6 years ago, when I finished my 10th board exams I was promised that I’d be presented with a bike. I didn’t realise that the promise was made with a forked tongue and I ended up with a wooden nickel. My parents somehow realised that I was a speed addict, which I myself was unaware of, but as they will be telling me 2 years later when I will be crashing my 75cc scooter(of course the 'wooden nickel' I got) while trying to speed beyond its limit of 70kph. I was destined to be an aficionado of Moto wheels.
As I pursued my dream and kept getting more and more addicted to vehicles, I realised that so many people around me find Motor sports as a mere waste of resources. In fact some of them deny accepting it as a sport at all. Two years back, when Indian Formula one fans were struggling hard to bring the sport to India, a leading politician opposed the proposal saying that ‘it is not sport at all’. I’ll discuss it later how imbecile the politician was while saying this, but right now it is important to note at the first place that people hardly realise that this is the only sport in the world that everyone is directly related to. It has a vital contribution in shaping our lives and making it easier and economical. But people, blinded with prejudice, see it as a few dozen speed junkies racing across the finishing line at speeds insane enough to make you throw up.
Have you ever seen a child learning to walk? The child always wishes he could walk faster than he is actually able to. Trying to do so, he falls, stumbles upon things and hurts himself but never gives up. No matter how heart warming and cute it might seem, we seem to miss the lesson that it teaches us loud and clear. Human is never taught to be greedy; we are born as greedy creatures. We have an innate tendency of being greedy about achieving difficult goals. It is however a different matter that most of us give up on our greed as time flies by. History of motor racing is no different. With the invention of first steam powered vehicle, man was haunted with greed to make it faster. This resulted into the first ever motor race on July 22 1894 in France between the cities Paris and Rouen. This race was aimed at promoting the sales of a magazine which organised the event, but it was named as Competition for Horeseless Carriages (Concours des Voitures sans Chevaux) that were not dangerous, easy to drive, and cheap during the journey. The race was won by Peugot and Panhard. However this was more like a road-show than a race. The races that we see today started just an year later at Paris itself. And with the wheels of time the races became more interesting with improvised set of rules laid down for ensuring fair competition.
Ever since its inception, Auto-racing has served as a vital factor for promoting vehicles and their manufacturers. And were indispensable at the time when commercial advertisement wasn’t as successful as we see it today. At that time France emerged out to be a racing haven and still continues to remind us of its kingly heritage in the form of the world’s fastest on-road car Bugatti Veyron. A lot has changed over years and cars have become more compact and complicated. Today, the emphasis is laid on efficiency before power. But speed is always the key factor. The most popular moto sport Formula-one is based upon the constructor’s ability to design a car of unmatched excellence. Ace automobile companies from all around the world gear up to prove their mettle. What many people don’t know is that most of the technologies that we see in our cars arrive from these racing circuits. Traction control, improvement in aerodynamics and semi-automatic gearboxes are just some of the countless technologies that have made their way to daily cars from these race tracks. The most conspicuous of these is the spoiler that reduces the possibility of the rear wheels loosing contact with the road. Smarter electronic fuel injection that encases literally a small computer behind your steering wheels were first implemented and tested in these racing circuits only. Adding more to it, which still won’t be sufficient, is the UNICAM technology that Honda used in off-road racing and is now being used in the most popular bike the VFR1200F. The list goes on and on in praise of motorsports and still people will act in denial of its greatness like an ostrich with its head buried in the ground.
There is yet another clan of people, as I have mentioned already who don’t accept it a sport at all. But if they ever knew what it takes to be a race-car driver, I think they would be holding a different opinion. A formula one driver, for instance, is considered to be one of the highly trained athletes in the world. While driving through corners their body has to sustain a force of 3.5G. In plain English, a man weighing 75 kgs like me experience force 2600N acting on him. To simplify it further, imagine a weight of 263 kgs being rested upon your body. If that doesn’t sound exciting enough increase the surrounding temperature to 50-60 degree Celsius alongside. If you still think it is easy for you, which if you are then it certifies you as a 24 carat idiot, then keep loading and unloading this force for a couple of hours. The horrors are that you will start dehydrating like an earthworm sprinkled with a pinch of salt, and by the time you finish the race... forget it you won’t finish it because you’ll die midway in a crash. And under all these circumstances you are required to have high degree of alertness to react towards all the unexpected things that keep happening. So Mr. Politician-i-won’t-mention-name-of! Do you still think they are just a bunch of guys pushing gas pedal to reach from point A to B?
Finally, as a suggestion to all the mindless speed junkies on the road who call themselves ‘racers’, I’d say you are mere ‘toddlers’ in this sport, even the word ‘rookie’ will be a hyperbole. When you were at the age at which Valentino Rossi was Go-Karting, you had just started speaking. Pulling through some funny stunts on the highway doesn’t make a racer out of anyone. Go to racing circuits since motor racing prioritises driver’s safety. So keep enjoying fast vehicles and drive safely.
