Drag racing can be a very dangerous pastime and an Aussie enthusiast discovered just that while competing at the recent 2022 GT-R Challenge at Cootamundra Airport in New South Wales.
The car owned by Mick Mansour is no ordinary Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R. Indeed, the RB26 turbocharged six-cylinder engine is capable of pumping out 2,100 hp but was detuned to 1,500 hp for the drag racing event.
Initially, it was performing quite well and during the first run, recorded a quarter-mile time of 8.70 seconds while running on low boost. The second run saw it record a time of 8.40 seconds, not bad considering that cylinder three started misfiring halfway down the runway.
The next run didn’t go so well. Speaking with motive Video, Mansour reveals that the car started to slide to the right as it was storming down the quarter-mile at 270 km/h (168 mph) and while he was able to correct it, one of the tires touched the edge of the grass on the side of the runway. This immediately sent the GT-R into a vicious slide and blew the right front tire off the rim of the wheel. From there, Mansour had no chance of saving the slide.
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Dramatic footage from the run shows the GT-R roll no less than 11 times, leaving parts scattered across the track and leaving the car completely wrecked. Remarkably, Mansour escaped serious injury in the crash and was able to pull himself from the wreckage.
He says that he has always worn full safety gear and a helmet when drag racing and that his GT-R is also equipped with a complete roll cage, something that likely saved his life. He does admit, however, that he has a very bad habit of never lifting off the throttle, regardless of how out of shape his cars may get.
Remarkably, a number of parts were saved from the R33. These include its engine, gearbox, differential, two of the wheels, and a host of interior parts.