John Zappia left Perth Motorplex a very happy man on Sunday night after winning the 40th annual Westernationals and taking the points lead in the Top Doorslammer national championship.
Zappia was on song throughout the event, recording the quickest pass of qualifying, a 5.82sec., and then going on to defeat fellow Western Australian Marty Dack, New South Wales’ Mark Belleri (with a low ET 5.807) and then another Sydneysider, Maurice Fabietti, in the final.
As the reigning champion in the ANDRA Pro Series, Zappia has had a tough season but with his status now restored at the top of the standings he can go on to fight for a fourth consecutive championship win.
The eight car eliminations field was the quickest ever in Australia, with a 6.06sec. time required just to qualify.
The wild Top Bikes also turned on a quality show with the Northern Territory’s Troy McLean using a 6.92 time in the final to defeat Gnangara’s Mark Drew.
Drew was the favourite going into the race but a fault with the fuel system in the final meant his nitro-fuelled Harley was only running on one cylinder and he shut the bike down soon after launching.
The top qualifier, Queensland’s Chris Matheson, looked to have a massive edge on the field given his 6.23sec. time in qualifying but in the first round it all went awry when he took a victory over Terry Burnett only to have two valves drop in the motor, leaving him unable to return for the semi finals.
As a result McLean and Matheson are now neck and neck in the points.
Jeffrey Clarke enjoyed a great event, securing a win and a new national record in Comp. The victory came over Clarke’s Hogs Breath Cafe Racing team mate, John McSweeney, who made the final in just his second event with a new Funny Car.
Tony Caroscio took out Super Stock when Nick Karantonis had to be shut down with a leak in the final.
Kevin Gummow went two tenths under the national record in his final pass against Neil Anderson for the win in Competition Bike.
Other winners included Greg Byrne in Supercharged Outlaws, Laurence Adamos in Modified, Troy Gasperi in Super Sedan, Joe Bertolini in Modified Bike, Blake Jeffreys in Super Street and Jake Donnelly in Junior Dragster.
The full report with photos and all the gossip will be on Drag News Australia in coming days.
