Driver's education

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

In what is believed to be the first event of its kind, motorsports organizers have turned a crime into competition at Hawai'i Raceway Park.

Drifting has become a popular sport in Hawai'i, atrracting more than 20 competitors at the King of the Street event last month. Justin R. Dotson • Special to The Advertiser

The Sunday event attracted more than 1,400 spectators who applauded competitors for their skill and bravery, and served as a platform for organizers to push for racing and stunt riding in a controlled environment.

"This is the same stuff people do every weekend illegally on the streets," event organizer David Shimokawa said. "The reason they do it is for attention. We wanted to get them to the track in front of a big crowd so they can be appreciated. We hope to tame illegal racing and accidents associated with that through this. We can't stop it. The best we can do is control it."

Spectators enjoy show

For many of the spectators, such as Kealii Kane, 21, the exhibition was worth the $10 admission to see motorcyclists popping wheelies and cars speeding and sliding across the track.

"We don't see this every day," said Kane, who works as a banker. "It's good to come down here in a controlled environment and see what other people have done to their cars, what skills they have in driving, and maybe talk to them to see how much they love this sport."

Shimokawa said the import car performance market in America has reached nearly $2 billion a year in sales and big budget movies such as "The Fast and the Furious" and "Biker Boyz" have further glorified the illegal world of street racing.

Shimokawa said he wanted police to attend the events and talk with the competitors and spectators, but so far they haven't.

"I think if (police) were out there in person talking to our drivers on a peer level, they'll be respected just the same," Shimokawa said. "They need to show these guys and say, 'we appreciate your skill, let's keep it in a safe environment.' Don't discourage it. They have to encourage it in the right way."

Shimokawa said a car stunt called "drifting" has become popular in Hawai'i. He said the maneuver — described as a controlled slide — can be seen in cars "sliding around in cops-and-robber chase movies" and in car commercials.

"A lot of people are interested in drifting because it's very visually dynamic," Shimokawa said. "I just saw car commercials for Oldsmobile and the Mazda 6; those cars are drifting. The Nissan Maxima has commercials where the Maxima is drifting across a patch of water. They put it in slow motion. The company uses that shot because it looks so much more impressive than a Nissan just driving down the highway. Who wants to see that?"

Robert Rico Aponte Jr., president of Titan Motorsports Car Audio Clothing Co., said certain vehicles perform better in drifting, drag racing and stunt riding.

Cars with rear-wheel drives, such as the Toyota Corolla and Nissan 240SX, are prized for drifting, he said. For drag racing, Acuras and Hondas are popular, and for motorcycles, Yamahas and Hondas rule the local circuit, Aponte said.

Avoid problems on track

Like Shimokawa, Aponte urged drivers to come to the track to practice and compete.

"If they don't come to the track and they try to do it on the street, they'll run into a lot of big problems: cops, accidents, stuff like that," Aponte said.

Krystle Ventura, 16, of Kailua High School, said she enjoyed watching the daredevil feats with her friend Kane.

"It's really cool that there's actually some people with guts that come out here and perform things like this — drifting around those turns — it could cost them their life," Ventura said. "I pretty much believe that anywhere else it would be illegal and there would be cops in instant time."

Both Kane and Ventura said they felt safe from their vantage point, which was about 200 feet away from the track. Some viewing spots had no barrier separating the track from the spectators.

"It looks like the race officials measured the distance from the caution line to the track pretty accurately," Kane said. "I think they did a pretty good job. They figure there's a lot of people standing out here and they don't want anything to happen at the track. We're maybe about a good 100 or 200 feet from the track itself."

Added Ventura: "I don't think anything is going to happen. The drivers aren't really going nuts or anything."

One of the best motorcycle stunt riders in Hawai'i, Rhonwen "Mana" Holmes, 25, compared his sport to ultimate fighting.

"If I wasn't doing this I would enter submission fighting," Holmes said. "Something just as nuts. Drifting looks just as crazy."

Holmes said he appreciated the King of the Street event, a competition he said where participants can perform stunts and "not worry about getting arrested and tickets."

Holmes said stunt riders generally perform for attention, rush and respect — and not necessarily in that order.

"Everybody has something they like doing," said Holmes, who rides in a group called the Usual Suspects. "People play paintball. Some guys drift, others fight. We stunt ride.

"I would do this for free. Pretty much everyone I know does it more for respect. It gives you street credit."

No place to practice

Holmes said most of the stunt riders practice on the street because they have nowhere else. On the Mainland, some riders have access to abandoned airstrips, he said.

"We got to practice on the freeway," Holmes said. "If we had a good place to ride, it wouldn't be too bad, because we would be out of the public eye.

"Right now we can only ride on Sundays, because Sundays everybody is off, relaxing at home, and the freeways are more open," Holmes continued. "If we had a place 24-7, we would be there every day. If we had an airstrip, it would be perfect."

Kalani Jaentsch, 26, agreed with Holmes and said motorcycle stunt riders just need a legal, open spot.

"People complain about the skaters skating on sidewalks and at the libraries," said Jaentsch, who is in the National Guard. "They built them skateparks. They complain about dirt bikes riding on the street. They built them dirt bike tracks.

"This is a new sport, up and coming, why not help us out?" Jaentsch added. "All of us pay taxes, all of us pay our dues. Give us a place to ride, then we'll stay off the streets. We don't want to cause trouble. We're not the Hells Angels. We just want to do our hobby."