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STEVENS TOP DOG AS ZAPPIA MAKES IT IN ON LAST PASS |
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Brett Stevens grabbed the pole position in Top Doorslammer last night |
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 John Zappia waited until the final pass in Top Doorslammer to get into the field after a drama packed evening setting up an unbelievable series of first round match ups today. |
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| Saturday event report by Simon Cope: Brett Stevens and Robin Judd opened qualifying for the ever popular Top Doorslammer bracket here at the Perth Motorplex. A 6.53 for Judd, Brett turns the tires hard off the line, tries to recover and there’s a small pop as the burst panel lets go around half track. Steve Stanic and Gary Phillips make the second pairing, both these teams coming off good performances at the last event in Sydney, both cars out hard and it side by side all the way to the finish line and it’s a 6.26 for Stanic and a 6.19 for Phillips. Benny Bray and Maurice Fabietti made it a battle of the Monaro’s, both immaculately presented, good strong burnouts from this pair, quickly into stage and both cars leave hard. It’s straight down the track for both and a 6.11 for Bray and a 6.15 for Fabietti to move them into the first and second spots. Victor Bray and Gary Stevens make up the fourth pair down the track, both these teams can run good numbers but haven’t had the consistency of late so this will be interesting. Victor has trouble staging though and rolls through the beams so he’s off early on what looks a lot quicker than the 6.24 up on the boards, Gary has problems of his own though as the car heads to the wall around the 300’ mark, scrapes the headers and the chute comes out. Kath Stevens and Peter Kapiris in the second last pairing for round one, Kath coming off a world record 5 second pass at the Sydney event but the question everyone has is will the tune-up work here, Kapiris well overdue for a turnaround. Loads of clutch dust out of Kath’s Falcon and it’s a 6.25, Kapiris will be happy though with a 6.11. Local favourite John Zappia and Steve Packman round out the bracket, Zappia keen to take the event and put the Championship within his grasp so they may play it safe this weekend, Zappia is a bit loose tough and takes out the 660’ blocks on the way to a very loose 5.98, it won’t count though as he crossed the centreline, Packman in the other lane runs a last looking 6.83. Here’s how the order looked going into the second qualifier: 1. Ben Bray 6.110 2. Peter Kapiris 6.111 3. Maurice Fabietti 6.158 4. Gary Phillips 6.194 5. Victor Bray 6.242 6. Kath Stevens 6.255 7. Steve Stanic 6.266 8. Robin Judd 6.532 Top Doorslammer Qualifying Round 2 Gary Phillips and Brett Stevens out first for the second qualifier, Stevens will be looking to get into the field this pass, Phillips currently in 4th spot but he’ll be looking to improve to make sure he stays in the top half of the field. Both cars out hard and Phillips is all over the lane, Stevens powers past as Phillips aborts and he powers on down track for a 6.02! Looks like he’s hurt something down in the braking area but they will be happy nonetheless. Gary Stevens and Ben Bray out next, Gary will be looking to get into the field here also, Benny currently in number 2 after Brett’s awesome pass. Both cars out hard but they start turning the tires past 60’ and have to peddle hard and it’ll be a 6.72 for Gary and a 11.62 for Ben and neither improves. Robin Judd and Steve Stanic take a shot now, Judd was bumped from the field by Stevens so he needs a good number this pass, Stanic is currently on the bump so he will want to step up also. Judd out hard, Stanic not far behind but he has to peddle about 150’ and it hurts with a 7.51 but look at Juddy go, it’s straight into 2nd spot with a 6.08 and he bumps Stanic from the field. Fabietti and Kath Stevens make the next pairing, Kath now on the bump, Fabietti sitting in 5th spot now, hard leaves in both lanes but Kath has her hands full as the car bucks all over the track, Fabietti meanwhile improves with a 6.14 but it doesn’t change the order, and Kath rolls through for a 10.96. Steve Packman and Victor Bray in the second last pairing for round 2, Packman on the outside and Victor currently in seventh spot so these guys need to perform well if they want to race tomorrow, both leave well and it looks good but the second half isn’t so fast and it’s a 6.20 for Packman who bumps Kath from the field, Victor improves with a 6.21 but he’s now in eighth. Peter Kapiris and John Zappia round out the field, Zappia looking to slot into the top half of the field, Kapiris currently around the middle of the field. As expected both cars out hard but Zappia is all over the track and aborts, Kapiris has to peddle as well and doesn’t improve. This is how the qualifying order looks after round 2: 1. Brett Stevens 6.027 2. Robin Judd 6.088 3. Ben Bray 6.110 4. Peter Kapiris 6.111 5. Maurice Fabietti 6.140 6. Gary Phillips 6.194 7. Steve Packman 6.204 8. Victory Bray 6.216 Top Doorslammer Qualifying Round 3 Well here it is, all out now for the final qualifier. Peter Kapiris out first up with Kath Stevens, Peter on number 4 but Kath looking to get into this field, both leave hard but Kath starts turning the tires at the 300’ mark and has to peddle the car so won’t be racing tomorrow, in the other lane Kapiris moves into third position with a well earned 6.09. Robin Judd and Steve