Australian Top fuel star Phil Lamattina was injured on Saturday during qualifying for the Fuchs Winternationals at the Willowbank Raceway when the chassis of his dragster broke at nearly 300 miles per hour, sending the reigning series champion sailing though the air. Laminahad recently debuted the new McKinney chassis. The incident was the site of Lamittina’s last high-speed accident, which occurred at Willowbank in 2007. Oddly enough, the run was null and void from the beginning after the Willowbank christmas tree failed — Lamattina opting to make a full, non-timed run to gather data.
The 39-year old Lamittina was alert and responding to medical personnel following the crash, and was transported to Princess Alexandra Hospital for observation.
“At this time, he is alive and well with some serious back pain,” said brother Angelo Lamattina. “He has been taken to the hospital for further scans to find out what is causing the pain. He was talking to medical personnel at the time.”
The family provided an update via social media later in the day.
“The Lamattina family would like to advise that Phil is currently in hospital after suffering a shattered vertebrae in today’s racing incident. Surgeons have advised that a full recovery is expected and the team will keep everyone up to date with his progress over the coming days. The family thanks all for the well wishes and support.”