The Summernationals proved to be a challenging meeting for most Top Doorslammer teams this year, including Zappia Racing. Coming into the event as favorite and Championship points leader, John Zappia and his Zap's Rat team had to sit out Saturday eliminations after missing the cut in qualifying due to a small part failure.
"It's the first time we have not qualified at a major event, and it was disappointing we could not compete" said John Zappia just before returning to Perth. "After a string of 6.0's in Perth, we were looking forward to running some good numbers again here at WSID. The track was very slippery in the first qualifier, and we blew the tyres off - as did many other teams. We adjusted our tune and clutch for the track on the second qualifier, but after the burnout I noticed some problems. I decided to continue with the run, to attempt a place in the field, and a 6.384et @ 221.52mph got us 6th place, but ended up damaging the engine."
"The crankshaft spigot bearing failed, damaging the clutch and eventually causing damage to the rear main bearing area of the block and spinning the bearing. A twenty dollar part!. We had a spare block, and the team started the engine change but was unable to meet the third qualifying start. So we watched our 6th place go up in smoke with some faster times in the third session."
A win by Brett Stevens, and elimination of Phillips, Victor and Ben Bray, and Stanic in the first round has ensured Zappia maintains his lead in the 2005/2006 Top Doorslammer Championship with 328 points, a lead of 68 points over Steve Stanic.
"We parked the RENTCO Monaro on display in the pits, and had a great response from the crowd - still buzzing over our last visit and world record run of 5.967. Our corporate Major Sponsors Rentco and Fuchs were able to send guests from their corporate suites down to view the race car, quite often not possible due to extreme pressure when racing and turning the car around for the next round."
"We travel back across the Nullabor, stop for a spot of fishing at our secret location, then back in Perth to prepare the car for the next meeting."
Round Five of the 2005/2006 ANDRA Australian Top Doorslammer Championship is scheduled for the Westernationals at Perth’s Kwinana Motorplex on May 4th and 5th.
Be back in 5!
Qualifying
Name
Reaction
60 Foot
E.T.
MPH
John Zappia
0.310
1.083
6.384
221.52
Victor Bray
0.136
1.089
6.277
223.95
John Zappia and Victor Bray, two crowd favourites here at Western Sydney International Dragway, line up with fantastic side by side burnouts. Victor is out of the blocks first, gets into the field with a 6.27 in the number four spot, Zappia moves to number six and Ben Bray drops to number seven. Gary Phillips is on the bump with a 6.42.
