Saturday 28 May 2011

Gentlemen... Start Your Engines!

It rained all week. Hard. And you know what that does to a grassy field?
That's right.... MUD!
We went to Schomberg Fair to take in the Demolition Derby on Friday night.

If you've never been to a Demolition Derby at a country fair, go prepared, expecially if it's been raining. It's loud, it's dirty and it's a mud bath. You need boots, something dry to sit on, plenty of food and drink, and earplugs. Did I say it's loud? The cars compete in a concrete lined jousting arena bunker, and the main aim is to disable all the other competitors by the drivers deliberately ramming their vehicles into one another. Forwards, backwards, sideways, anything goes.

I personally think you have to be a little touched to compete in this sport.

The cars look like they've been through the wars before they even enter the battleground. They are stripped of anything that might be dangerous.... nothing left inside the cars except the drivers seat and seatbelt, no glass, no windscreen, no upholstery, no trim, no nothing. Doors are welded shut so the driver has to hop in through the window.

There's even a class for minivans!
The only major rule is that you don't ram the driver's door, and that's why Demolition Derby rules require the drivers door to be painted white with black numbers.

We met up with this car and driver after the race when we stopped at Timmy's for hot chocolate. He said he only built the car the previous night, stripping the interior and getting it ready for the race.... bought it from a little old lady who only drove it on Sundays! But he came second in his class, vanquishing 4 opponents.

And this is what happens to the tires after the race..... I don't fancy changing that flat by the side of the road.

13 comments:

  1. Wow what people do for some crazy events, lol. Hope poor lady will never know what happened to her car. Thanks for sharing, great pics. Anna :)

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  2. Used to love the demo derbies - we had a car make over here, a Chrysler Valiant and the large sedan models werwe ideal for demolition 'cos they had three quarter rail chassis and deep boots and engine bays - ideal vehicle and a good second-hand valiant always commanded a premium price as most sellers knew what you were buying it for.

    The motorcyle speedways were also popular with us when we were younger, especially the tandem side-car events with the 'ballast' passenger leaning out as far as they could on the corners!

    Must find some old photos.

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  3. It looks like fun - noisy and messy but fun!

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  4. I guess everyone has their own idea of fun. :))

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  5. I read the updates to your blog. I was thinking, well – I was kind of imagining, that if LaFayette had not spent his fortune helping little bands of terrorists, at the time, to fight the Crown, the US would be celebrating Queen Victoria’s birthday now, no ? (I bet many will get mad at me for saying that – but after reading history books, well this is the way I see it.)

    I never saw the rain in France during all the time we were there. It did rain in Vienna, for 20 minutes. Here in Georgia we received the aftermath of the bad tornadoes last week – very strong storms with trees falling, but since then it is been sunny and pretty. But it is warm in the high 80s, low 90s (30-33 C.) Thanks for coming to my blog and leaving comments.

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  6. Sheesh, and I thought we were nuts! (The TT road carnage is about to start on Monday).. good to know we are not alone!

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  7. This sounds totally insane....lol!
    Ramming each other--Lord Help Us. Not sure I would be going to see all that considering the noise and the mud, etc....You are one game lady, my dear...!

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  8. And do they all end up with whiplash???? This is ovbviously the advanced stage of the bumper cars at the county fair, Sham. I actually think it would be fun to watch...since I LOVE the bumper cars. :) Not sure I'd want to be hit but I sure would have fun crashing into the others. I wonder what that says about me?? :D

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  9. There's something quite exhilarating about watching crazy people ram their cars together :)

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  10. When our boys were young we often went to the races and demolition derbys. Noisy definitely but fun. Not too fond of the rain and mud though.
    I'm crazy but I thought its lots of fun.

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  11. looks and sounds like a bucket of FUN. we had things like this where I lived, but i never took part, more's the pity....

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  12. oh, my ears still ache from the motorcycles 2 weeks ago! But i've never been to a demolition derby...could be interesting! as long as i have those earplugs.

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