summer rain
SA Summer Nationals
Adelaide International Raceway
3-4 DECEMBER
The SA Summer Nationals
began in glorious early summer
weather but come race day, the
skies opened and put an end to
eliminations before one hit of
the throttle.
At least Saturday qualifying was a great day out with Top
Doorslammer, Pro Stock and the Summit Racing Equipment
Sportsman Series enjoying three and in some cases four
sessions.
TOP DOORSLAMMER
At the end of the night, John Zappia occupied the number
#1 qualifying position for Top Doorslammer with a fourth
and final qualifier scheduled for Sunday.
Zappia, who previously catapulted his Fuchs Holden Monaro
into the 4.80s at AIR, managed to post a 4.996 at 216.86 mph
over the 1000 feet race distance in hot conditions before
temperatures cooled into the evening.
Zappia who lead once again from Grant O’Rourke with a
5.147, Mark Belleri with a 5.175 and Mark Chapman, who went
deep into the sand at the end of the strip in Q2, on a 5.282.
“The first and second run the car went pretty well,” said
Zappia. “It rattled a bit going into second gear so I had to
pedal it a bit in second, got going again and then backed off
too early – I couldn’t work out where the 1000 foot finish line
was once I got disorientated.
lighting up
the lense b
Photos by Bob Taylor, Cackling Pipes
“We came out for
the second run and
pretty much left the
set up the same but
the car launched
harder and went a
.987 second 60 foot
time. And it went
2.58 seconds to 330
feet with a little
pedal just as I got
into second gear
but very minor.
“It was going really
well but I shut off
way early and only
went 205 mph. We
worked out that run would have been a 4.89 (second pass).
They put a marker at the finish line that was flashing so I
finally got a visual of where I needed to be. We put new
tyres on for the last one, it gripped harder and rattled and
went left and just got the centre line.”
PRO STOCK
SUPER COMP
Lee Bektash set the early pace in Pro Stock with a 6.050
second pass in Q1 followed by a 6.009 in Q2.
Five racers , Jamie Chaisty (H/MSA), Michael Caroscio
(C/MSA), Craig Geddes (B/D), Darren Parker (B/APA) and
Daniel Camilleri (DD/GA) all went under their respective
classes 1000 foot National Records in Super Comp.
In the same session, it was Chris Soldatos who recorded a
5.983 second pass at 171.20 mph holding firm through the
final qualifier to lead the field.
“That (second) run felt alright, the car moved around a
fair bit,” said Soldatos.
“We got down there alright, we’re trying to sort out the
new clutch and it looks like we’re finally going to get
there. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.
b
“Tonight we were pretty lucky to get down there but
tomorrow is another day.”
Bektash ended the day in second place from Joe Polito
on a 6.076, Bill Kotsias with a 6.358 and Gerry Parente fifth
with a 6.924
Chaisty top qualified going a whopping .579 seconds
under his H/MSA index to jump from third to first in his
final run.
Carsocio pushed hard in his last outing going .522 seconds
under the C/MSA index but as conditions cooled Chaisty
had the benefit of the penultimate Super Comp pass and
it played into his hands perfectly.
“We knew the conditions and track would get better at
night,” said Chaisty. “We didn’t think we’d take Geddes
off but that’s pretty good, it puts us in a good position
tomorrow and hopefully we have a good day.
“It’s pretty tough this weekend. You have Parker, Daniel
(Camilleri) and all these guys so it’s a really good field