20 May 2011

At the 2010 Castrol EDGE Winternationals the Top Doorslammer ANDRA Pro Series Championship fight came down to nine points and two racers, with John Zappia and Robin Judd taking the battle all the way to the very last run of the season.

In 2011, while the contenders may have larger point buffers between, there are more of them – with four racers to head to the June 10-13 event at Willowbank Raceway very much in the fight for the national championship title.

Reigning and three time Top Doorslammer champion Zappia heads up the points table, with a 53 point lead over second placed young-gun Mark Belleri, who is being chased by Maurice Fabietti and Judd.

“Anything can happen, basically we just have to focus on getting there and making sure we qualify and that we do it as early as possible so we can eliminate that potential issue, and once that is done then we can turn our attention to going rounds,” said Zappia.

“If we win the first round, then Belleri has to win the event to make a go of the title, and we personally find that once you are past the first round things start to fall into place and it gets easier, so that is what we will be looking to do.

“The Belleri team is quite capable and I have lost a championship to them before when I got caught out by weather and didn’t qualify for the final event, and they were able to go on and win it and take the title.

“Steve Stanic was driving for the team then, and while Mark hasn’t got as much experience as Steve he can cut pretty good lights, and they have the car running well, so we still can’t afford to give anything away.

“If we can get it done this will be our fourth consecutive Top Doorslammer championship, and my second driving Craig Pedley’s (of Striker Crushing and Screening) ‘Crusher’ car, and I have to say thanks to him for letting me drive it!”

Mark Belleri is only in his first full series of competition, yet already has an event win over Zappia to his name and is the most likely contender to upset Zappia’s parade just 53 points shy of the leader.

“To be 53 points shy of John Zappia in my debut season…it is pretty cool, and a shock to be honest!” laughed Belleri.

“We didn’t expect to be in contention at the end of our first season, we would have been happy to go to every event and qualify, and then if we could go a few rounds here and there that would have been a good season.

“So far we have qualified at every race and gone on to the semi-finals at every meeting, so really its been a dream season for us.

“As far as the title goes, you have to qualify before you can do anything. So first off we will just try and qualify, and then we will take it from there and if on finals day we are in contention and it falls into place, well anything is possible!”

“Zappia is a absolute legend, with all of the passes he has done, how fast he is, he is the man we all want to beat and the man we all want to be really!

“As a low budget team to even be mentioned in the same sentence as him and all of the other big-name major-backed guys is just amazing for us, and I really have to thank Narrabeen Smash Repairs, Marco Steel, my dad Lucky for letting me drive his car, and Steve Stanic and all the crew – as we couldn’t be in this situation without them.”

Zappia currently sits on 441 points, Belleri on 388 points, Fabietti on 361 points (-81 from Zappia) and Judd is on 338 points (-101 from Zappia). They will be joined on track at the season-ending Castrol EDGE Winternationals by the rest of the ANDRA Pro Series ranks – including the 7000 horespower Top Fuelers, Top Alcohol, Top Bike, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle alongside the racers of the Rocket All Stars Racing Series sportsman categories, with in excess of 500 racers set to hit the Willowbank Raceway quarter-mile across Friday June 10 to Monday June 13.

The Castrol EDGE Winternationals is an entertainment extravaganza held annually across the Queen’s Birthday weekend and is expected to provide an economic injection of millions of dollars into the South East Queensland region.

Children aged 13 and under are able to gain free admission to the Raceway during the Castrol EDGE Winternationals, and students with ID are able to gain discounted entry. One-day, two-day and full-event passes are all available – for more information, to purchase tickets and for schedules, please visit www.willowbankraceway.com.au

Willowbank Raceway is Queensland’s premier drag racing facility, hosting year-round racing including four ANDRA Pro Series rounds per year including the Castrol EDGE Winternationals. For more information, please visit www.willowbankraceway.com.au/

EVENT INFORMATION: CASTROL EDGE WINTERNATIONALS

Feature racing: Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Top Alcohol, Pro Stock, Top Bike, Pro Stock Motorcycle

Also racing from: Lifestyle Floorcoverings Competition, Lifestyle Floorcoverings Super Stock, Super Compact, Competition Bike, Allstar Batteries Supercharged Outlaws, Knijff Earthmoving Modified, Powercruise Super Sedan, Speed Elec/Prime Signs Super Street, Modified Bike, Donnelly Blasting Services Junior Dragster and Neptunes Pool Care Super Gas.

Schedule
(Approximate and subject to change – visit www.willowbankraceway.com.au
for updates)
Friday June 10
On-track qualifying action from 9.00am – approximately 7.30pm
Pro Stock Qualifying at 5.00pm

Saturday June 11
On-track action from 8.00am – approximately 8.00pm
ANDRA Pro Series Qualifying from 12.00pm – approximately 5.30pm

Sunday June 12
On-track action from 8.30am – approximately 6.30pm
ANDRA Pro Series Qualifying from 12 noon – approximately 5.30pm

Monday June 13
On-track action from 8.30am – approximately 4.30pm
Opening Ceremonies – 10.30am
ANDRA Pro Series racing at 11.00am, 1.15pm and all finals from 2.45pm

Ticketing – tickets available for purchase from www.willowbankraceway.com.au

NB: General Admission = access to the spectator mound and paddock area
NB: Multi-day passes are available for pre-purchase through the Willowbank Raceway website only, no at-gate purchase of multi-day passes will be available

General Admission Tickets:

One-day passes:
Friday June 10 – Adult General Admission- $20.00
Friday June 10 – Student/Concession General Admission (Must show ID) – $20.00
Saturday June 11 – Adult General Admission – $50.00
Saturday June 11 – Student/Concession General Admission (Must show ID) – $42.00
Sunday June 12 – Adult General Admission – $50.00
Sunday June 12 – Student/Concession General Admission (Must show ID) – $42.00
Monday June 12 – Adult General Admission – $50.00
Monday June 12 – Student/Concession General Admission (Must show ID) – $42.00

Two-day General admission pass (available in Saturday/Sunday or Sunday/Monday format):
Adult – $90.00
Student/Concession (must show ID) – $75.00

Three-day General admission pass, including complimentary Friday General Admission:
Adult – $140.00
Student/Concession (must show ID) – $110.00

Reserved seating (price DOES NOT include admission), available for Saturday, Sunday and Monday:
Startline Club – $16.00 per day
Grandstand – $12.00 per day

For information on corporate options at the Castrol EDGE Winternationals, please visit http://www.willowbankraceway.com.au/