Brodie Zappia has joined the six-second and 200mph clubs in rapid succession with stunning runs at Dragway at The Bend and Perth Motorplex to open his racing career with the updated JK Construction Camaro.
During the off season, Brodie added a blow-through Carburetted F3 ProCharger combination to the naturally aspirated Big Block Chev motor he used last year, with new custom designed pistons from CP Carrillo, and Ultra Enforcer Steel Rods from Callies.
The APD Billet Enforcer 1200CFM carburettor was supplied by Race MAX Direct to deliver the fuel mixture, allowing for a significant boost in horsepower. Another addition to the car was the “Zappia style wing” which was supplied and made by Dave at Kounis Group.
Getting the combination onto the track required plenty of troubleshooting, with Allfast Torque Converters helping to get the gearbox and converter into shape during testing with Sandro Principe at SCM Race Engines and Performance's dyno.
“We found the rocker gear had lifted off the cylinder head and caused the motor to backfire, blowing the hat off the carby during our second run on the dyno.” Brodie explained. “We had planned to be testing on track that day, but instead we just had to go back to the drawing board to get the car running and load up to take it to Tailem Bend for the Spring Nationals“.
With so much added power, the Zappia Racing team kept finding weak links.
The driveshaft was next to fail, snapping on the hit of the throttle for Brodie’s first run at Dragway at The Bend. “A few phone calls were made and we were able to get a new driveshaft made in Adelaide. Big thanks to Hardy Spicer for the short turnaround time, and to Mum and Dad for doing the three and a half hour round trip to Adelaide and back. I was able to get back in the car and complete my half-track familiarisation pass before making my first full track pass, a 7.21/203mph, followed by a 7.22/210mph pass“.
“The first full track pass found another breaking point, as the windshield imploded and landed in my lap. Thanks to Rob Taylor who supplied some polycarbonate sheet to make a two piece windscreen to get through the rest of the event“.
Thankfully, the issues settled down from there and Brodie was able to clock a 7.01/214.55mph personal best to finish off his weekend.
While eliminations racing was scrapped due to scheduling issues in Tailem Bend, Brodie returned to Perth optimistic about what was to come.
The team had the gearbox checked over and the converter tightened up by Allfast Torque Converters to produce more even acceleration, while a broken valve spring was also found and replaced in a mad thrash the night before the morning of race day.
One might think Brodie had found nearly every problem, but after his first pass at Perth Motorplex there was something new to fix. “On the non-compulsary qualifier we shook the tyres, pedalled and went 7.33/194mph, then the chutes ripped out the back of the car, in almost a mirror image to Uncle John's chute incident in 2020” he said. “Fortunately I was on the brakes and I pulled up with plenty of time to spare, as made the corner. We found the rear of the chassis had cracked and snapped through where the parachute mounts were. Thanks to Tony Wood from Tony Wood Fabrications who came to the rescue to make some new mounting points, which were lower on the chassis and worked well for the remainder of the meeting”.
The next run saw another milestone, with a 6.97/206mph pass resulting in celebrations on the start line from the whole Zappia family and crew.
It was then time for eliminations, where Brodie took on Kasey McClure in the first round. A -0.003 red light from Kasey to Brodie’s coincidental 0.003 green light saw him take his first Supercharged Outlaws round win.
That set up the A-Final against Frank Taylor. Brodie was stellar once again on the tree with a 0.007 giving him the early advantage.
From there a 7.05/187mph backing off, on a 6.93 dial-in produced victory as Frank blew a burst panel towards the end of his run. “I was stoked, after all the trouble we faced and all the issues we overcame it was worth it,” Brodie said. “The many hours that myself, Lachlan, John, Mum, Dad and everyone else around us put into the car to get me to the track all paid off. We definitely weren’t expecting a win this early, but it made all the time, money and effort worth it”.
“The thank you list is long and I want to thank all the following people who have helped in various ways:
Uncle John and Zappia Racing for welcoming me to the Zappia Racing Team and for all his knowledge, assistance and long hours in building this combination – also the help of all his crew who all contributed on crew nights.
Lachlan Vanderwel who, with myself, has spent upwards of 900 hours in the workshop in the last since April and co-drove the car and trailer to The Bend with me.
Mum and Dad for all the support and many late nights helping and feeding us.
Simon “Gonzo” Travaglini for the Powerglide and 258mm Bolt together converter assembly, and the countless hours and overnighters he spent developing the combination to take the extra power in time to race at The Bend.
Tony Wood from Tony Wood Fabrications for the many late nights welding and strengthening the chassis.
Brendon Luke, for kindly taking his personal carby off his Altered, driving a two hour round trip to Race MAX Direct, so I could borrow his APD Billet Enforcer carby after discovering the one I had wouldn't deliver enough fuel.
George Bukureshliev from Race MAX Direct, for sending the carby and spare parts to get us up and running after the dyno mishap.
Sandro Principe from SCM Race Engines and Performance for the use of the dyno and his assistance in organising the carby from George.
My boss, Dennis from High Speed Engineering, for dropping everything and machining essential parts that I needed.
All the boys at work, Andrew, Cam, Marshall, Matt, Sara, Gary and Tom, for their help and teaching me with designing, machining, programming and laser cutting my own parts on their own time.
Aaron Deery from ADR Engines for his help assembling the motor.
Applied Automotive for machining the block, heads and balancing the rotating assembly.
Geoff Simpson for help with the rear end set up.
Jeremy from Klik Creative for the graphic design and the many hours spent getting the car looking as good as it does.
Adam from Pedders Suspension and Brakes Booragoon who also came to the workshop to help get the car ready for race day.
All this would not be possible without the many sponsors who have come on-board for the 2023-2024 season making all of this possible for an 18 year old apprentice.
Naming Rights Sponsor:
JK Construction, thanks to Luke and Natalie.
Major Sponsors:
Dannani Haulage, thanks to Danni
Pedders Suspension and Brakes Booragoon, thanks to Adam
Jacked Supplements, thanks to Paul
JP Pallets - Your Pallet and Steel Cage Experts, thanks to Jason
Supporting Sponsors:
High Speed Engineering
Tony’s Auto Wreckers
Impact Heavy Equipment Maintenance
CP Carrillo Rods and Pistons
Klik Creative
Kounis Group
Race MAX Direct
Advanced Product Design (APD)
Fuchs Lubricants
NGK Spark Plugs
Mr T Racing
Scruffy