The 2014 Fuchs Winternationals didn’t end in victory for either of the LTFR top fuel dragsters but the two-car team ended the event with some astounding performances and gained valuable points in the ANDRA Championship chase.
Team driver, Phil Lamattina explained “Look, we don’t like to lose but if you have to go out before the final, the way we did it is about as good as it gets.
“We have been testing a new clutch set-up in the car and we have just started to creep up on the tune-up. We ran a 4.56-second pass at 327mph and I can guarantee, it will go even quicker and faster.”
Phil Lamattina lost a close semi final to Rapisarda Autosport International’s Damien Harris.
“The semi against Damien Harris was a great race, we smoked the tyres early in the pass and I had to get off the throttle and then back into it again and we still ran 327mph! We were catching Damien but it wasn’t enough, they made a great pass and deserved the win, well done to their guys, they did a great job.”
Lamattina added, “We gained some points on Allan Dobson and we got the bonus points for the quickest run and the fastest top speed of the event.
“Having the wider Fuchs team here as the event sponsor capped off a great weekend for our team and it was great to see our Fuchs teammate, John Zappia get the win in Top Doorslammer.”
The other John in the pit area, John Lamattina, again proved to be a force in ANDRA Top Fuel.
“We didn’t quite have the speed that Phil had this weekend but we qualified well for fourth position and had a great first round race with Damien Harris, who also took Phil out in the end.”
“The crowd was huge and I think we put on a good show for them,” concluded the younger Lamattina brother.
The ANDRA Top Fuel Championship chase now heads to South Australia after a small break.
