Speaker 1: Causer Media. You're listening to the Away Days podcast on
Speaker 1: the ground outside, reporting from the underbelly with me Jake Hanrahan.
Speaker 1: To watch Awaydays documentaries, go to YouTube dot com slash
Speaker 1: at Away Days TV.
Speaker 2: This is part.
Speaker 1: Three Speed Tribe twenty five, Episode three. This podcast is
Speaker 1: a production of H eleven Studio and Call his Own Media.
Speaker 1: The team of massed up youth that approaches from the
Speaker 1: garage seem a little hesitant to say hi. They're not menacing,
Speaker 1: not at all. If anything, they seem a little bit shy.
Speaker 1: They're all either late teens or mid twenties. Behind them,
Speaker 1: in the garage with its now rayed shutter, there's a
Speaker 1: collection of brightly colored civics with roof to tire decales,
Speaker 1: painted bonnets and nets in the windows. These are to
Speaker 1: obscure the view to stop the police seeing who's driving.
Speaker 1: An older man who owns the garage approaches and explains
Speaker 1: to us that this is the base of Across Racing.
Speaker 1: As a look a bit closer, I notice all the
Speaker 1: civics have the Across logo emblazoned over their back windows.
Speaker 1: Across is a ragtag street racing crew that hits the
Speaker 1: Canjo loop with their distinctive carts. Many of them here
Speaker 1: have decorated their paintwork with Marlborough cigarette packet designs, not
Speaker 1: to promote smoking, but the design on a car is
Speaker 1: just very cool, I'll be honest. One of the civics
Speaker 1: that really stands out belongs to the only woman on
Speaker 1: the team. Her name is Menma and a civic is
Speaker 1: bright turquoise blue with white bordered decals and shiny stickers
Speaker 1: making out the word across on the back. Underground street
Speaker 1: racing in Japan is a male dominated world. I go
Speaker 1: as far to say that it's ninety nine percent men
Speaker 1: that are involved. Memo is an anomaly in this scene.
Speaker 1: She's small, with huge, bright eyes and dyed blonde hair
Speaker 1: poking out of about a claver. She wears high top
Speaker 1: night dunks in the same white and turquoise colors of
Speaker 1: her cat. It is a very cool look. She's shy,
Speaker 1: but she agrees to talk a little. It's usually there's
Speaker 1: not many women in the racing scene here.
Speaker 2: Are you one of the only ones?
Speaker 3: As I'm a woman, I need to race in a
Speaker 3: way so I don't get disrespected.
Speaker 2: What is it you like about street racing?
Speaker 3: A final street. I like this the most you do
Speaker 3: talk or a circuit as long as I can race.
Speaker 1: Obviously, this is very illegal here in Japan. What would
Speaker 1: happen if the police caught you?
Speaker 3: We run away?
Speaker 2: Does your family know you do this racing?
Speaker 3: Sometimes?
Speaker 1: Culture in Japan is quite conservative. A legal street racing
Speaker 1: is obviously something that a lot of people there wouldn't like.
Speaker 1: What do you think the reaction would be if people
Speaker 1: knew you were doing this?
Speaker 3: I think they would think it's a nuisance, but more
Speaker 3: fun which wins, so I keep racing.
Speaker 2: It makes it more fun.
Speaker 1: Okay, what do you think about the police here?
Speaker 3: I'm sure it's tough for them and they probably have
Speaker 3: a lot on but it'd be nice if they spent
Speaker 3: their time on things other than civics.
Speaker 1: Without revealing too much about yourself when you're not racing,
Speaker 1: what do you do like in normal life?
Speaker 3: If I'm not racing, working, fishing, an I ride my bike?
Speaker 2: Can you tell me what it feels like when you're racing?
Speaker 1: How does it feel to you?
Speaker 3: It's scary, but the feeling of wanting to win is stronger.
Speaker 1: How did you get into racing? How do you find
Speaker 1: out about it?
