Illegal streetracing is giving motorsports a bad name
Being a gearhead and a driving enthusiast, I tend to go to the mountain roads of Cebu and open up the throttle on the cars that I drive. This gives me a pure sense of motoring enjoyment. But mind you, this is a leisurely drive, a pace that is only around 50-60 percent of the race pace that we do in proper racetracks. With leisurely driving, you have ample time to slow down, evade or stop if in case something goes wrong. This is the norm that me and my fellow car enthusiasts set in order to keep it safe and leave a lot of room for errors. If you go over that limit on a public road, you endanger the your life and the lives of others.
In a relatively safe environment such as a racetrack, you can go 100 percent with your driving. Miscalculations are given and the chances of recovery are big. This is because a racetrack is designed to handle that.
Surprisingly, races are often safer than going out on a leisurely drive. For one, it is held in a purpose built-closed controlled environment. There are rules in place that promote safety like roll cages, standardized race suits, fire extinguishers, etc. There are safety personnel on standby in case of an accident…. I can go on and on with the safety features of a racetrack.
Street races are another thing. It is highly illegal. Instead of promoting safety and professionalism, the heralds of this game have become experts for pissing contests such as who has got the fastest car, who is the fastest driver, fastest, biggest, longest, quickest, etcetera. I admit, I had a taste of illegal racing before. Since I started joining legally organized races and seen its grow and potential, I now avoid illegal races like the plague, and I advise any young and upcoming motorsports enthusiasts to do so.
Then there's street races that have become legal because the Department of Tourism (not the LTO) actually approved of the event and there were also numerous big corporate and club sponsors. Including a club that supposedly promotes safety. One good example is one popular endurance race in Luzon. In Facebook, you can view this endurance challenge that happened last week called the BOSS Ironman Endurance Challenge 2017. The event spans 1,200 kms of driving/riding on public roads with a time limit of 24 hours. This would be like a marathon for cars and motorbikes. Except for one very big difference… It is not a race…
… because if it were a race, the participants would push themselves and come flying by every town they pass doing the fastest speed they can dare do.
… because if it were a race, the event would have been timed and the participants would know how fast they finished the race and who go the fastest.
… because if it were a race, there would be a standing record of who got the fastest time in the 12 years the event has been held.
But it is not a race… or is it?
No matter how you warn the participants against racing, when you start timing the runs and start keeping records and giving recognition to the fastest times, it suddenly becomes a full blown race without the safety factors in place.
I have seen videos of the participants flying by towns doing speeds that are sure to be in excess of the legal limit. And to be able to make the fastest time that was recorded this year of 10 hours for 1,200 kms the participant would have had to be doing 100+kph average speed. That takes into account rest stops, meals, etcetera where he was doing zero kph so he had to do so much more than 100 kph in order to make up for lost time.
A report that stood out was one from Baguio of a couple of participants on a motorbike that overshot their turn and crossed over to the oncoming lane thereby causing the other driver to take evasive action and hitting an island barrier in the process. The driver and passenger were both hospitalized and one of them needed an operation that required a titanium plate on his skull.
This has caused quite a stir in the racing community. The legit motorsports is getting a bad reputation in the Philippines because of all the illegal racing going on (I blame the Fast and Furious franchise) and the legit guys behind legal motorsports have been working hard to show the public that motorsport is a safe and fun venue to try out your car/bike and your skills as a driver/rider. Then here comes an event that flushes that advocacy down the toilet… and they have been doing that for 12 years straight… all with government approval.
As with all street races, it's all fun and games until somebody else gets hurt or killed.
Let us just call a spade, a spade.
- Latest
