After rain disrupted Friday night qualifying the last few teams that did not get a chance to run were permitted to run a special 3 pm session on Saturday afternoon. After the dust settled though the qualifying order didn’t really change much with an unusually slow 6.40 bump for the Doorslammers.
Regardless of the bump the field was packed with heavy hitters all capable of taking out the event, as long as they can knock Zappia out who has shown consistently outstanding form over the last several meetings and qualified with over a tenth on the rest of the field. Most teams struggled in qualifying without showing their best in the tricky conditions but everyone needs the points in the Championship chase so nothing will be left in the trailer.
Top Doorslammer Round 1
With the traditional blessing and National Anthem completed at 6pm it was time to get racing under way with the Top Doorslammers out first.
Gary Phillips and Ben Bray are out first through the tunnel, some businesslike burnouts they are back and into stage quickly, both leave well but Phillips strikes a little shake around 330’ and has to peddle and the timers tell the story with a 6.36 for Phillips to Bray’s tidy 6.12 as they start to get after the tuneup.
Second pair out is Steve Stanic and Stuart Bishop in their immaculate Camaro’s, Stanic and old hand at the Motorplex but struggling at recent events here. This is Bishop’s first competition lap here so it will be interesting to see which way they have gone with the tune since they qualified well ahead of Stanic. Both cars strike trouble early on though, Bishop is all over the track off the line and aborts and it’s shake for Stanic and he peddles it through to take with win with a 6.23. Later on we find out Bishop really had his hands full – the quick-release steering wheel came free on the launch!
Peter Kapiris and Brett Stevens out for the third pair, Kapiris coming to grips with a new tuner on the spanners and Brett looking to turn the event around for the team with only one car qualified. True to form Brett runs through to take the win with a tidy 6.14 win after thrashing with an engine change overnight. In the other lane Kapiris has a shake around 100’ and has to peddle slowing the run to a 6.45.
Final pairing out now, it’ll be Robin Judd up against top qualifier John Zappia who can play it safe and conserve the car a bit, sure enough it’s a straight and soft looking 6.05 for Zappia and a solid and well improved 6.17 from Judd however it’ll be Zappia through to the semis.
Top Doorslammer Round 2
Round 2 of Top Doorslammer and Brett Stevens just squeaks into the lanes after a massive thrash to replace another engine and drivetrain in Jack Daniel's Falcon. He will be up against Stanic, so this should be a great race. Stanic is out with a wheelstand in the top of first gear and then powers straight down track for a great 6.06 to put Stevens out of action, despite a consistent 6.18 from the Ford. It looks like Brett might not have expected that from the Camaro tonight!
On the other side of the ladder we have Ben Bray vs crowd favourite John Zappia, the Bray camp will have to throw everything at this to try to get past Zappia and into the finals. Ben is out with a good RT, but it looks like they’ve gone too far as the car steps out on Ben at the 330’ mark. Zappia meanwhile has it running like it’s on rails, he blitzes past Benny to run a meeting best (so far!) 5.95!!! which brought the house down as the fans went wild when the numbers flashed up on the read out borads..
Top Doorslammer Final
With the air hovering around 170’ all eyes are on John Zappia who announced his intention to reclaim the world Doorslammer record, currently held by an American at 5.912. Zappia will need a 5.911 or better, the air is certainly there to make the horsepower but will they be able to stick it to the track?
Strong burnouts from both cars and there’s a lot of ice on Zappia’s hat in the dense air tonight after the long back up. Zappia out on the green with a much improved RT but still not match for Stanic’s lightning 0.058. The Monaro doesn’t stick as well as they hoped though and it starts to move around into second gear, a quick peddle and still manages to take the win with a 6.14. Steve Stanic meanwhile also has to peddle the Camaro and runs through for a 6.58.
TOP DOORSLAMMER
No.
NAME
CLASS
LANE
RUN TIME
ET
MPH
RT
60' ET
330' ET
660' ET
660' MPH
1000' ET
RESULT
2639
BEN BRAY (QLD)
T/D
1
18:04:12
6.129
234.98
0.094
1.036
2.722
4.043
192.18
5.172
WIN
TD1
GARY PHILLIPS (QLD)
T/D
2
18:04:12
6.362
233.76
0.184
1.007
2.890
4.268
182.71
5.407
LOSE
167
STUART BISHOP
T/D
1
18:07:04
20.120
33.41
0.065
1.234
5.355
9.978
49.55
14.759
LOSE
283
STEVE STANIC
T/D
2
18:07:04
6.230
236.84
0.124
0.997
2.787
4.140
185.23
5.274
WIN
7
BRETT STEVENS (QLD)
T/D
1
18:10:18
6.149
204.54
0.116
1.015
2.674
3.980
190.07
5.112
WIN
4
PETER KAPIRIS (VIC)
T/D
2
18:10:18
6.456
196.50
0.128
1.083
2.885
4.227
184.80
5.379
LOSE
846
JOHN ZAPPIA (WA)
T/D
1
18:13:24
6.051
238.72
0.203
1.079
2.718
4.005
192.79
5.109
WIN
1693
ROBIN JUDD (WA)
T/D
2
18:13:24
6.173
241.28
0.119
1.007
2.767
4.108
186.33
5.228
LOSE
7
BRETT STEVENS (QLD)
T/D
1
20:11:46
6.180
238.09
0.088
1.015
2.778
4.115
186.87
5.234
LOSE
283
STEVE STANIC
T/D
2
20:11:46
6.062
237.46
0.092
1.001
2.695
4.009
192.27
5.121
WIN
846
JOHN ZAPPIA (WA)
T/D
1
20:14:48
5.956
239.36
0.316
1.011
2.640
3.921
193.80
5.017
WIN
2639
BEN BRAY (QLD)
T/D
2
20:14:48
6.804
163.33
0.114
1.010
2.802
4.357
169.89
5.604
LOSE
846
JOHN ZAPPIA (WA)
T/D
1
22:30:47
6.144
234.98
0.130
1.020
2.729
4.060
193.85
5.185
WIN
283
STEVE STANIC
T/D
2
22:30:47
6.580
231.36
0.056
1.042
2.919
4.425
173.55
5.606
LOSE
2006 - 2007 WSID Season Review
2006-2007 Top Doorslammer Season Review
1st World Record 5 Second Run
