28 March 2011
Lamattina comes away positive after stringing together three classy qualifying runs, setting the track speed record at 326 mph and moving from fourth to second place in the 2010-11 championship after round five of the ANDRA Pro Series Championship at Willowbank Raceway last weekend.
“We feel pretty upbeat coming out of the weekend” explained Phil Lamattina. “To go out and run out a 4.78 second pass @ 300 mph off the trailer was a tremendous boost for the boys in the team. You could see the consistency in the care as we backed it up with a 4.69 in second qualifying. On our last run we stopped the timers at 4.65 seconds, and set the track speed record, to cap of one the best qualifying days we have had this season”.
Race day, thanks to the top qualifying spot the Fuchs Top Fuel Dragster outfit had a bye in the first round of eliminations and their solo pass ended in tyre smoke. In the second round Lamattina faced of against fellow Sunraysian Darren Morgan and despite leading off the line was over taken by Morganwho went on to take the win.
“There are many positives to come out of the weekend. The car has the speed to run at the pointy end and string together consistent runs is a real bonus going into the final rounds of the season. Another positive from the weekend was our Crew chief in waiting, Aaron Hambridge and his father Steve came to have a look at our operations and catch up with the crew and members of our team. Our focus now is firmly on the next round of the championship at Sydney Dragway next month. We need to put on a good show if we want to go to the Winternationals in June with a chance of winning the title.” Said an upbeat Lamattina.