch as far as streetcars go, having driven to the track and laying down an 11.836et @ 118.11 in qualifying, and a 12.072et @ 11.08mph loose in round one. The night before the car ran 11.61et at the Fast Friday meeting, breaking out on an 11.80et dial in.
“We have to get Craig ready for racing whilst the second Striker HQ Monaro gets built. He has taken to the racing well and will undergo further training before jumping in what we anticipate will be another five second Doorslammer”.
“The next meeting here in Perth on 16-17th Nov 2007 will give us more testing time to fine tune the TFX engine running the PSI blower. The meeting is a Top Alcohol round, so hopefully the track will be excellent.”
