Latest News
Winning the only option for Zappia
John Zappia is approaching the penultimate round of the 2018/19 400 Thunder Pro Slammer Championship with an understanding that nothing short of winning every round will give him the chance of a 12th national title.
Sydney Dragway’s Nitro Thunder will be a make-or-break event for the veteran driver, whose Fuchs/Dananni Hotshots Monaro currently sits second in the points behind New South Welshman Paul Mouhayet.
With just two events left in the series to claw back the 85 point difference, Zappia is leaving nothing on the table.
“I think the car is fresher than it has been for a while,” he said.
“The summer testing we did in Perth showed a few weak links we had and we have basically replaced everything that needed replacing on the car from front to back.
“We are coming to Nitro Thunder with two new Noonan engines and two older engines for spares, along with a four-speed B&J Transmission plus two older three-speeds.”
It was approximately 18 months ago that Zappia ran his personal best time at Sydney Dragway of 5.601 seconds and he would love to be able to return to those performances.
“We probably should have been able to improve from that number since then, but we have been trying lots of different ways to go faster, plus you are always at the mercy of the weather and track conditions,” Zappia said.
“I’d say the track will be pretty good this weekend and we’ve found that the Sydney surface suits the Fuchs/Dananni Hotshots Monaro better than Perth so we are looking forward to seeing what numbers we can put on the readout boards.”
The Pro Slammer championship is very much on the line this weekend, with Zappia aware that only wins will do.
“Paul needs to make some mistakes and we need to not make any,” he said.
“Paul is in the box seat for the championship right now and it is his to lose. We can win both events but we still need other results to fall our way.”
There will be nine entries in total for the Pro Slammer field including not just championship rivals Zappia and Mouhayet, but also Victor Bray, Ben Bray, Michelle Davies, Geoff Gradden, Steven Ham, Mark Hinchelwood and Emilio Spinozzi.
Teams will compete using the ‘all run format’ which means all nine teams will be on track three times on Saturday.
Fans can find full event information at www.sydneydragway.com.au.
Photo: cacklingpipes.com
Latest News History
Zappia resets national record in Sydney
John Zappia reaffirmed his title as the quickest Pro Slammer driver in the country following the second event of the 400 Thunder Series at Sydney Dragway on Saturday. Zappia’s scorching second round run of 5.601 seconds was the quickest official pass ever in Pro Slammer, eclipsing his own 5.635 at the same track earlier this year […]
Zap’s 80 Day Around the World Tour Nets a World Record
A whirlwind ‘80 day’ USA Tour resulted in excellent results, but John Zappia is not finished yet. He is about to jump on a plane back to Perth, Australia to climb into his transporter to drive to Sydney so that he can compete at the second round of Pro Slammer at Sydney Dragway. “We’ve had […]
First round win keeps Zappia happy as Noonan Camaro shows it’s competitive
John Zappia earned his first win light in the USA at the penultimate event of the PDRA season in Benson, North Carolina. After rain ended his race before it began in Tulsa, Oklahoma several weeks previous, Zappia and the Noonan Race Engineering team took the opportunity to make a series of upgrades to their Camaro. […]
Zappia reflects on first USA experience
John Zappia has developed a reputation as one of the most experienced Doorslammer team owner and drivers’ in Australia, but his first race in the USA has seen him coming to grips with a very different experience. Earlier in the year Noonan Race Engineering purchased a new state of the art facility in Spartanburg, South […]
Zap goes 3.69 in the USA
John Zappia has just finished testing in the Noonan Camaro in Tulsa USA and run a 3.69 @ 204.94mph to be the quickest blower car for the day.
Zappia crowned king of the desert
HQ Monaros and the Australian outback make for an iconic combination and John Zappia only further spread the legend with a dominating performance at the Desert Nationals in Alice Springs on the weekend. The Fuchs/Dananni Hotshots Monaro set a new track elapsed time record of 5.79 seconds, a new track speed record of 249mph and […]
Track record a highlight up north for Zappia
A new look for a new season welcomed fans of John Zappia at the opening round of the 400 Thunder Professional Drag Racing Series in Darwin last weekend – Nitro Up North. Australia’s winningest doorslammer is now known as the Fuchs/Dananni Hotshots Monaro with the WA-based trucking firm joining Fuchs Lubricants who been supporting Zappia […]
Few predictions from Zappia for wild Winternationals
An unusually cautious John Zappia is approaching the 50th annual Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway, with one eye on his Fuchs Monaro Pro Slammer and the other on the Queensland sky ahead of the event. With some wet weather possible, Zappia said goal number one is to make a clean pass to get into the field and follow it up with […]