For many people, watching an Australian burnout contest elicits some rather disdainful thoughts: the waste of a perfectly good car, perfectly good tires, and perfectly good fuel all for what amounts to the automotive equivalent of the early, violent and bloody days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It doesn’t have the grace and prestige of a Grand Prix. It doesn’t have the historical context of open wheel racing, the down-home charm of drag racing and NASCAR, or even the mental, but with a purpose elements of rally and targas. No, none of that here. This is an adrenaline and power orgy, a sacrifice to the gods of horsepower, a celebration in the throes of full excess…and it is beyond compare in it’s scale, it’s ferocity, and it’s wretched excess. This isn’t a delicate event, skill level is rather minimum, and yet, much like the Coliseum in Rome, the crowds gather around at the pit to watch the violence. The crowds will be the judge of whether or not the gladiator at the center won or lost, and if the gladiator has any hope of winning, they will give their all, even if it kills them.
Ok, that’s a bit deep. But that is still one seriously pissed-off Monaro. Somebody ask Fred Watson what it takes to drive the car, besides a complete lack of survival instinct….
Watching the Aussie burnout contests is like waiting for a punchline. Dont do a damn thing for me.
Quite often burnout comps like this are troublesome to understand and many find it difficult to comprehend nor offer up valid reasons why someone would engage in this sport. Many are indeed in this mindset until experiencing one first hand. Almost akin to a solid musical artist’s ‘live’ DVD being pale in comparison to the actual live event. The ‘minimum skill level’ can be dropped also. It takes a huge amount of skill to keep it off the armco’s yet being whisker close all the while keeping the momentum fluid. Its not a case of dropping a lame skid between two barriers while a couple of mop men pilot the back of the car.