While seasoned drag racers are able to make it look relatively easy, performing a long burnout in a door car isn’t exactly an effortless process; it takes practice, finesse, and focus to keep a car with the tires spinning at 150 to 200 mph going in a straight line. As you might imagine, it becomes more challenging the shorter the vehicles’ wheelbase is. And, when you introduce fluid under the rear tires, suffice it to say, it is then exponentially more difficult, regardless of the wheelbase (or the drivers’ skill level).

Those two factors — wheelbase and unexpected fluid departure — were the downfall of Australian racer Peter Donchos and his very cool Mazda 13B rotary-powered Mazda 1300 at a recent ANDRA event. Donchos, who brought his wicked 1300 back out a couple of years ago after some time off, was masterfully working the throttle on a tire-roasting, crowd-pleasing, sideways burnout when fluid began spilling from behind the drivers-side front wheel. Donchos, already right on the ragged edge at the tail end of his smoke show, became a passenger without a paid ticket when the rear tires got caught up in the fluid, pitching he and the 1300 to the right and over onto its roof.

After turning over, the car slid on its side and then gracefully stuck the landing, turning right back onto all fours. Luckily for Donchos, he didn’t hit anything in the process, and so the extent of the damage was the skinned-up door, fenders, and roof, and the loss of some paint (and whatever broke under the hood to cause the fiasco in the first place). The bad news is the ANDRA season is just getting fired up ‘down under’ and, well, this is not a good way to start a new year.

Donchos was, as you can see in the video, unhurt in the spill.

Video credit: FullBoost.com.au