April Fri 13 Kwinana Burnout King & Driving Events - Kwinana Beach Motorplex
John Zappia thrills crowds
15 April 2001
John Zappia thrilled the crowds at the Motorplex Friday night with two burnout sessions that had to be seen to be believed. Over 1000 horsepower of Doorslammer supercharged power, produced a spectacular display of brute tyre smoking power and noise! On a small and difficult "Snake Pit" at the new Motorplex, John managed to master the HQ beast and complete donuts and straight line burnouts that brought huge cheers from fans.
In the first session with Zap's Rat Burnout Raffle winner David Hill strapped into the passenger seat, Zap's Rat was spun into an awesome donut that completely obliterated any sight of the car, with huge plumes of white smoke belching from the huge rear tyres.
With track knowledge in his mind, John started the second session with 92.9 Burnout Competition winner James Mynard as co-pilot, and had the HQ wound up with displays of straight line burnouts, and a final sensational donut of eight spins (according to Stu Bond).
Winner David Hill after his ride
92.9 winner James Mynard
The resulting nights entertainment was typical of John Zappia and the Zap's Rat Crew - if you do a job do it properly! To prepare the car for burnouts, the crew fitted a new engine (alcohol burning 402 Chev Big Block "Rat" engine) with radiator and special muffled headers, different gearbox and clutch setup, and treaded rear tyres. The crew completed starts and restarts in the same professional manner as would an experienced race crew, and fans were able to purchase t-shirts, caps and signed posters in the pits.
