John Zappia lifted a rollercoaster season with a winning performance in the third round of the WA Summer Slam Series, solidifying his position at the top of the points standings.
The Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Monaro Top Doorslammer got off to a nervous start however, as a gremlin in the transbrake held the team back from the compulsory qualifying session.
“We came out for the session and unfortunately the transbrake was a little bit worn and wasn’t quite holding,” Zappia explained. “It was bad for us, but on the positive side it gave our opponent Shane Catalano a chance to fire up his Charger and make a pass which was great for those guys after a lot of hard work getting the car to the track.”
Back in the pits, the team quickly got into the transmission and replaced the band on the transbrake. Thankfully it was a simple fix, but with no time record, Zappia would have to face number two qualifier Kelvin Lyle in the first round.
“With no runs on the board for the day, we had to draw on our previous data to put a tune-up into the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Monaro. This is where good record keeping pays off! Kelvin was coming in hot off a 5.82 qualifying run so we couldn’t leave anything on the table. This time the transbrake worked properly and we were off for a 5.763 win to Kelvin’s close 5.819! It was one of the best side-by-side races of the season so far.”
The final round would see Zappia take on the winner of the last championship round, Daniel Gregorini. A .094 to .115 holeshot got the race off to a good start for Zappia and he extended the lead in a 5.732 to 5.783 thriller.
“Wow, two great races in a row and win lights in both — it’s exactly what you want from a night at the track. We were perhaps a little down on power, as we were staying conservative with the motor given we have some big road trips over east coming up. We have a great base underneath us with the Ty Drive and three-speed B&J Transmission, and hopefully the little odd problems we have had are now out of the way.”
Also impressing on track during the night was John’s nephew Brodie Zappia, who got to unleash his Chevy Camaro Super Sedan into the eight-second zone.
“We have it restricted down to try and keep it in Super Sedan for now since he has some points in there racing my ute, but he has already got down to an 8.57!” John said. “I just know that with each run he will get more comfortable in the car and learn more. I know he is eager to move into Top Sportsman, but it would also be great to see him do well in the Super Sedan championship. He is adapting really well and he will be a champion one day, no doubt about it.”
In other news from the Zappia stable, work has begun on preparing the steel-body Zap’s Rat for the Street Outlaws No Prep Kings event in February. There will be more news on this in coming media releases, so stay tuned.
Zappia Racing’s next event will be at Willowbank on January 6-7 followed by Sydney Dragway in February.
Zappia Racing would like to wish all our sponsors, supporters and all track staff and volunteers a very merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous new year.