VETERAN dragster racer Dick Sharp from Netherbury had a an amazing esacpe when his car rolled four times at over 120 mph.

The 55-year-old electronics technician was competing at Shakespeare County Raceway near Straford Upon Avon on Saturday when his replica Austin A35 went our of control just before the finish line.

He said: "I've no idea what happened - I was slowing down from around 140mph when the car turned 360 degrees and started barrel rolling.

"I remember her going over and then a great big rattling and then it was over. Apparently I was briefly unconscious."

Mr Sharp, who first began drag racing in the 1970s, emerged from the wreckage with only a broken arm and finger and two black eyes.

This week he was recovering at his home - sore and bruised but determined to get back behind the wheel as soon as possible.

He and his partner Bunt Wilcox plan to rebuild the car, with its seven litre Pontiac engine, and hope to be racing again as the Dorset Horn team next season.

In the meantime Mr Sharp is trying to establish the cause of the crash - with help from these dramatic trackside photographs.

They've already helped rule out his first suspicious of steering or front suspensions failure.

It's Mr Sharp's second big crash - he suffered a near identical one in the 1970s which kept him out of the sport for several years because of the cost of rebuilding.

Wife Carol, 48, says he'll never quit, though.

"We've been together for 30 years and he's always done this. I knew he would not give up. It's just part and parcel of him," she said.

And soon she'll have more to worry about. The couple's son Daniel, 21, who works at Chesil Speedsters is also planning to build his own dragster and take to the track soon.