Speaker 3: A childhood friend introduced me.
Speaker 2: Are you fast drive fast? So?
Speaker 1: By so so she means yes, very fast across is
Speaker 1: generally seen as a kanjo crew. These are not exactly
Speaker 1: drift cars. They go very fast down the Handschin Expressway.
Speaker 1: So I wonder why we're here, ready to go up
Speaker 1: a mountain far away from Saka. Turns out the team
Speaker 1: are currently not racing the canjo right now. Their boss,
Speaker 1: the older guy who runs the gar bridge, has decided
Speaker 1: it's a bit too hot with the law enforcement and
Speaker 1: surveillance checks. I'm guessing this has something to do with
Speaker 1: the smashed up civic we saw on the way in.
Speaker 1: Young lad in a white Balaklava who uses the name Hero,
Speaker 1: explains to me that that is his car. He's just
Speaker 1: eighteen and he was in a police chase recently. Now,
Speaker 1: in Japan, a police chase isn't quite what you might think.
Speaker 1: Japan active pursuit is far more restricted than in most
Speaker 1: Western countries. There's a much bigger emphasis on public safety
Speaker 1: over immediate apprehension. The National Police Agency guidelines state that
Speaker 1: officers must prioritize avoiding accidents, especially in densely populated areas.
Speaker 1: Perfect if you're a cando fugitive in hot pursuit, the
Speaker 1: getaway is strongly in your favor. Japanese police are trained
Speaker 1: to weigh the risk of a chase against the seriousness
Speaker 1: of the perceived offense. Pursuits are generally only allowed when
Speaker 1: the suspect is believed to have committed a serious crime,
Speaker 1: which dangerous driving comes under. In Japan, street racers are
Speaker 1: on their radar. The police are instructed to consider factors
Speaker 1: like traffic density, weather, road conditions, and pedestrian presence before
Speaker 1: engaging in the chase. If the pursuit is likely to
Speaker 1: endanger the public, officers are required to back down by law.
Speaker 1: Speed limits still technically apply to police vehicles, but they
Speaker 1: can be exceeded if lights and sirens are used, and
Speaker 1: the pursuit is officially justified. Just like any other country.
Speaker 1: That said, official justification is narrowly defined, and supervisors on
Speaker 1: the radio are often involved in the decision to continue
Speaker 1: or call off a chase. Legally, if a chase results
Speaker 1: in injury or to a third party, and the pursuit
Speaker 1: is deemed unnecessary or reckless, the officers and the department
Speaker 1: can face civil liability and in some cases, even criminal charges.
Speaker 1: The cautious approach stems from Japan's broader policing philosophy crime
Speaker 1: prevention and measured response over higher risk enforcement. As a result,
Speaker 1: genuine Hollywood style high speed pursuits are very rare in Japan,
Speaker 1: and when they do happen, they are usually in rural
Speaker 1: areas with lighter traffic and clearer visibility. To avoid dangerous
Speaker 1: high speed chases, Japan relies heavily on alternative methods. These
Speaker 1: include setting up roadblocks using spike strips, or deploying unmarked
Speaker 1: ghost cars to shadow suspects until a safer arrest is possible.
Speaker 1: In urban areas, surveillance cameras and licensed plate recognition systems
Speaker 1: often allowed police to track a suspect later without an
Speaker 1: idiot confrontation. This is what happened to hero He was
Speaker 1: racing around the loop when police pulled him behind him,
Speaker 1: he took off. They put the foot on the gas,
Speaker 1: but ultimately Heroes driving skills and the public traffic helped
Speaker 1: him get away, not before the cops caught his license plate,
Speaker 1: though for whatever reason, he didn't have the plate flipped
Speaker 1: up on its hinges, and the police found out his.
Speaker 2: Address through registration.
