A FATHER and son drag racing team from Wellington Point have driven their four cylinder Subaru Brumby pickup to a world record at Willowbank Raceway.
Driver Errol Brittain completed the 400 metre track in 7.95 seconds to overtake American drag racing team and previous record holders White Bullet.
It was a career defining moment for drag racing tragic Brittain, who fell in love with the sport as a child during his first visit to the iconic Ipswich raceway.
"At 13 I got dragged up to Willowbank for the first time and caught the bug," Brittain said.
"My second car after I got my license was a v8, an old school Ford type deal.
"I started out by taking it up there (to Willowbank) for street meets.
"I've always been as much into the modifying as I have been the driving, which is more about proving whether the horsepower and the mods work or not."
Brittain said he and 16-year-old son Alex spent hours in their Wellington Point garage tinkering with the Brumby in preparation for race meets.
"It's a hobby but there's always another modification or some maintenance that has to be done," he said.
"It's not a hop in, turn the key and drive type car.
"They are high maintenance because of the level of stress the motor is under and the amount of performance you're pulling out of a four cylinder."
Brittain said Alex, a student at Redlands College, had been involved in drag racing since he could walk.
"...He's pretty much running the whole team now," he said. "He knows the car mechanically as well as I do."
"He checks the tire pressures and all the critical stuff like making sure I'm strapped in before we go out for each run.
"A car like that making over 1000 horsepower isn't a toy. Everything has got to be spot on."
The Brumby topped speeds of 270 kilometres per hour during the world record run.
Brittain said the car could go from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in 1.4 seconds and reached 220 kilometres per hour in five seconds flat.
- More local sport here.