For the Australian driver, John Zappia, the driver with the most number of five second passes, it was quite strange for him not to run any but he did make it to the semi-finals where he faced Ben Bray who laid a holeshot on him and then his early Monaro got out near the left hand wall and his 6.08 was not enough to reel in a better reacting 6.10. Still as he had already sewn up the Australian Championship it wasn’t such a bad day at the office.
The first round of Top Doorslammer saw Gary Phillips face John Zappia and on the green Phillips (in the right lane) speared straight across the centreline almost hitting Zap’s Monaro that was experiencing tyre shake of its own. Amazingly the veteran driver moved over near the wall allowing Phillips to regather his composure and then move back to his own lane after the finish-line. After they pulled to a stop Phillips went over to the Monaro and offered Zappia his hand to ensure everything was AOK.
Prior to the first round of Top Doorslammer Ben Bray (on the right) checked out the track surface with one of his crew. The second generation driver who the night before had run a personal best time of 5.92 seconds must have found the track to his liking as he went on to win the bracket.