Speaker 1: A few weeks Later, a morning raid on Hero's house
Speaker 1: found him arrested, charged and released on bail. He laughs
Speaker 1: about it now and explains how he went back out
Speaker 1: racing any way and totld his car, crashing into a
Speaker 1: barrier on a stiff turn. No wonder their captain doesn't
Speaker 1: want a cross on the Canjo right now. Kanjo races
Speaker 1: in a Sacker are a course notorious for the defiance
Speaker 1: of the law. One of their most brazen tactics is
Speaker 1: called boxing in when you guessed it, they box in
Speaker 1: police cars during late night runs. When police attempt to
Speaker 1: intervene in a multi car race, the drivers sometimes coordinate
Speaker 1: to trap the patrol car between the multiple vehicles. Two
Speaker 1: or more cars will position themselves in front, beside, and
Speaker 1: behind police, slowing or blocking its movement while the rest
Speaker 1: of the crew scatters. This isn't just a getaway method.
Speaker 1: It's also a deliberate act of mockery. There are several
Speaker 1: videos out there showing this tactic on the Handchin Expressway
Speaker 1: with goofy music and mocking captions. It's pretty funny, honestly.
Speaker 1: Drivers will also sometimes weave aggressively in front of the
Speaker 1: patrol car, break check it, or rev loudly forcing their
Speaker 1: officers into a frustrating standoff. Police are constrained by the
Speaker 1: aforementioned strict shoot rules. They're hamstrung. They can't really respond
Speaker 1: with the same aggression without risking disciplinary action.
Speaker 2: Too bad.
Speaker 1: The Kanjo crews exploit these limits, knowing the officers are
Speaker 1: unlikely to engage in risky maneuvers in heavy traffic or
Speaker 1: at extreme speeds beyond the immediate tactic. This behavior feeds
Speaker 1: into the Kando subculture's anti authority image. It reinforces their
Speaker 1: reputation for outsmarting and goading the police on their own turf.
Speaker 1: In a society as strict and rule following as Japan,
Speaker 1: this really defines them as serious outlaws. The crew explain
Speaker 1: to us that they're going to take us for a
Speaker 1: different kind of race. One lad is very excited about this.
Speaker 1: He pops the bonnet of his car, which is painted
Speaker 1: purple and white in the Marlborough design, and points laughing
Speaker 1: at the paint on the inside. It's Japan's imperial flag
Speaker 1: oh i say, commonly known as the Rising Sun flag.
Speaker 1: It features a red sum with sixteen rays extending outwards.
Speaker 1: It's obviously different from the national flag which is the
Speaker 1: simple red circle on a white field rising sun design
Speaker 1: has ancient roots in Japanese mythology and Shinto beliefs, where
Speaker 1: the sun goddess amit Arasu is central. The flag was
Speaker 1: officially adopted as the war flag of the Imperial Japanese
Speaker 1: Army in eighteen seventy, and later used by the Imperial
Speaker 1: Navy as well across East and Southeast Asia, especially in
Speaker 1: Korea and China. It's viewed as a symbol of Japanese
Speaker 1: militarism and imperial aggression during World War Two. Its resemblance
Speaker 1: to a military insignia tied to occupation, war crimes and
Speaker 1: colonialism makes it deeply controversial in those regions. So many
Speaker 1: Japanese people though the flag is just a traditional symbol
Speaker 1: of good fort, dune power and national pride. It's still
Speaker 1: used today by the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, even
Speaker 1: it continues to appear at sporting events, festivals, and by
Speaker 1: nationalist groups. The flag's meaning is heavily context dependent, seen
Speaker 1: by some as cultural heritage and by others as a
Speaker 1: painful reminder of wartime atrocities. For these lot racing one
Speaker 1: of them explains to me that It's just seen as
Speaker 1: a good luck charm of sorts, nothing politically loaded about it.
Speaker 1: So with the Kanjo loop off the cards, the crew
Speaker 1: tells us that were taking the civics up to a
Speaker 1: mountain road to grip round corners at extreme high speed.
