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(Rally) Drive Angry

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

Scroll down for the video.

by Zack K

 

Now this is my kind of driving that only a RWD car can achieve. It’s Patrick Snijers on his way to the 1988 Manx rally championship. He’s chucking a rectangle of metal into a corner with the fury,  power-on over-steer all over the place, darting over the bumpy roads with the agility and speed of Bruce Lee. A car that’s flying and darting along this fast, backed by the angry sound track of a pissed 4 cylinder, has a personality to it that is missing in other forms of racing. After locking in the win, by driving at what has to be at the absolute limit, Snijers started doing some “exhibition driving”, laying down rubber around each corner. Ohhhh me likey.

 

To Thad and I, this is how a car should be driven every day. If laws and safety allowed, I would attack every light, on-ramp and speed bump like this. It almost seems like he kidnapped his co-driver and is running from the police. To quote the great poet Mike Lowry, of the theatrical masterpiece, Bad Boys, “Now THAT’s how you supposed to drive!! From now on, THAT’s how you drive!!” Jump to see the video.

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21.03.2012 Video 8 Comments

Drunk on Irish Rallying Videos

Saturday, March 17th, 2012

 

by Zack K

 

For anyone under 18 today is St. Patty’s day. I bet there’s a really sweet story somewhere about St. Patrick, and why we honor him today, but from what I’ve gathered in 11 years of research (since I turned 18 and left the nest) it’s a day that pardons all forms of inebriated behavior. Punch someone? No problem. Puke in public? Tradition. Fornicate with a 54-year old retired cop from Boston, just because you liked his accent? Fine work, lassie.

 

In honor of this day, where you are probably incapable of reading sentences on a page, I put together a little gallery of Irish rally videos. The Irish deliver of pace notes is way more entertaining than the usual, collected, dictation-like delivery of other co-drivers. Crack a beer, make the jump. We’re off to time warp to tomorrow morning.

 

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17.03.2012 Video No Comments

Video: Aston Hits a Barrier, Hard, Backwards (Update!)

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

Photo: Joel Strickland

by Zack K

How hard was this hit? Hard enough to take the left door off. Off off, as in, no longer having problems reaching the drive-thru, or seeing if you’re between the parking lines. This was shot in Australia at the opening stage of the East Coast Bullbars Rally in Calder. The car gets loose on the outside grass, and goes into a high-speed slide. The co-drive went to the hospital where he found out he had a dislocated pelvis, an ailment that has plagued Shaq and Tommy Lee’s girlfriends for years. Luckily both drivers will be ok. Jump to watch the video.

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15.03.2012 Video 4 Comments

A Helicopter’s View of WRC Snow Stage (video)

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

by Zack K

 

Here is a sick video of a WRC snow stage, shot from a helicopter. The chopper follows the car, then gains altitude for some amazing overhead shots. Close-up shots are cool, but a high view like this really lets you watch the driver dance between the trees, linking high-speed slides together on the frosty track. Jump to watch the video, from WRC.com. (more…)

02.03.2012 Video 2 Comments

A Great Stage Returns: Ouninpohja (video compilation)

Sunday, February 26th, 2012

by Zack K

“It takes big balls to win that rally.” – unknown

 

Rally Finland is the kind of rally racing I love. It’s the exciting, high-speed, clinically-insane kind that will convert  skeptics into die-hard fans willing to stand in the mud with a thermos. It’s miles of gravel roads packed with sweeping turns, elevation changes and many, many jumps. If I could pick one rally stage to drive, it would be this one. If rally racing needed a video cover letter, this would be it.

 

And this year, the best and fastest stage of Rally Finland – Ouninpohja – is back in the mix. It’s been left out since 2008 because of “safety reasons.” Drivers have called it “too fast” and  “too demanding to ever get right.” Call me crazy but  I think it has as much a place in the world’s greatest driving sport as  ice cream in a bowl. Thankfully, the organizers bought their balls back from the Pawn Stars and remembered racing is supposed to be high-speed and crazy; The Ouninpohja stage is back in. Make the jump for an amazing video that tells the story. (more…)

26.02.2012 Uncategorized, Video 3 Comments

Co-driver Can’t Keep Up

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

"Crest.." "Uh, we're already in the air. Can you talk faster?"

