Family effort for Lamattinas at Australian Nationals

 

Fresh off claiming his second ANDRA Top Fuel Championship, Phil Lamattina has dedicated the 2014 win to his LTFR crew.

“I’m probably more relieved than anything but so proud of our team,” Lamattina said.

“To all of the boys on the crew and crew chief Aaron Hambridge, this is a tribute to their hard work and the huge effort that they put in.”

Lamattina battled with Allan Dobson throughout the season, with the 2014 title coming down to the final round, the Australian Nationals.

“We had a great fight with Dobbo all year! Obviously, I want to win but he’s just such a good bloke, I almost wanted him to win too!” Lamattin joked.

Despite being eliminated in the first round, Lamattina secured the championship when Dobson was taken out in round two.

“It was just an unusual event. We smoked the tyres and got beaten, which is normally a downer, but we won the championship, which was really something.” 

Lamattina’s brother John went on to win the event, the first of his career, adding to the excitement of the title victory.

“I’m proud of John and his guys as well! It’s their first big win and we all knew it was a matter of time, he’s going to be one of the hardest guys to beat next year,” Lamattina said.

Crew chief Hambridge will represent the team at Sydney Dragway’s upcoming Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car Night of Fire, where he will race the Bandit Trans Am ‘FUCHS Flyer.’

Attention will then turn to Lamattina’s 2015 title defence.

“We have a lot to do- new car liveries, new merch, some new sponsors and much more,” said Lamattina.

“It will be a new look LTFR next season. The one thing we are working hard to keep the same is the results – I think I like this championship winning feeling!”