Speaker 1: I agreed to go with them, somewhat reluctantly, but at
Speaker 1: the same time excited to see what they do. Because
Speaker 1: line up in a convoy at the front of the
Speaker 1: garage a row of souped up, multi colored Civics, all
Speaker 1: with custom designs, lowered frames, and sparkly across iconography pasted
Speaker 1: across the windows. The drivers get into their cars and
Speaker 1: they all rev in unison. I can feel the vibration
Speaker 1: of the engines raw in my chest. I hop into
Speaker 1: one of the cars. Inside, every side panel has been
Speaker 1: ripped off so you can see the full inner workings.
Speaker 2: Of the car.
Speaker 1: They do this for weight. The interior car handle is
Speaker 1: literally just a metal wire. The two back seats are
Speaker 1: ripped out. All that's back there is metal pipes, molded
Speaker 1: tire trim, and a DII rollcage bolted into the exposed chassis.
Speaker 1: It's like a cockpit built by H. R. Geigert even
Speaker 1: the interior roof panel is removed. We're about to zoom
Speaker 1: down the road in a metal can with precision brake
Speaker 1: power and a custom paint job. Not a single piece
Speaker 1: of this civic has been left as is.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: Once everyone is in position, the order in which across
Speaker 1: the sides is the hierarchy. Today we all pull off.
Speaker 1: There's no casual drive to the mountain. These lot are
Speaker 1: racing the whole way there. It's midnight now. We fly
Speaker 1: through the streets, and each civic lights up the road
Speaker 1: as the cars weave in and out of each other.
Speaker 1: At one point we pass a police car going the
Speaker 1: other way on the side of the road. We're traveling
Speaker 1: at least forty miles per hour above speed limit, all
Speaker 1: in a convoy of half a dozen very distinctive cars.
Speaker 1: There is no denying that these are for street racing.
Speaker 1: My driver is wearing a ski mask and half of
Speaker 1: his window is obscured with netting. Look, he laughs in
Speaker 1: English Japanese police. He puts his foot on the pedal
Speaker 1: and we peel off so fast. I don't even know
Speaker 1: if the cops switched on the lights and sirens. They're
Speaker 1: fast gone.
Speaker 2: In the mirror.
Speaker 1: I'd be lying if I said I don't feel the
Speaker 1: same adrenaline rush as the street racers right now. It's dangerous,
Speaker 1: unfair and anti social, but it is still true that
Speaker 1: it's exhilarating. After around an hour on the road, we
Speaker 1: end up at the bottom of a valley. It's pitch
Speaker 1: black and only random highway lights and the civics expose
Speaker 1: the scene in front of us. I see rock faces
Speaker 1: and lush trees here and there leading up the mountain,
Speaker 1: or at least I think it's a mountain. It looks
Speaker 1: a bit like one to me, and that's what everyone's
Speaker 1: calling it for shorthand, so we'll go with the mountain.
Speaker 1: We're all parked at a yellow gate with the engines
Speaker 1: ticking over right now. This mountain road is closed for
Speaker 1: the night. No one can drive through. It's restricted somehow,
Speaker 1: though one of the cross members manages to get the
Speaker 1: gate open. It swings out the way and we all
Speaker 1: roar up the mountain. The roads I notice are perfect.
Speaker 1: It strikes me that to try this back home in
Speaker 1: England would be even more deadly, seen as our roads
Speaker 1: look like they've been hit with several meteor showers. Now
Speaker 1: allow me to tell you about British roads. British roads,
Speaker 1: especially in recent years, are a fucking disaster. Mostly to
Speaker 1: blame is, of course, the government, especially local governments, who
Speaker 1: spend their budgets on just about anything else but the tarmac.
Speaker 1: Potholes are absolutely everywhere. It's so common they've basically become
Speaker 1: a running joke. Repair work is slow, patchy, and often
Speaker 1: poorly executed. Councils claim they lack funding, but central government
Speaker 1: investment in road maintenance has consistently lagged behind what's needed.