by Zack K

This video from The Daily Hoon is pretty funny. It’s a WRC special stage rally with an unknown driver. The driver is hauling ass through this twisty tarmac stage, and the co-driver just can’t keep up. The guy urges her to speed up several times. He’s practically driving the course without notes, and that makes his crazy speed even more impressive. 4km in, their coms stop working, so she has to shout the notes and she sounds exactly like Rachel Dratch doing that weird, Eastern European accent. You could turn this into a drinking game: how many times does she call out the corner and he’s already in it? Grab a bottle and hit the jump. (more…)

31.01.2012 Video 6 Comments

“Love for Life” Captures Why We Drive (video)

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

by Zack K

This is a YouTube video called, “Motorsport-Love for Life.” It’s a short film, by Antti Kalhola. It uses a compilation of racing footage – drivers, cars, rally, F1 teams, wins, losses, crashes, etc – but not simply strung together as eye candy. Paired with slow music and a voice over it starts with the question, “Why do we love?” to explain viewer why people race cars. Through images of broken cars, daunting elements, injured drivers or just the pain of defeat written on faces, this short film is about why we voluntarily put ourselves into a situation where we could lose-even die-yet we go back again the next day.

 

I think this video encapsulates the bigger passion of cars. It’s this kind of strange love that gets us up at 5AM for a show, or up all night wrenching, or working two jobs to buy parts and staying up late reading about suspension engineering or the latest crossover comparison. It’s why driving to us isn’t a chore or a simple means. We don’t know why we love, but we do. And to love is to live, and fo people like us, that means having cars in our life. This 4 minute film explains that, and all through the gorgeous imagery of incredibly fast cars doing what they do. Make the jump to watch.

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26.01.2012 Video 1 Comment

Video: Matt Races Bucky Lasek in Rally Cars on TUNED!

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

If you haven’t been following our new series Tuned on the /DRIVE Network, you’ve been missing out. We started by romping on BBi Autosport’s Porsche Turbo S, then moved on to crusing Grant’s Pass, Oregon in the amazing Decoliner RV by Blastolene. This week, we made it to the Dirtfish Rally School in Snoqualmie, WA, where we learned about rally car building and preparation, while Matt got to race six-time X-Games Gold Medalist Bucky Lasek.

Bucky, much more well known for skateboarding than for cars, isn’t exactly an easy takedown. He spends his weekends at the track club racing his modified Porsche 996 Turbo. He has raced Porsche cup cars at Sebring, Daytona, and all over southern California. And his skateboarding background means he’s used to pushing the limit. But when it comes to rally cars, he has the same 2 days of experience that Matt does. The race is closer than you’d think, but who will win? Hit the jump to find out.

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23.01.2012 News, Video No Comments

A Gumballer Goes Down

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

by Zack K

By now you’ve heard about the big arrest of the Megaupload founder, Kim Schmitz, in New Zealand. No? You don’t read any websites other than this one and Mama’s Knitting Blog? Jesus. The short version is Kim Schmitz was a Gumball driver and hacker.  He lived life with the character and humility Scarfaces’ secret 16 year old millionaire son would have. He started Megaupload-a file sharing site-and made a shitload of money selling ads and memberships to people seeking pirated content. And now the money, cars, house and *cough* “party girls” are going away. He’s like a nerdy James Bond villain. Make the jump for the details and videos of his high-speed Gumball rallies, and the recent arrest.

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23.01.2012 News, Uncategorized, Video 4 Comments

I’m Moving to Chechnya!!

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

by Zack K

 I love this guy. This video is of traffic in Chechnya. The impatient white car is impatiently weaving, looking for a safe place to pass. There’s nowhere to go, really, but he doesn’t care, a silly sentiment I share with him, daily. The camera car honks at him; the automotive equivalent of an old woman’s finger shake. The driver responds with the ultimate “Frankly, ma’am, I don’t give a fuck.” by holding an AK-47 out the window and firing it into the air. Nice move. Amazingly, everyone keeps trundling along, for a moment at least. You’ll have to watch the rest. It’s quite entertaining from the safe location of the internet. Make the jump to watch. (more…)

21.01.2012 Uncategorized, Video 11 Comments

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