Zabiri opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour when goalkeeper MatĂas Dituro lost control of the ball at his feet, allowing the 21-year-old to nip in and finish into an empty net.
He doubled Racing Santander's lead five minutes later after a defensive mix-up between David Affengruber and Pedro Bigas, and completed his treble before the break with an acrobatic finish from an Ăñigo Vicente cross. Elche pulled two goals back in the closing stages to make for an uncomfortable finish, but Racing held on for their first win of the season.
Elche head coach MartĂn Anselmi offered no excuses afterwards.
"It's impossible not to compete the way we did in the first half," the Argentine said, insisting his side cannot afford to give away such a costly opening period in a competition where so much is at stake in every match. He felt the second-half reaction was the right response, but that it had come far too late.
"We can't give away the first 45 minutes like that - we reacted too late, and there are things to correct," he said.
Asked about switching to two forwards after the break, Anselmi was keen to stress the improvement went beyond tactics alone: "More than anything, we found a different way to compete. I don't want to put it down only to the tactical side."
He confirmed Elche could still make further additions before the transfer window closes, saying the market remained open and that things could still happen, though his focus for now was on matches rather than incomings. He added that his current squad's lack of positional flexibility limits his options for in-game adjustments - a pointed hint that reinforcements are still needed.
Racing coach José Alberto López was satisfied with the bulk of the performance but frustrated by how it nearly slipped away.
"We had a good first period, almost up to the 75th minute, but we had one bad spell that I'm not happy about," he said, describing an otherwise good overall display undermined by too much late suffering. He admitted he could not fully explain the late collapse: "We had the game under control, then a deflected goal got them back into it. We don't know how to see out a result."
JosĂ© Alberto also gave an update on AndrĂ©s MartĂn, who was substituted with a possible knee problem, saying it could be something in the knee and that tests would be needed to confirm the extent of the issue.
On the impact of Zabiri, signed from Morocco this summer, the coach was delighted.
"I was looking for a forward with different characteristics. I told him he could get in behind their defenders, and he did exactly that. I hope he can give us more," José Alberto said, adding that patience would be needed as the young striker continues to settle in and that the club needed to keep helping him improve.