Speaker 1: Instead of tackling long term resurfacing, authorities often opt for cheap,
Speaker 1: temporary fixes that crumble after a few months, leading to
Speaker 1: the same stretch being repaired over and over again. I've
Speaker 1: genuinely seen similarly damaged roads in the combas in East Ukraine,
Speaker 1: and they're at war. Britain is not. Our road network
Speaker 1: is crumbling under the strain of heavy use, bad weather,
Speaker 1: and minimal upkeep. With that, serious, well funded intervention is
Speaker 1: only going to get much worse. Japan, however, is of
Speaker 1: course the total opposite. They are exceptionally good at building roads,
Speaker 1: especially through mountainous terrain like where we're at right now.
Speaker 1: This skill has been built out of necessity. As around
Speaker 1: seventy percent of the country is mountainous, engineers have had
Speaker 1: to master creating safe, durable routes in places where the
Speaker 1: landscape is anything but forgiving. Japanese mountain pass roads like
Speaker 1: these are often feats of precision, blending advanced civil engineering
Speaker 1: with a careful sense of safety and efficiency. You'll find
Speaker 1: winding togay routes with perfect cambers for corners, cautiously designed
Speaker 1: drainage systems to handle heads, and retaining walls built to
Speaker 1: withstand both landslides and earthquakes. Many roads use tunnels and
Speaker 1: elevated sections to reduce sharp gradients, making them easier to
Speaker 1: drive and less prone to weather closures. In winter heavy regions,
Speaker 1: road heating systems and snow shelters keep mountain passes open
Speaker 1: when they'd be impassable elsewhere. It's incredible. The asphalt quality
Speaker 1: is also usually top notch, with smooth surfaces and clearly
Speaker 1: marked lanes, even in remote areas. Barriers and signs are
Speaker 1: well maintained, and reflective paint is common for night driving.
Speaker 1: While of the countries might treat mountain roads as secondary,
Speaker 1: Japan treats them as lifelines. Essential for connecting rural communities.
Speaker 1: We could do with some of that in England. The
Speaker 1: result here is some of the most reliable and well
Speaker 1: crafted mountain pass roads in the world and seeing utility
Speaker 1: with a scenic driving pleasure. As you can imagine, this
Speaker 1: also makes them absolutely perfect for a legal nighttime a
Speaker 1: toge racing. After about five minutes driving up the mountain,
Speaker 1: we pull up to a scene of bright haired lights,
Speaker 1: full dark tints and incredible livery on each and every car.
Speaker 1: There's about a dozen here right now. It's a well
Speaker 1: known road for the underground racing, and tonight we've got
Speaker 1: lucky racers from all different generations have come to put
Speaker 1: the tire to the tarmac. We get out the cars
Speaker 1: and the across team explains to the are the races
Speaker 1: what we're here for? They laugh and ask if we
Speaker 1: really plan to go down the road with them with
Speaker 1: the passenger. All right, nods, feeling like I don't quite
Speaker 1: know what I'm in for. Whilst my work is quite
Speaker 1: hectic and often dangerous, I am most definitely not an
Speaker 1: adrenaline junkie. I think my favorite hobby outside of the
Speaker 1: boxing gym, is chilling out and doing fuck all it
Speaker 1: is not a life goal of mine to risk death
Speaker 1: going god knows how fast down a mountain pass in
Speaker 1: a Honda Civic.
Speaker 2: But here we are.
Speaker 1: One of the across guys points out one of the
Speaker 1: older heads. He's a tall fellow dressed in all black
Speaker 1: designer clothes with his hair dyed dark blonde. His car
Speaker 1: is deep navy all over with a red trim on
Speaker 1: his back window. He has the sticker of Temple Racing.
