Full Throttle

I’ve already disassembled one loonbat for suggesting a cut back or suspension of NASCAR racing due to the acute fuel shortage created by Katrina, there is no reason to stop now.

And frankly I’m not surprised the President of the Philippines via her energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla has drafted an order to ban all forms of motorsports in the country.

On Friday Energy Under-secretary Peter Abaya said the order would just be a revival of the old martial-law edict of former President Ferdinand Marcos prohibiting all forms of races in the country. This covered all racing disciplines.

Ace driver Pocholo Ramirez lamented the impending ban on Saturday, saying this would put a lot of people involved in the motorsports industry out of work.

He said the move would kill the dreams of Filipino youngsters hoping to join and drive in the prestigious Formula One series.

The highest profile event under threat by the ban would be the scheduled Asian Formula 3 event to be held Nov 5-6 in Batangas , Philippines about 50 miles South of Manila.

The most prestigious series in Asia it’s current champion is Christian Jones, son of former F1 World Champion Alan Jones. Christian started the ‘05 series but has since been named lead driver for Australia’s entry in the A1 Grand Prix series that opens next month.

Keep this in mind, AF3 events consist of two races per scheduled event and unlike a 4-500 mile NASCAR event they are much shorter with a field of cars that number less than 20 in most cases. One weekend of racing, according to officials, would consume approx. 20,000 liters (10,500 gallons) of fuel. Also note only two AF3 events are held each year. Admittedly they use the same fuel the general public has access to, but really, what’s the point?

Other racing events held here are drag racing sanctioned by the Philippine Drag Racing Federation (PDRF) and the Angeles City Hotrod Association (AHRA. As a general rule their events are only held twice a month and no where near the scale of America’s hundreds of 1/4 miles and races held each week year round.

Pocholo Ramirez who comes from a family that is very active in the local racing scene makes a good point in noting potential damage the the young racers here. Although only 15 years of age Michele Bumgarner has set the Asian Karting scene on fire for the last 3 years as she has progressed up the ladder. Her race team, Michele Bumgarner Racing, has had success as the only three-time Asian Karting champion. She recently won the Sentul Indonesia event competing in the premiere Intercon-A class and gain solo leadership in the Asian Zone Karting series. Michele has also achieved success in the US, Italy, and the Czech Republic. In addition she has been chosen to be part of the Formula BMW Asia Championship this year. Question for President Arroyo: How much fuel will you save by cutting short the career of the “Philippines Danica?”

Here’s a little background on Madam President and her previous actions related to gas savings and clean air. Numbers are hard to come by, but in just two cities Quezon City (part of metro Manila) and Puerto Princesa in the South there were 32,000 tricycles registered in 2003. In a country of 85 million it’s not a stretch to say the number of tricycles burning up fuel probably reaches the seven figure level.

Two years ago a “clean air” bill was passed that required all tricycles to be of the more efficiate and less polluting 4-cycle type vice the predominate 2-cycle. Operators were given nearly a year to comply. The law went into effect and a massive protest ensued.
The President heard calls of “we didn’t know,” “we can’t afford it,” and “not enough time to switch.” She quickly suspended the requirement. To the determent of the fuel supply and the air quality.

Why is she playing the conservation card now you ask? The portion of the population hit the hardest of the rise in fuel costs are the poorest members (about 70%) of society. She desprately needs their political support to fend off two impeachment petitions filed against her. One for connections to the gambling syndicates and the second for possible rigging the election that placed her in office.

It’s nothing more than a political stunt in an effort to save her phoney baloney job. And I bet it quietly disappears. She got her publicity, the poorest of the poor read she is thinking of them and is “saving” a whopping total of 10,500 gallons of gas! Not to mention the (insert sarcasim tags here) vast amount saved by stopping kart racing.

Kart Racing, Auto Racing, Sports, PDRF, AHRA