Judd takes lead in Australian Top Doorslammer Championship

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Judd takes lead in Australian Top Doorslammer Championship

The third round of the 09/10 ANDRA Pro Series Top Doorslammer Championship was held at the 38th annual Goldenstates at the Perth Motorplex.

Top Doorslammer features some of the fastest cars in Australia, a diverse range of car bodies, big smoky burnouts and very quick and close racing, making it a fan favourite in Australian Drag Racing.

The two biggest names in Top Doorslammer are John Zappia and Robin Judd. Back to back Australian Champion Zappia has dominated in his HQ Monaro, affectionately referred to as Zap’s Rat, and was the first Doorslammer in the fives. Judd followed Zappia into the fives in his Studebaker and the two have come up against each other in numerous finals. The consistency of these two competitors is unmatched and going into the Goldenstates they were the only two Doorslammers running 5.8 second passes.

Zappia looked set to dominate again in the 09/10 season, running 5.8 second passes at the first round, until the finals of that event where the car crossed the centre line and hit the wall hard on the other side of the track, ending up on two wheels against it. Thankfully he walked out without a scratch, but Zap’s Rat wasn’t so lucky. The Team faced a massive effort to transport the car home, rebuild it and then transport it back across the country before the second round to be held only five weeks later.

Amazingly Zap’s rat was ready in time and he made it all the way to the final only to be beaten by Judd, who took his first win in Australia’s quickest side-by-side Doorslammer pass. This meant that going into the Goldenstates the two rivals shared the lead of the Top Doorslammer Championship, though Judd went in with an edge having won the previous championship round and broken the elapsed time record when he ran a 5.822 at the Motorplex only two weeks previously. Zap’s rat would be sitting out the Goldenstates with Zappia campaigning the new ‘Crusher’ HQ Monaro, owned by Striker Crushing and Screening Director Craig Pedley, for the event.

With twelve cars vying for a spot in the top eight the pressure was on during Friday night qualifying. Without much rubber down in the first qualifying session Zappia was the only competitor into the fives. In the second session he was joined by Maurice Fabietti in the new liveried Holden Trade Club Monaro, who ran a 5.844, his first 5.8 second pass which saw him top qualify and become the new leader in the chase for the Championship. Judd’s Studebaker was the only other Doorslammer into the fives with a 5.857 in the third and final qualifying session. After the three rounds the eight qualifiers were split by almost four tenths of a second.

During Saturday night eliminations top qualifier Fabietti defeated Abel in the first round with Abel not recording a time. Victor Bray, who had set a personal best elapsed time during qualifying the night before, was easily defeated by Peter Kapiris who ran a 6.115/234mph. Robin Judd cruised to victory, defeating Adam Croker in his new Camaro, with a 5.900/243mph. The shock of the night came when Zappia was defeated by Ben Bray, who ran a personal best of 5.880 to defeat Zappia’s 5.834, with his quicker reaction time of 0.087 seconds netting him a holeshot victory.

In the second round of eliminations Fabietti defeated Kapiris with a 5.968/241mph. Ben Bray, the newest member of the 5.8 second club, was up against the club’s founding member, Judd, in the semi-finals. Judd was able to easily cruise to victory with a 5.909/243mph, with shake from Bray’s Monaro putting an end to it being a close race.

With Judd against Fabietti the final would decide the new Top Doorslammer Championship leader. Each of the competitors had won a round in the current season and were capable of running 5.8 second passes so fans were anticipating an exciting final. In the end though Judd took the win on a solo pass after Fabietti elected to shut the car off after experiencing an engine problem during the burnout. This awarded Judd a clear lead over Fabietti in the 09/10 Top Doorslammer Championship, with Zappia slipping back to third.

The next round of ANDRA Pro Series Top Doorslammer will be held at the Summernationals at Western Sydney International Dragway (WSID) in February 2010. by Chelsea woods www.girlracer.co.uk