At the 43rd Westernationals, Phil Lamattina did something you won’t see very often. Pushing hard for another ANDRA Drag Racing Series victory, he left some low hanging fruit on the tree… and he wasn’t happy.
“It cut me up pretty bad when it happened,” he said. “When you push it and push just that little bit too hard, I sort of know where that boundary is now. It’s one of those things, I’m not happy, I’m not proud.”
“I’ve let the team down and that is one thing I pride myself on not doing, ever. They know I’m pretty hard on myself; they don’t need to tell me. They actually tell me not to worry about it a lot of times because I cut myself up pretty bad.”
That was then and this is now. Gearing up for the Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race presented by Uplift Cranes and Titan Cranes at the iconic Willowbank Raceway in Queensland, Lamattina says he has moved on.
“That’s behind us now and we look forward to another exciting event for us. I’m excited to race with my brother.”
For one of Australia’s most prominent Top Fuel families, the Easter break is about spending time together but rather than a traditional Sunday lunch, John and Phil Lamattina will be beating up on each other as they pilot their 8000hp-plus Top Fuel cars.
The two brothers will square off against the very best nitro dragsters in the country, with older brother Phil currently sitting atop the ANDRA Drag Racing Series points list. The event is also the first time that two brothers have faced each other in the same Top Fuel field at the iconic Wiilowbank Raceway in Queensland.
Phil explains, “John has raced there before in our old (Supercharged) Outlaws car, so he knows the racetrack. He also knows this (Top Fuel) car pretty well, having both driven it, as well as worked on it.”
“As a team, we haven’t been to Willowbank since the Winternationals but the track guys do such a good job there, we are confident that we can go quickly from the first pass.”
Younger brother John added “It will be good to be back in the car again, I didn’t race at Perth so we did some testing in Sydney for me to keep my eye in.”
“To have the two Fuchs cars in the field is a massive achievement for our family, our team and our sponsors, we will put on the very best show we can for the Queensland race fans.”
The Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race presented by Uplift Cranes and Titan Cranes utilises ANDRA’s three round format, which means more on-track time from the national championship brackets, meaning more runs by more cars more often.
Phil adds “The three round also makes it more likely that John and I will have a pass or two racing against each other and that’s pretty cool. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Easter, we’ll share some food, a racetrack and around 16,000 horsepower!”
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