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Auto Racing Islands Philippines
Street Racing
Street racing is a form of unsanctioned and illegal motor racing which takes place on public roads. Street racing can either be spontaneous or well-planned and coordinated. Well coordinated races, in comparison, are planned in advance and often have people communicating via 2-way radio/citizens' band radio and using police scanners and GPS units to mark locations of local police hot spots.
Street racing is reported to have originated prior to the 1930s due to alcohol prohibition in some parts of the United States. Opponents of street racing cite a lack of safety relative to sanctioned racing events, as well as legal repercussions arising from incidents, among street racing's drawbacks.
Types of Street Racing:
Drag Racing
Touge Racing
Cannonball Runs
Philippine Street Racing
The rapid increase in motorcycle and scooter ownership also encouraged the growth of illegal motorcycle street racing in the Philippines. Scooters of 125 cc displacement (notably the Honda XRM) are modified for performance, or simply strip it to its bare bones, even fitting engines from more powerful motorcycles like the Honda TMX, for the sake of racing.
These races are often done in the Mat Rempit style. Honda noticed this trend, hence prompting them to release the Honda Bravo. Races are usually held at night on highways with long straights. While modification for the sake of aesthetics (concourse d'elegance) is legal in the Philippines, drag races are illegal and are being stopped by authorities. These drag races are, however, being dampened by sanctioned races sponsored by big companies. Some illegal racing involving 50cc scooters happened as early as the 1990s until it was officially sanctioned.
Automobile street racing existed in the Philippines as early as the 1970s and was brought back then became widespread in the late 1990s. It is held mostly in the main highways of Metro Manila in areas such as Sucat, Greenhills, C5 road and Marcos Highway as well as Sta. Rosa Laguna which is south of Manila. Accidents resulting from illegal street racing in these areas prompted authorities to heighten police presence, impose stricter fines and impound vehicles. Hondas are a favorite among Filipino street racers most notably the Civic SiR which were sometimes transplanted with bigger displacement (Type R) engines.
Other cars such as the Honda Accord, Toyota Corolla and the Nissan Sentra are also used as well as high performance cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Subaru Impreza. Car enthusiasts took these illegal races to the strip and organizations such as PDRF (Philippine Drag Racing Federation) was formed to promote drag racing.
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