07/05/2026
👇This is definitely NOT how we expected our Service Mat to be tested…👇
After a freak accident at the track, one of our customers unknowingly put their Tough-As Service Mat through a 230km/h burnout — and what happened next surprised even us.
Here’s the story from Peter O'Connell with a true Tough-As Team!
"I was amazed to find the Service Mat still in very good condition"
"We run a couple of drag cars around Adelaide and Victoria.
My partner purchased a Tough-As Service mat a year or 2 ago as I kept killing standard tarps.
A few months ago, we were at a regional meeting in Whyalla. The pit surface was dirt and gravel, so we use a 2m x 3m piece of fake grass with the Tough-As Service Mat laying on the front of it to catch any leaks from the car.
During the meeting we would tow the race car out as usual.
Somehow.... the back of the fake grass attached itself to the rear brake disc.
No idea how it happened, complete weird accident, never happened before.
Due to the way the pits are, and the way we tow out, no one noticed...
As I lined up, I then noticed something felt a little funny and the brake pedal felt 'a little squishy'.
I completed the burnout and only THEN realised the bloody car wouldn't stop!
The mat and grass were so wound up; it had snapped the braided brake line.
That was the end of the weekend for us.
The mess inside the back wheel was unrepairable in that environment.
We got home and unloaded the car into the shed, jacked it up, dropped the diff, removed the wheel and found this (see photos).
The only way we could get the brake and diff clear was to unfortunately cut everything away.
Once done I was amazed to find the Service Mat still in very good condition besides the fact it was all wrinkled up.
Only that! After nearly welding itself to the diff and brake disc and surviving a burnout at wheel speeds of around 145 mph (230 kph)!"
- By Peter O'Connell.
