LTFR dominates the Western Swing
LTFR dominates the Western Swing (Photo courtesy Gardner Broz)Former Australian top fuel champion, Phil Lamattina, has had an amazing return to form at the Perth Motorplex, winning both rounds held at the Western Australia venue over February 1 and 2.
Lamattina's win in the final of the Friday round was one of the standout races of the ANDRA Championship season. The Fuchs-powered dragster used a reaction time advantage to help edge ahead of Damien Harris with the carrot king's 4.73-second pass getting the win light over Harris' 4.77 pass.
With the team's first win this season coming after three consecutive finals appearances, Lamattina also took the points lead in the ANDRA Championship chase.
"I like the new three round format," laughed Lamattina.
The two-day meeting saw the debut of the new 'double header' format with one individual round per day and a multi-race format rather than traditional eliminations.
"What a great race for the final, how good was that? I have to thank Aaron for the tune-up, it was right on the money, we knew Tim Adams and Damien would be right there with us and we were right."
"The car felt like it was on a nice, smooth pass, so I knew we would have a good terminal speed – 514kph – we'll take that!"
Lamattina was obviously relieved to turn the finals appearance into victory.
"We have made finals, that hasn't been a problem. The problem has been getting the win and that's probably a credit to guys like Darren Morgan and Mark Sheehan. Those guys are quality operators and it's not easy, that's of sure."
The Saturday round also saw Lamattina take another win.
The final round again saw Lamattina face off against West Aussie, Damien Harris.
The second final was not as tight as the previous round however, with Lamattina cruising to a 5.49-second pass after Harris smoked the tyres in the Best Tractor Parts machine.
The second win in as many days means Lamattina now heads the point championship on 418 ahead of second place Darren Morgan with 375.
"There has been chatter about Top Fuel needing more cars and I agree with that for sure. However, this category is producing amazing racing and is as tough as it ever has been. Getting wins is hard work and we are just so happy to deliver this result for all our supporters."
The next round of the ANDRA top fuel championship will be held at Willowbank Raceway on March 29-30 for the Santo's Cranes Super 3 Extreme Drag Race.
