John Zappia took the A Final win in "Top Comp" last weekend at the Perth Motorplex in Craig Pedley's new Crusher HQ Monaro Top Doorslammer, and further secured his reputation as Australia's leading Top Doorslammer tuner and driver. The current Top Doorslammer back-to-back National Champion drove the new car in its first event since licensing, and managed to pick up the trophy, cash and top points for the Top Comp Championship - the most coveted local Group 2 Blown Alcohol Championship in Australia.
"The team was thrilled to win" said John Zappia, "We really like winning and the standard is very high in our team, and we still get very excited with a win and quick times. We got a lot of personal satisfaction in this win, because it proves our reputation beyond one car. Zap's Rat - the Striker Top Doorslammer has been racing for years now, and we hold the National Record in that car, but this new car is different, and our set ups, tune and systems all proved themselves well when applied to the Crusher Monaro".
Zap came out for the first qualifying opportunity at 3.30 pm and despite a perfect reaction time of 0.000, Zap had to pedal the Crusher to keep it straight, and a 6.006 @ 237.46 mph was the result. The Zappia Racing crew was all over the car in the pits, making calculated adjustments to the suspension - the key to getting these 3,500 horsepower monsters down the track. The compulsory qualifier at 6.30 pm after the Pro Stock cars resulted in a dead straight 5.945 @ 239.36 mph to place the Crusher 4th in the Top Comp qualifying list, 0.475 seconds under the index of 6.420.
"Top Comp is a tough bracket to race in, and we needed to be very quick to get into a final here. The 5.945 was good, but we needed something special - maybe an "eight" or a "seven". I hotted up the Crusher for the first Eliminator and a 5.832 @ 245.23 was a huge performance against Debbie O'Rourke's AA/FC Funny Car 6.229 @ 225.56. Not far off our National Record 5.828".
The A Final was up against Andrew Minogue in his CC/GA Sedan - a Gas class for heavier sedan small blocks with auto transmissions - who had managed a remarkable 7.153 in qualifying, a full 1.017 under his index of 8.170. His index in the final was adjusted to 7.69, and Zap's index had reduced to 6.12 - on paper it was easier for Minogue to take the win, but Zap caught him sleeping on the line and took the win with a 0.076 reaction 5.862 @ 244.56 to the Falcon's 7.104 @ 193.13 on a 0.433 reaction time.
"Winners are grinners and we are over the moon at the moment with a lot of momentum in our team. The hard work has paid off - and trust me, the crew and supporters have put a huge effort into this car. There's a lot of new crew on this car, so they need to take a bow as well for their roles in adding support for the more experienced Zap's Rat crew who are passing on their many years of experience".
"We are ready to take on the teams at the upcoming Round 3 of the ANDRA Pro Series Top Doorslammer Championship at the Goldenstates here in Perth on the 13th-14th November. We have local track knowledge, a formidable car to present, and a team full of confidence with the potential shown with the new car. The Eastern States teams will have to be at their best as both local racers are in career best form. We could see another Zappia / Judd final but hopefully we can turn the result around and strengthen our lead in the Championship.
