Burnt drag racer DeWit out of hospital A DRAG race driver whose rocket-powered vehicle crashed at 350km/h plans to get back behind the wheel when the burns on his back heal. South African driver Pieter DeWit was hurtling down the drag strip at Perth's Motorplex quarter mile in February when a parachute on his car failed and he smashed into a sand trap. The mangled rocket car caught fire, leaving Mr DeWit with burns to his back, as well as a broken nose and fractured knee cap. Following treatment supervised by world-renowned burns specialist Fiona Wood at Royal Perth Hospital, Mr DeWit has been released from care. Sharing his harrowing story with journalists on Thursday, Mr DeWit said he had tried to pull the lever to release the first parachute but it came off the vehicle. I didn't feel a jerk from any parachute. It sounded to me like the engine was still running," he said. Mr DeWit said he pulled the lever again and then realised there was a problem. I went for the emergency chute - the second chute - and unfortunately, by the time that actually deployed, I ran out of road and ended up in the kitty litter. From there I can't remember much. Mr DeWit said he was lucky not to suffer any spinal injuries because of the safety features in the vehicle, but the 250kg engine broke off and smacked into the back of the driver's compartment. A fuel tank was torn off the vehicle, causing a fire ball that consumed it for about a minute before the rescue team could put it out and free the driver. "When I went into the sand trap, I actually closed my eyes and I only opened them up in hospital," Mr DeWit said. I couldn't open them even if I wanted to after that, because they were smashed up completely and bruised quite a lot. Mr DeWit said he did not remember being on fire but realised the extent of his injuries when he was in hospital and could not lie on his back. But the drag racer said he had no hesitation about getting back behind the wheel when his back healed. "The Lord looked after me in a way, and he looked after me to maybe race again," he said.