Three fives, and Zappia extends Championship lead.
The Summernationals at Western Sydney International Dragway, Sydney Australia saw the quickest field in history of ANDRA Top Doorslammers, and John Zappia couldn’t believe the final result. Despite running a third consecutive five-second pass in eliminations, Maurice Fabietti snuck home by a whisker to take out the event.
“Doorslammer is hotting up here in Australia” said Zap, “That’s a good thing for the sport and for the fans. We had a fantastic weekend’s racing, and managed to get more points to extend our lead in the championship. Three five second passes in a row saw the Striker Monaro finally become a consistent five second car – and two of those passes I had to pedal! We now have thirteen five second passes under our belt.”
Qualifying for the Zappia Racing Team was full of drama after an engine change was required. The PSI 3,000 horsepower engine broke a rod after lifting in the braking area, causing Zap to slip and slide to rest sideways on the oil from the big hole in the sump.
“Our crew were very impressive all weekend” said Crew Supervisor Graham Jones. “Changing engines and components in tight turnarounds was completed smoothly, and our extensive data capture systems allowed us to finish with a tune that saw us qualify equal second with a 6.052.”
Round one saw Benny Bray put champion Garry Phillips away with a 6.086et @ 235.64mph to a slowing 10.339et @ 83.23 from Garry, ending Phillips weekend of Summernationals racing. Brett Stevens was on fire against Robin Judd next, running an impressive 6.022et @ 243.90mph against Judd’s pedaling 6.277et @ 239.01mph.
Zap came out next against Steve Stanic and shut the door with a crowd raising 5.951et @ 239.14mph to a 6.028et @ 235.72mph. Not to be out done, Deno Brijeski rattled off another monster 5.991et @ 239.65mph run, but was too slow on the lights and a jubilant Maurice Fabietti took the win with a 6.105et @ 237.88mph.
The turnaround in the Zappia Racing pit was busy, busy after a compression check discovered a dropped valve. As usual the crew thrashed and managed to replace a piston, liner and head in record time and lined up for round two in front of a record crowd.
First out in round two were the pairing of Benny Bray against an improving Fabietti. Fab took the win with a 6.037et @ 231.12mph as Benny shook and rolled through for a 9.639et @ 146mph. Zap took on danger man Brett “The Boss” Stevens next and ran an amazing 5.999et @ 241.41 after a pedal, as Brett shook and pedaled for a 6.379et @ 231.12mph.
The final was held at 10.30pm on a cool, crisp night in Sydney with the temperature at 19 degrees Celsius. ”We were seeing some exciting possibilities in the tune as we learn more about this PSI combination, and I knew I could do a five in the final” said Zap. “Anything was possible in the final though based on the racing so far”.
“Maurice got me on a hole shot on the start, and I had to pedal slightly as the Striker Monaro rattled the tyres and headed for the center line. I pulled up alongside Fabietti and hit second a little early and moved ahead. Into third I thought I was ahead, but in the braking area I saw the other Monaro ahead of me with the chutes out – he must have done a charge through the finish line to just beat me. Great racing!”
Fabietti ran a 6.000et @ 240.86mph to Zap’s 5.958et @ 240.21mph to make it the quickest side-by-side Doorslammer pass in Australia.
“This whole event is one we will talk about for years to come. With so many cars running quick – some joining the “Five Second Club”, and such close exciting racing that thrilled the huge crowd.”
The Zappia Racing Team will head back to hometown Perth for Round Three of Top Doorslammer on 1st – 2nd March at the Perth Motorplex’s biggest event – the 2008 37th Chill Westernationals.
