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Fuelling the need for speed

Street drags have existed for some time now. But these illegal races have become a real threat to other road users in the city. M.V. CHANDRASHEKAR goes underground to discover more about this phenomenon

Its 10.30 p.m. and 20-year-old Prabhakar's mobile phone beeps twice. He reads the SMS he has just received and hurries out of his house. Parked in his garage is a shiny 150cc bike but it is radically different from what the manufacturer intended it to look. It has a souped-up engine, the latest in graphic stickers and a massive silencer that came all the way from Dubai. Prabhakar guns the engine and disappears into the thin late night traffic. He is off to a street drag.

This illegal and dangerous fad has been around for some time now. And last week it was in a way linked to the tragic death of a cop in the city. Traffic Police Sub-Inspector Arun Kumar (54) was run over and killed by a car when he tried to stop it near BRV Junction. He was conducting a routine check for drunken driving and street drag. He stopped a car which suddenly took off, fatally running over him.

Impromptu tracks

Cubbon Road, M.G. Road and a stretch of the road to Devanahalli (opposite the ITC factory) become impromptu racetracks on weekends for testosterone-charged youth. One can trace this trend back to five years when it began in Mumbai. It soon caught on Bangalore and over the past year it has become a regular phenomenon that almost anybody who is returning home late on these roads notices.

Getting the participants in these races to talk is tough but the justification they proffer is the lack of organised racing in the city. Legal drags used to be earlier held in Jakkur Aerodrome and Nandi Hills and they were recognised by FMSCI (Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India). But now local sports bodies in Bangalore are not able to organise races of such magnitude.

The rings, which organise the street drags, are very close knit and the venue is SMSed just minutes before the start. Once the participants assemble, the cars and bikes go head-to-head two at a time. They race well into the night and wind up around 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. A neutral person times the races. The standard distance is 400 metres, which is a quarter mile.

These races even have spectators. Up to 300 people turn up to watch only melt away when they spot the police. For entertainment in between races, some bikers do wheelies and vendors who turn up do brisk business selling chai at Rs. 3.

On Devanahalli Road the drags are over 800 metres but their frequency has reduced here because of aggressive police patrolling.

Most racers say they were inspired to take up to this illegal sport after watching the Hollywood movies Fast And Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious, and playing the computer game series Need For Speed. The participants usually are from two rival groups. Insiders talk of the legendary rivalry between Whitefield vs Sultanpalya groups give who specialise in cars. The Vijayanagar, Jayanagar and Frazer Town groups race on bikes.

The number of racers each group garners for each drag ranges from five to 20. This a trend similar to what is seen in countries like Japan, U.K., Spain, U.S.A, Australia, Thailand and even Pakistan.

In Bangalore, no professional racers take part in street drags. In fact, they even go to the extent of dissuading the participants because of the danger.

The equipment

Now for the racing equipment. With easy money to throw around, the best equipment to modify the vehicles is available right here. The favourite cars are the Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Esteem and Honda City and the bikes include the Yamaha RX 100, Hero Honda CBZ and Karizma, Suzuki Fiero and Bajaj Pulsar. The extent of modification on the vehicle reflects the status of the racer. It costs up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs to modify a car and up to Rs. 20,000 for a bike.

The money is mostly spent on body kits, aerodynamic components, neon tubes, Xenon headlights, exhaust filters and NOS. One of the most popular show-off items is a big music system, which can cost up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs.

However the coolest thing right now is NOS. As in Nitrous Oxide System. It is used to inject nitrous oxide (laughing gas) into the engine to improve combustion, giving the car up to 30 bhp extra power. All these modifications also help the mechanics exhibit their prowess in tuning equipment. Often at the races mechanics go head-to-head to see who can create the faster vehicle. Racers are extremely loyal to their mechanics and will not let anyone else touch their beasts.

Bets are often placed to make the races more exciting and they can range anywhere from a token Rs. 10 to Rs. 25,000. But most racers say they do it just for kicks. The high they get when they zip at 130 kmph on bikes and a lot more if it is a car. Some groups even try to race in peak hour traffic to get that dangerous edge.

Accidents happen but often the only evidence is shattered glass on the road. Quite a few riders have battle scars. And if the insurance company gets wind of the racing then policy covering the vehicle becomes invalid.

Some of the scenes at these races are straight out of Hollywood. Many racers get their girlfriends along to impress them. Most of these racers will never turn professional; it is just a release for them. Shockingly, over 60 per cent of them are said to not have valid driving licenses.

So how does one stop this trend, which is dangerous for both participants and other road users? Organising more legal races is one solution while the other is better law enforcement.

The police admit that catching these youth who travel at such high speeds is a challenge. They say they will intensify late night patrolling and are mulling over the idea of erecting barricades on certain roads to nab racers.

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The scene abroad

In the Gulf countries, street drags are a different league altogether. There the sons of affluent sheiks use Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs and Lamborghinis while the bikes are the Yamaha R1, Suzuki Hayabusa, Kawasaki GSX and the Honda CBR. The abundance of six-lane freeways means that they have plenty of room to explore the full potential of their vehicles.

In the U.S. meanwhile, the emphasis is on modifying standard cars. The Hollywood movies Fast And Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious illustrated that. In Japan and some other Eastern countries, drivers often head to racetracks on Sundays and public holidays to organise unofficial drags. It is especially famous in Tokyo which is notorious for its slow moving traffic.

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