Doorslamme
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Top Doorslammer made it’s way to Alice Springs for the very first
time in July joining the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman
Series at the Desert Nationals.
Alice Springs Inland Dragway has recently seen Government
funded upgrades to imropvoe the facility to an international
standard quarter mile. But unfortunately on this occasion, the
cool Desert conditions saw the event shortened back to the
eighth mile for everything but Super Sedan, Modified Bike and
Super Street.
That decision was justified when a two-car smash marred the
first session of Doorslammer qualifying. Local Andrew Sutton got
crossed up hitting the left hand wall before careening across the
track in front of Rob Taylor who spun out’ avoiding the wayward
Corvette and tagging the wall. Sutton was shaken but both drivers
were checked by medical crews and given the all clear.
John Zappia would go on sweep Top Doorslammer - top qualifying
and taking the event victory whilst also resetting the track speed
(193.97mph) and elapsed time (3.966s) eighth-mile distance
records in the process.
The journey to the final was marked by plenty of exciting racing,
starting with the very first round.
In that session there were plenty of gasps elicited from the crowd,
with Zappia starting off his chase of the track records with a win
against Matt Abel including what was then the fastest speed on
the ASID track.
Rookie racer Sam Fenech also impressed, taking out a round one
win against drag racing legend Victor Bray. Bray’s son Ben had
better luck when it came to making it past the first round with a
win over Mark Belleri, while Grant O’Rourke triumphed over Mark
Chapman.
The semi-final would see Zappia matched up with Fenech, while
Benny ‘the kid’ Bray took on O’Rourke to proceed to a finals
match-up against the defending and nine-time champion.
The West Australian would pip the Queenslander in a close race,
with his 3.966s at 193.97 mph effort resetting the track records.
While Zappia would cross the line first after Bray bested his
reaction time, Bray was never far behind - traversing the eighthmile distance in just 4.073 seconds at 187.50 miles per hour.
“It feels absolutely fantastic to take the win, this follows a lot of
effort from a lot of people,” said Zappia.
“We have a new Noonan Racing engine in the car and we showed
potential with one good run in Darwin. We came here though
with a different mindset, looking to make the car consistent so
lighting up b
the lense
Photos by: Grant Stephens – Cackling Pipes