John Zappia, Australia’s quickest Top Doorslammer driver, has won round two of the Slamfest in Portland Victoria last weekend to snatch the lead in the series from rival Peter Kaparis in a thrilling final race.
Slamfest is high excitement eighth mile racing on regional tracks in Australia, where huge local crowds enjoy the quickest Doorslammers trying to get down the unpredictable tracks.
Zappia Racing changed their plans about coming to Portland after getting to the final in round one, and mixing with the Slamfest community.
“It’s great to take the win for Fuchs Lubricants at these regional tracks” said a jubilant Zappia, “Fuchs are the track sponsors down at Portland, and the Fuchs / Striker Crushing Monaro performed well most of the weekend”.
“We missed the first test pass due to finding a bad oil leak from the rear of the motor. It was quick work by the crew after taking out the gearbox and lifting up the engine to change an O-ring behind the motor, and get it all ready for qualifying”.
“On the first pass I had to pedal twice for a 4.193 @ 179.53 mph to gain third qualifier position behind Victor Bray and Peter Kapiris in the list of nine teams”.
“That put us up against Ben Bray in the first eliminator, and that was a nice straight 4.016 @ 185.64 mph, which was under Victor Bray’s 4.07 track record”.
“In the Semi Final up against Grant O’Rourke I had to pedal twice, and the car still went 4.065 @ 183.40 mph and took the win over Grant – who had to abort his run”.
“The final was up against Peter Kapiris, who put Victor away in the Semi. He got the jump on me at the start, and the Crusher went out of the groove – one tyre black tracking and the other shaking. My vision was so blurred early in the run I could hardly see, but once my vision cleared Pete had dropped out of sight, and I drove around him – punched top gear and pulled the car back to the center of the track as I was out to the right”.
“A great win for the team and another track record at 4.015 @ 184.35 mph, and we were also fastest on the day with a 185.64 mph”.
Zappia Racing now head back on a high for the Westernationals – Round three of the ANDRA Pro Series Top Doorslammer Championship – at the Perth Motorplex, where Zap is keen to climb back up from third position on the ladder on 118 points. Kapiris leads with 160 points over Victor Bray on 122 points.
“We are on the money with our tune at the moment and making plenty of horsepower – so we look forward to the Westernationals on the 2nd and 3rd of March”.
Fans can watch the Portland Slamfest in Western Australia on Sunday 24th Feb 2013 at 11.30 am – Eastern States fans check your local guides.
Photo by Tom Dowden
