Zappia celebrates championship win and quick times, despite red light

John Zappia has successfully defended his Direct Mining & Industrial Summer Slam championship after wrapping up the title on Saturday at Perth Motorplex.

Zappia’s Dananni Hotshots/Tony’s Auto Wreckers Monaro Top Doorslammer was in near flawless form, clocking the quickest time of the 2020/21 Summer Slam in what was acclaimed as the season’s best event.

“We came out for the first run, and the car left hard with a 0.975 60 foot and rattled the tyres, so I pedalled and short shifted second and we still came up with a 5.72 at 256mph,” he said.

“We were pretty happy with that as we got our speed back, and we had our tune up closer to where I thought we needed to be. We figured the track would get better and come to the tune up, so we left it the same for the compulsory qualifier and our 60 foot was down, due to the Dananni Hotshots/Tony’s Auto Wreckers Monaro with its fresh Hoosier Tyres sticking to the track and we still went through for a 5.64 at 259mph.
“It seems like the car responded to a few tweaks on the fuel system and it ran four or five mph faster than last time we raced it.”

The top qualifying run was Zappia’s second fastest ever, and one of his quickest, setting up an elimination round encounter with Frank Taylor. After some slow reaction times in qualifying, Zappia was conscious of getting a good light.

“I got all revved up and I needed to get in the zone,” he said. “Frank and I are both clutch cars, so we got the revs up, I moved in, maybe I was a little deeper than normal but not much. I saw the fourth stage light come on, saw the amber lights, released the clutch and bang, I was red by two thousandths.

“Some people might say, well you didn’t need a killer light against the number eight qualifiers. But then Frank runs 5.89 and if you do the maths, if I had either of my reaction times from qualifying I still would have lost the race.

“It goes to show how good the Summer Slam field is right now. Frank had a personal best and appears to have turned his car around, Steve Aldridge was dropping 5.7s back to back. There’s going to be a lot of people chasing this championship next season.”

“We wouldn’t be able to stay at the pointy end of the Championship without the support of our great sponsors. Co-naming rights sponsors Dananni Hotshots and Tony’s Auto Wreckers. Major sponsors Fuchs Lubricants, Crow Cams, Noonan Race Engineering, Striker Crushing and Screening, Shacks Automotive Paints, Motec and Muscle Car Warehouse. Associate sponsors Alky Pro, B&J Racing Transmissions, All Signs, Applied Automotive Performance Engines, Santhuff Struts and Shocks, Reid Rockers, Aurora Bearings, Boninfante Friction Inc, Total Seal Piston Rings, Victory Valves, SDS Fuel Systems, KCraft Bullbars, Taylor Tyres, Avtrac Maintenance Tracking, CIC Competition and Industrial Coatings, Final Drive, Kounis Metal Industries. A big thank you to all our sponsors.

All of the success we share is a credit to the crew that work tirelessly during the weeks leading up to a race meeting and on race day. Thank you to all the crew members that have contributed throughout the year.

There were double championship celebrations for the Zappia family as John’s nephew Brodie secured the Junior Dragster title – as well as the Grand Final event win.

“Congratulations to Brodie on an amazing season, he finished with a huge lead in the points and has impressed us all with his talents at the wheel,” John said.

Photos courtesy of Phil Blondell and Ian Moore