Lucky SOB escapes with only a cut finger
Sep 17, 2007 | 09:00 PM
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Lucky SOB escapes with only a cut finger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-q_B...3Dpublic%5Frss
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...rom=public_rss
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...rom=public_rss
PHILIP Lamattina's spectacular effort at Willowbank near Ipswich on Saturday night has already assumed legend status among Australia's drag racing fraternity.
He miraculously escaped unscathed from the 500km/h smash that destroyed his $250,000 Top Fuel dragster.
Lamattina was yesterday nursing just a small cut on his left hand and armed with one hell of a story.
Watch the video (scroll down for rest of story):
The Victorian was competing in the final qualifying session of the Australian drag racing national championships when the front of his dragster broke off.
The chassis, containing Lamattina in the driver's canopy, flew 10m above the track and cartwheeled through the air, landing 150m away where it struck the track's safety barrier in a ball of flame.
After that impact, the wrecked chassis skidded across the track, smashing into the opposite barrier, then slid to a halt 500m from where it first broke apart.
The dragster was in the air as it passed the track's finish line but debris from the accident tripped the finish line beams of the 400m race track at 4.68sec.
Lamattina, a father of two, has been racing in the professional Top Fuel category for eight months.
He said yesterday that stress and fatigue occurs in all drag racing vehicles, in particular the 7000hp Top Fuelers.
"It just broke the chassis when the car was on a really strong pass and I felt it lift (in the air) but it all happened so quickly I didn't really know what was going on," Lamattina said.
"The cars are designed to do exactly what mine did on Saturday night – break up but keep the driver in the main canopy, and I'm still here today because of that safety factor in the sport. I always had confidence in the safety of the car."
Lamattina admitted, nonetheless, that he was very lucky to have survived such a horrendous crash.
"After it went up in the air I thought, 'oh this is trouble' but that's about all I remember of it. When I saw the footage of the crash today, I still couldn't really believe that it was me in that car. Today I'm just a bit sore across the shoulders and back, but no more so than after a hard day's work.
Lamattina, who with his brothers and father, runs Lamattina Farms, Australia's largest carrot producer, said his father had constantly urged him to replace the dragster's chassis.
"Well, I had to ring Dad and tell him I had the crash and that I was OK, but it certainly looks like he was right about the chassis."
He miraculously escaped unscathed from the 500km/h smash that destroyed his $250,000 Top Fuel dragster.
Lamattina was yesterday nursing just a small cut on his left hand and armed with one hell of a story.
Watch the video (scroll down for rest of story):
The Victorian was competing in the final qualifying session of the Australian drag racing national championships when the front of his dragster broke off.
The chassis, containing Lamattina in the driver's canopy, flew 10m above the track and cartwheeled through the air, landing 150m away where it struck the track's safety barrier in a ball of flame.
After that impact, the wrecked chassis skidded across the track, smashing into the opposite barrier, then slid to a halt 500m from where it first broke apart.
The dragster was in the air as it passed the track's finish line but debris from the accident tripped the finish line beams of the 400m race track at 4.68sec.
Lamattina, a father of two, has been racing in the professional Top Fuel category for eight months.
He said yesterday that stress and fatigue occurs in all drag racing vehicles, in particular the 7000hp Top Fuelers.
"It just broke the chassis when the car was on a really strong pass and I felt it lift (in the air) but it all happened so quickly I didn't really know what was going on," Lamattina said.
"The cars are designed to do exactly what mine did on Saturday night – break up but keep the driver in the main canopy, and I'm still here today because of that safety factor in the sport. I always had confidence in the safety of the car."
Lamattina admitted, nonetheless, that he was very lucky to have survived such a horrendous crash.
"After it went up in the air I thought, 'oh this is trouble' but that's about all I remember of it. When I saw the footage of the crash today, I still couldn't really believe that it was me in that car. Today I'm just a bit sore across the shoulders and back, but no more so than after a hard day's work.
Lamattina, who with his brothers and father, runs Lamattina Farms, Australia's largest carrot producer, said his father had constantly urged him to replace the dragster's chassis.
"Well, I had to ring Dad and tell him I had the crash and that I was OK, but it certainly looks like he was right about the chassis."
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