Packman in the second pairing, Packman knows his #7 spot is in jeopardy so will be looking to move up, Judd currently number 2 but they are keen to improve the times, Judd launches like a rocket and it’s an improved 6.07, Packmen looks like it’s eating the clutch a bit with lots of dust out the back and it’s a 6.36 which doesn’t help his position. Third pairing will be Fabietti and Brett Stevens, both card looking very tough and they leave well, looks like Fabietti has puts the rods out though down track and slows to a 9.07 with oil down in the braking area, in the other lane Stevens runs another 6.0 to show they are onto the tuneup this weekend, this one 6.06. After a quick cleanup we have Gary Stevens and Ben Bray with their last qualifying shot, Gary still on the outside and will need at least a 6.20, they’ve overdone it though and it gets very loose at the 300’ mark so he aborts for a 10.95 to end the weekend, Benny though powers through for a 6.05 to move into #2 position. Steve Stanic and Victor Bray, Stanic needs to get into this field and Victor is on the bump so this should be a great lap, Stanic a little squirrelly though in the cooling conditions and only manages a 6.30, Victor moves up to #6 with a 6.18. Zappia and Phillips make the final pairing for Top Doorslammer qualifying, Zappia needs to put in a 6.1 here to be safely into the field, Phillips can’t be bumped out now but he’ll be looking to get into the top half of the field, both cars hard anf fast and it’s a 6.028 for Zappia and straight into #2 position and a 6.184 for Phillips who now sits in #8 position. Top Bike Qualifying Round 1 Troy Mclean and Mark Drew open qualifying for Top Bike, good strong burnouts from both these Nitro Harleys, into stage and a good leave, both sounding strong and it’s a solid 6.80 for Mclean and a 6.66 for Drew. Jay Upton out next with Ian Ashelford in the other lane, Upton still struggling to get on top of the tuneup for this new engine, Ashelford has made some progress over the last season with his Harley. The Harley is out first but Upton flies past by 60’ and it’s looking good until 330’ when the noise goes out on both bikes and they roll through for an 8.16 for Upton and a 9.90 for Ashelford. Our third pairing is Mark Ashelford on the other Attitude Racing machine up against Neville Smith, Ashelford putting in some much improved performances over the last season and it shows with a 6.97 for Mark and a 7.39 for Smith. Kiwi Athol Williams and Brett Stevens will close out the first Qualifier for Top Bike, this is Athol’s second event here at the Motorplex so they are expecting some good runs and do not disappoint with a 6.66 to Steven’s 6.80 on the Jack Daniels machine. Here’s the Qualifying list after Round 1: 1. Athol Williams 6.662 2. Mark Drew 6.669 3. Troy Mclean 6.806 4. Brett Stevens 6.809 5. Mark Ashelford 6.971 6. Neville Smith 7.391 7. Jay Upton 8.163 8. Ian Ashelford 9.909 Top Bike Qualifying Round 2 With eight entrants in an eight bike field this will be a chase for the top qualifying points tonight. Out first are Neville Smith and Athol Williams, Athol currently top qualifier but a number of the Harleys here tonight could go faster7.78 and Athol Williams 6.96 Mark Drew pairs up with Mark Ashelford for the second pair, both will be keen to stay in the top half of the field, both leave clean on the green but Drew starts turning the tires and has to get of the throttle to calm the bike down resulting in a 7.84, Ashelford improves with a 6.88 Third pairing sees Ian Ashelford paired with Troy Mclean, Ashelford will be looking to improve on the first round, Mclean currently in third spot, both bikes sound healthy as they leave but Ashelford’s bike seems to struggle a bit and it’s an improved 8.05 to Mclean’s 6.75. Brett Stevens and Jay Upton close out the round, Upton needing to improve but still not confident on the tuneup. Good flames from both bikes as the leave and Upton keeps it alive to half track before shutting it off for a 7.60, Brett however is in all sorts of trouble in the other lane and it’s a 10.29. This is how the qualifying order looks at the end of the second round: 1. Athol Williams 6.662 2. Mark Drew 6.669 3. Troy Mclean 6.758 4. Brett Stevens 6.809 5. Mark Ashelford 6.882 6. Jay Upton 7.602 7. Neville Smith 7.785 8. Ian Ashelford 8.057 Top Bike Qualifying Round 3 Mark Drew out first with a solo but doesn’t improve his position with a 6.87 Upton and Mclean in the second pairing, Upton yet to put in a full pass, Mclean in #3 position, Upton out fast but it’s mixing up cylinders past half track and he gives it a couple of stabs through the line for a 7.12, Mclean improves with a 6.663 to go into #3 position. Athol Williams and Ian Ashelford in the third pairing, both bikes look strong off the line and it’s a 6.83 for Athol, Ian improves massively with a 6.84 to move to #5. Mark Ashelford and Brett Stevens round out Top Bike, the Nitro Harleys have really upped the ante here at this meet with 6 bikes consistently in the 6s, both out well and it’s another improved 6.80 for Ashelford and a 6.86 for Stevens. Top Doorslammer and Top Bike elimination rounds are at 6, 8 and 10pm tonight. Further event information below. |
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| Click HERE for Complete Westernationals Entrant list Click HERE for Interstate only Entrants list Click HERE for Event information Click HERE for Kath Stevens story Click HERE for Jack Daniels Racing Nitro Bike story |
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