Speaker 1: He is a true oji of the underground scene here
Speaker 1: in Japan. Now, Temple Racing is one of the most
Speaker 1: legendary crews in a SACA and beyond. Their roots go
Speaker 1: back to nineteen seventy eight in Higashi Sumayoshi, a saka.
Speaker 1: Their team name came from Simon Temple, the character in
Speaker 1: the British TV series The Saint, chosen by the team's
Speaker 1: early leader. You really like that show. Like all Kanjo crews,
Speaker 1: Temple Racing operated within a system of unwritten rules. Every
Speaker 1: team had its own turf on the Kanjo loop, and
Speaker 1: stepping onto another cruise territory without respect could cause conflict.
Speaker 1: Temple Racing was one of those crews you did not
Speaker 1: want to mess around with. Their cars were synonymous with
Speaker 1: the stripped out Honda Civic hatchbacks, the EF nine's, the
Speaker 1: EG six's, and the e K fours. Temple decorated their
Speaker 1: cars with racing inspired liveries modeled after Group A touring cars.
Speaker 1: Temple's cars were built for performance and anonymity, gutted interiors,
Speaker 1: functional arrow mismatched wheels, rough paint jobs, and distinctive camouflage
Speaker 1: patterns to make them harder to identify at speed. Drivers
Speaker 1: often wore masks or covered their faces to protect their identities,
Speaker 1: and cars would sometimes carry false number plates. Despite the
Speaker 1: police crackdown and the withering of the Kanjo scene, clearly
Speaker 1: Temple Racing is still around. To some degree, Temple Racing
Speaker 1: is more than just a name. The guys tell me
Speaker 1: that this fella here is the best downhill grip racer around.
Speaker 1: Temple embodies the scene's loyalty to one's crew, respect for
Speaker 1: the roads, and the refusal to let the culture fade
Speaker 1: into history. If Kando Zoku is a living history of
Speaker 1: Japan's outlaw street racers, Temple Racing is one of its
Speaker 1: most important chapters. They live through the Golden era and
Speaker 1: are still racing around. These guys believe still that the
Speaker 1: roads belong to the brave, and it turns out this
Speaker 1: guy will be racing alongside us. After about thirty minutes
Speaker 1: of discussion, sending off younger lookouts to check the roads
Speaker 1: and examining each other's cars, is decided that the race
Speaker 1: is on. Eight cars all line up in order. The
Speaker 1: roads are far too narrow to overtake at high speed,
Speaker 1: so I'm not too sure how one wins the race.
Speaker 1: Each person I ask is a different explanation, but I
Speaker 1: think it works like this. The cars zoom down the
Speaker 1: steep mountain road in single file, high speed controlled turning.
Speaker 1: Then when they get to the bottom, where there's a
Speaker 1: wider area to maneuver, they all quickly swerve back around,
Speaker 1: trying to get their car up the hill in a
Speaker 1: better position than when they came down it. I think
Speaker 1: that's how it works anyway. Honestly, the thrill of the
Speaker 1: chase is more what they're after right now, rather than
Speaker 1: a coherent race system. With street racing clamped down on
Speaker 1: so hard by the cops, they all have to just
Speaker 1: take what they can. I'm feeling nervous if one of
Speaker 1: these drivers makes a mistake. We're looking at certain death
Speaker 1: if the car mounts the small fence at the side
Speaker 1: of the road. It's not great either way. I hop
Speaker 1: into one of the curs of the across lads and
Speaker 1: await patiently as the engine's rev in anticipation for the
Speaker 1: go signal. I strap myself in with the X shaped
Speaker 1: four point seat belt.
Speaker 2: I say a small prayer.
Speaker 1: A few minutes past the spot at the front of
Speaker 1: the queue puts his hand up. It's time to go.
