Racing Development Club speeds into action

The+Racing+Development+Club+discusses+racing+in+multiple+forms.

Photo used with permission from Wiki Commons

The Racing Development Club discusses racing in multiple forms.

The Racing Development Club is working every second and last Tuesday of the month to bring people together through the education and exposure of students to automotive motorsport.
This club will include discussing the basics like changing tires and watching recent Formula 1 races. It will deep dive into the science and engineering behind racing. “It’s going to be great. We are going to have tons of fun,” Co-president David Horcasitas said.

The co-presidents urge students to join the first-ever car club here because of the strong bonded community. “It’s people from different cliques in our school that we all have this common goal, that we love cars. I think that’s what makes it special,” Co-president Caleb Tamon said.

Like any sport, racing can bring people together. “People get together and watch a game over the weekend,” Horcasitas said.

Racing is important in the world because there is engineering, science, and technology that is involved. Plus, like any sport there is a sense of pride, patriotism and representation when certain teams and drivers thrive. “For supporters, see the race in Abu Dhabi last year. I’m pretty sure like 50% of the Dutch population came,” Tamon said.

Members say they enjoy observing the sport. “For me, it’s the adrenaline, because you’re not in the car but just watching them being so close, at such high speeds it makes you nervous at the same time. It keeps you on edge and that’s what’s entertaining. I think when your favorite car or team wins it’s like you won the race, too. You’re really involved when you’re watching,” Tamon said.

According to one of the co-presidents, there is discrimation in this industry. “The racing world is kind of male, white dominated. So I feel like you should have female and color. I mean you go to different countries and there are definitely people with different nationalities on the team. But I feel like primarily just one skin tone,” Tamon said.

In order to improve diversity in auto motosport, members believe a lot of that has to do with the fan base. “Getting a more diverse fanbase would encourage diversity within racing,” Horcasitas said.

In the club, Formula 1, Indycar, Nascar, Formula drift, Modern cars, Typical street cars, Hyper cars, and more will be discussed. They will go over different drivers, teams, and engines. “We primarily watch Formula 1 but we are still going to still go into Nascar and Indycar because everybody has a different racing league that they enjoy most. So I feel like that’s fairest to do,” Tamon said.

Even in Formula 1, there are factors that come into play like how hard you are going on the accelerator, fuel consumption, tyre degeneration. “There is a lot of precision and perfection,” Tamon said.

The goal of the Racing Development Club is to bring attention to motosport. “I would say just exposing people is always better than leaving them unbeknownst to what Formula 1 is,” Tamon said.