AlSto and i spent the day with BriKa driving in the 2011 Southern California Tesla Rally. Tesla owners/VIPs came from as far away as San Diego and Arizona to participate in the third annual drive. it had the largest turnout yet, with about 40 all-electic powered vehicles and roadsters!
we began at the Hawthorne Design Centre, where the prototype of the new S-model Tesla is rumoured to be stored.
i had the privilege of riding co-driver in car #125 AND #77 this year. more short videos are on youtube, including some confusing topsy-turvy footage as we embarked with the help of Hawthorne's finest(?, below).
check the END of this short video (start around :49) and watch the alternative fuel motorcycles on the legendary corkscrew at Laguna Seca race circuit:
(BTW that was our friend BriKa #88 at the :30 point)
and NOW check the same section of the track using combustion engine bikes during MotoGP! (Gooooooooo Rossi!)
first off, we lagged and didn't acquire tickets to the X-GAMES again this year, because we thought it was going to be the insane clusterf*&^ it always is... wouldn't you know it, we switch on the TiVO delayed broadcast of the RALLY RACING qualifying stages and there are BARELY ANY PEOPLE IN THE STANDS!!!??? there were so few people there, i am now afraid the X-Games will 'X' all rally racing from its event in future years.
on top of the sparse crowds, the co-drivers barely speak a word to the drivers. if you didn't know anything about rally, you would think the co-drivers were there just as eye candy for the drivers, or maybe as looming girlfriends who wouldn't let their b/f go out to a professional competition. in any case, in the X-Games, the co-drivers are mostly females for some reason...in fact, judging by their silence during the preliminary stages, you'd think they were just required for the tradition of it and were chosen because they weigh less than their male counterparts! here's EXPN's half-decent video homage (make that a video explanation) as to what a rally co-driver, erm, navigator's true purpose is:
there's also a less-than-enthusiastic article touting rallying as "Moto's Little Secret" (although the title makes it sound like dirty secret instead of a best-kept one...).
X-Games 2008 RALLY RACING's on-the-track commentator ERIN BATES just remarked the concrete barriers around the track will hurt if you run into them, and require all the drivers must give a
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