Speaker 1: The cars in front pull off at warp speed. My
Speaker 1: driver slams the gearstick and stamps the pedals. The Civic
Speaker 1: burst forward, and before I can even catch my breath,
Speaker 1: we're taking The first corner breaks a pumped the wheel stick,
Speaker 1: and we grip around the bend with total precision. To
Speaker 1: my left is a blurred, jagged rock face. To the
Speaker 1: right a darkness below over the fence line that the
Speaker 1: speed we're going, we tear right through it. In front
Speaker 1: and behind us, the headlights of the other cars shake
Speaker 1: and sliders. We speed down the course. Driver man handles
Speaker 1: the steering wheel as if he's fighting for his life.
Speaker 1: The car jolts from side to side as we pick
Speaker 1: up speed, tear through sharp.
Speaker 2: Corners, like nothing.
Speaker 1: My hands are so tightly gripped around my seat belt
Speaker 1: that they The driver looks at me quick and bursts
Speaker 1: out laughing.
Speaker 2: I laugh too, This is crazy. The car is a
Speaker 2: roller coaster.
Speaker 1: With tinted windows and scorched tires. The engine screams at
Speaker 1: a steady pitch. Piston's working overtime. As the crank shaft
Speaker 1: spins fast enough to shake the striped chassis, heat builds
Speaker 1: up under the bonnet. Cooling fans were keeping it in check.
Speaker 1: Each gear chain jolts through the transmission, sharp and carrying
Speaker 1: weight at high speed. We finish the Trosen course, then
Speaker 1: spin around and fly straight back up it. I can't
Speaker 1: even tell it. We're in a better position than before,
Speaker 1: but I can see the Temple racing car spin off
Speaker 1: even faster than we are. My driver eases off the
Speaker 1: throttle for a heartbeat. As we take another corner, the
Speaker 1: car slides, he stamps back on it. The rear tires
Speaker 1: lose grip for a moment, sliding across the tarmac in
Speaker 1: a controlled sweep. The limited slip differential keeps both wheels
Speaker 1: spinning together, feeding talk evenly. As the car takes the strain,
Speaker 1: The suspension dips under the sudden weight shift, then rises
Speaker 1: as the car set into the grip. Tires hissed and squeal,
Speaker 1: faint smoke trailing out the exhaust in front. The steering
Speaker 1: wheel moves violently in the driver's hands. The steering wheel
Speaker 1: moves violently in the driver's hands, with heavy but precise
Speaker 1: adjustments to keep the nose aimed just ahead of the slide.
Speaker 1: Every system is working near its limit. Engine, gearbox, suspension, tires.
Speaker 1: In the midst of the high speed chaos, the civic
Speaker 1: moves in a careful balance. There's a constant connection between
Speaker 1: driver and machine. The corner unwinds, grip returns, and the
Speaker 1: car straightens. The engine's still holding its own. As we
Speaker 1: pull up to the top of the hill. I tell
Speaker 1: the driver I'm getting the fuck out. I survived the run.
Speaker 1: He can do the rest on his own. He laughs,
Speaker 1: pats my back, and then stop so I can get out.
Speaker 1: Him and the rest of the cars quickly screech off
Speaker 1: back down the track. They'll run this road a dozen
Speaker 1: times before the end of the night. There and back
Speaker 1: was enough for me. My heart's racing is ringing, palm sweaty.
Speaker 1: The racing k is not for me, but I can
Speaker 1: now completely feel the appeal of it. Next week is
Speaker 1: the final part of the Away Days podcast. You've been
Speaker 1: listening to the Away Days podcast. To watch independent Away
Speaker 1: Days documentaries, subscribe to our channel at YouTube dot com
Speaker 1: slash at away Days TV. The a Wait Days Podcast
Speaker 1: is a production of H eleven Studio for Cool Zone Media. Reporting, producing, writing,
Speaker 1: editing and research by me Jake Hanrahan, co producing by
Speaker 1: Sophie Lichtman, Music by Sam Black, sound mixed by Splicing Block.
Speaker 1: Photography by Johnny Pickock and Louis Hollis. Graphic design by
Speaker 1: Laura Adamson and Casey Highfield.