Into the dark: Exploring the depths of road racing
By Straight-Six, published on 8 January 2010
Much as we’ve taken a shine to Jay Leno for his love of cars and his incredible collection, it did perturb us to hear him reference Claude Lelouch’s ground-breaking “C’etait un Rendezvous”.
Why? It’s clear that Leno’s SLS drive is nothing more than a gentle nod toward Lelouch’s truly magnificent exploit – which was done flat out through the streets of an unsuspecting Paris with the driver taking his life (and that of the old lady they almost run over!) in his own hands. No bullshit and no effects beyond the Ferrari overdub.
The thing about Lelouch’s film is that it created a genre that had never been seen before: filmed illegal street racing. Where Lelouch was at the limit all the time, Leno was merely swanning around yapping about this and that. These are the two extremes of the street driving/racing spectrum. And we know at which end The Prodigal Guide should be situated…
So, let’s set the record straight: street racing is a highly dangerous, totally irresponsible, illegal, exhilarating and unforgettable discipline. When you see what has and can be done it leaves you utterly breathless and torn between total respect for those who do it and wanting to throw them down a deep well. In other words, it leaves you conflicted. Very conflicted.
That’s why we wanted to share some of the Prodigal Street Runs with you all, beginning with perhaps the most impressive of them all: a 1989 motorcycle run (Suzuki GSXR1000) around Paris’ Peripherique (ring road) in early morning traffic. The result? Le Prince Noir covered the 35 km distance in 11 minutes. In traffic.
And then what happens many years later? Someone tries to beat the record, except they do it at night with barely any traffic. A well known chap by the name of Ghost Rider, to be more specific, wanted to break le Prince Noir’s record of 190+ kph average speed. The result? Ghost Rider managed an average speed of 211 kph. He averaged that speed, folks.
You recover your breath – barely – when you move back to the world of four-wheelers. And no-one has been doing this more “professionally” and beautifully that the Getaway in Stockholm series. As the name states, these are pros raping the streets of Stockholm in the wee hours of the morning and baiting the Swedish cops while doing so. Really.
They are now on their tenth film, so it’s clear things are getting a little repetitive, but our favourite remains no. 2 which features a Ford Escort RS Cosworth and Toyota Supra – both tuned to around 500hp.
Spectacular or stupid? You decide.
Into the dark: Exploring the depths of road racing
Much as we’ve taken a shine to Jay Leno for his love of cars and his incredible collection, it did perturb us to hear him reference Claude Lelouch’s ground-breaking “C’etait un Rendezvous”. Why? It’s clear that Leno’s SLS drive is nothing more than a gentle nod toward Lelouch’s truly magnificent exploit – which was done [...]
TGIF: Small garage, small car, brilliant Belgian driver « The Prodigal Guide
29 January 2010
[...] of this gent and how he then manages to get out of his car and into his house puts all those road racers we were praising in a previous post to utter [...]