Racing is my favorite thing to do because it mixes skill and a sense of freedom. There is no feeling like the one you get from driving a car at high speed into a tight corner. The thought of being in a race excites and thrills me.
First, the style of someone’s driving is derived from their skill and can be put into two major categories, drift and grip. A person’s skill comes from their individual techniques they use, such as heel-to-toe downshifting. Racers are always trying to become faster by increasing the number of skills and techniques they learn and applying them into their style. Drifting is a style of racing in which the car loses traction and slides around sideways into a corner. Drifting is a highly advanced style that requires control thru chaos. Drifting looks and feels amazing as the car is subjected to forces that should not be able to handle. On the other hand, grip racing is far less chaotic as the car is more under control. However, just because it is easier does not take away from the extreme amount of challenge that comes with auto racing.
Next, the shear number of cars available to drive is unbelievable. Any car, and sometimes trucks, on the road is subjective to being able to race. There are five engine setups currently available to the public. Front mounted engine rear wheel drive, FR, is the most commonly used for drifting due to its ability to get sideways and stability. This provides a unique feeling as most cars today have a front mounted engine with front wheel drive, FF. The other displacements are four wheel or all wheel drive, 4WD and AWD respectively, mid engine rear wheel drive, MR, and lastly rear engine rear wheel drive, RR. 4WD, AWD, MR and RR all have the ability to drift, if setup correctly, but carry their own challenges and unique feel.
Finally, racing does not just happen on official tracks and road courses; in fact there are many types of venues in which racers display their skills and abilities. The most common places auto racing occurs are sanctioned tracks and road courses, touges, and every day streets inside and outside of cities. Official tracks and road courses are the safest place to push your limits and are the only legal means of doing so. While it should be understood that there is no such thing as a safe race with no danger, official tracks and road courses are closed off to other traffic. Touge is the Japanese name for mountain passes and is the birthplace of the auto sport of drifting. Racing on the touges is high illegal and very deadly. The main reason for this is they are small steep windy roads, usually driven at night due to the less potential of slow moving traffic. The mix of speed and sharp corners with cliffs at night create a very real and dangerous environment. Touges are deadly but not the most common place for street racing. City and rural roads are the most common. If something goes wrong on these roads more people are at risk of death and injury then just the drivers. Other cars and even pedestrians are at risk because these are usually normal roads, like highways and main streets.
In conclusion, auto racing gives you a feeling unlike anything in the world. If it is done some where safe it can be enjoyed by all people but streets while others are around is definitely not the time nor place to display recklessness. Racing can be the most exhilarating thing in the world. If you constantly improve your skill safely you may find a euphoric feeling of absolute freedom, even when you restrict yourself to legal means of racing.
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