The site that Topless sent us calls racing, "a contest of speed." The essence of a motor racing contest is that whoever is in front at the finish is the winner, the same as horse racing before cars were invented.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Topless
more info on illegal street racing can be found here: Tragedytower
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All this stuff about excessive speed and danger, is something that you brought to the table. They just want to call any speed contest racing, to get people all emotional involved against it. If you take a 20 mph corner at 22 mph you will crash, that is fast driving but it does not make it a race. You can win a race going slower than your opponent as long as you start far enough ahead.
At LeMans in 1966 with a dominant 1–2 lead, the two Ford cars slowed to allow for a
photo opportunity at the finish line, with
Denny Hulme slightly ahead of
Bruce McLaren. However, since McLaren's car had actually started much farther back on the grid than Hulme, McLaren's car had actually covered the greatest distance over the 24 hours. With the margin of victory determined to be eight metres, McLaren and his co-driver,
Chris Amon, were declared the winners.
Whenever we out-gain, out-distance, prevent another vehicle from passing or arrive someplace first, we are racing on the road. Nothing in that implies that we have to do anything in an unlawful or unsafe manner. Unorganized, unregulated, low speed contests between strangers, are probably the most common everyday races. A good driver does not always need high speeds to defeat a competitor. Often you can beat them before they have time to build up speed. Experienced winners use tactics and technique to win, all of the time. Novices think they need speed and recklessness as that page suggests.
You can safely race against time over long distances without using excessive speed. To beat another car you just need to be in front at the finish. I prefer to lose them, so I know, they know, that they are losers. You are driving a fine handling sports car, you can enter any corner fast, and come out faster. If your opponent cannot, they will fall behind. The last time you prevented someone from passing, did you need to use high-dangerous speeds to stay in front?