The Perth Motorplex hosted the opening round of the Summer Slam series for Western Australia's Top Doorslammer field, with eight teams contesting the WA Drag Racing Championship.

Qualifying

Zappia opened with a wheel-standing, pedaled 5.881 at 405.12 km/h (251.73 mph) in the non-compulsory session under sunny conditions and an 8-knot headwind. In the compulsory 6 pm qualifier, he secured the top spot with a 5.855 at 403.83 km/h (250.93 mph).

Behind him, Mark Chapman entered the five-second club with a 5.972 at 378.82 km/h (235.39 mph), followed by Daniel Gregorini on 5.997 at 389.77 km/h (242.19 mph), Steve Aldridge on 6.151 at 385.39 km/h (239.47 mph), Pino Priolo on 6.218 at 386.81 km/h (240.35 mph), and Ryan Morseby on 6.543 at 313.24 km/h (194.64 mph).

Two new Top Doorslammers made their first appearance at Perth Motorplex: Kelvin Lyle's Mustang and Frank Taylor's Chevelle, both completing licensing half-passes. Tracey De Jager also returned for licensing runs with a new engine combination in Nitrous Nana.

Eliminations

First-round winners were Zappia with a pedaled 5.794 at 408.67 km/h (252.69 mph), Chapman with a 7.079 after both competitors smoked the tyres on launch, and Gregorini with a 5.896 at 390.00 km/h (242.33 mph).

In the B Final, Chapman backed up his earlier five-second pass, defeating Aldridge's personal-best 6.086 at 389.54 km/h (242.05 mph) with a 5.990 at 390.04 km/h (242.36 mph).

A Final: Track Record Reset

Zappia met Gregorini in the A Final. Gregorini had the advantage on the tree with a 0.058-second reaction to Zappia's 0.094, but overpowered the track. Zappia drove through tyre shake at the top of first gear with a quick pedal, shifted, and let the car pull through second and third to reset the track speed record: 5.717 at 412.6 km/h (256.38 mph).

"The car shook the tyres at the top of first gear, so I did the quickest of pedals with the throttle and shifted gears. I could feel it pulling so hard. The shift light came up very quickly in second and again in third and I knew it was on a mission." - John Zappia

"The Fuchs Monaro had some serious power today with the weather being so cold and good air. The car has been wheel standing a lot in first gear, then will start to tyre shake, and I had to pedal on each run including the 5.794 run - pretty amazing really to go that quick with a pedal." - John Zappia

Speedmaster Connection

Zappia noted his recent visit to the United States for the SEMA Show, where he met with Speedmaster and other sponsors including Aeromotive, Aurora Bearing Company, and Reid Rockers, before attending the NHRA Finals at Pomona. The Fuchs Monaro runs Speedmaster components as part of its screw-blown hemi combination, alongside an Aeromotive fuel pump in only its second race meeting of service.

What's Next

Zappia Racing heads to Round 3 of the ANDRA Top Doorslammer Championship at the Summer Nationals, Adelaide International Raceway, 3-4 December. The team returns to Perth Motorplex on Boxing Day (26 December) ahead of the Golden States and Westernationals meetings in February and March.