It’s one thing being able to pilot an 8000bhp dragster along a standing quarter mile in under five seconds without passing out, but crashing is the ultimate nightmare. Just ask Richard Hammond, or indeed Australian pro Top Fuel drag racer and death cheater Philip Lamattina…
Competing in the flood-lit Australian National Championship qualifier on Saturday night at Willowbank Raceway, Victorian father of two Philip launched and saw as the front of his £100k+ Fuchs-backed dragster broke away at close to 310mph (500km/h).
Within a split second the cockpit, containing Lamattina strapped in his safety cell, flew 10-metres airborne, cart-wheeled and landed 150-metres from where it hit the track guard barrier. Upon impact the nitomethane soaked wreck burst into flames and slid to a halt 500-metres from where it first lost control. Amazingly, Lamattina survived with little more than a scorched finger. Fatigue from the sheer force is thought to have broken the chassis, something Lamattina’s father had warned him about.
“After it went up in the air I thought, 'oh this is trouble' but that's about all I remember of it.” says Lamattina, whose day job is running Australia’s biggest carrot farm. ‘The cars are designed to do exactly what mine did – break up but keep the driver in the main canopy, and I'm still here today because of that safety factor in the sport.”
More on Phil Lamattina here
 The man himself |
 Just before the accident..... |
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