I agree that the United States is a bit flawed as far as complex racing (that involve heavy cornering) is concerned. America is somewhat quick to react and assimilate to differences when inflicted upon, therefore I'm guessing perhaps 5-10 years down the road, we will be watching Ralf Schumacher retire in Laguna Seca...or Markus Gronholm taking the WRC in Laughlin...never know. The market is reacting a lot faster to import road racing than before with the likes of Stu, Super Street and Speed Vision presenting more exciting forms of racing to the American public. Not only that, but it also brings up possibilities of Americans racing with these Europeans. Already Video Option has come to the US to tape an event, this is a pretty good start in terms of formulating new types of organized racing in America rivaling NASCAR, Indy, NHRA etc...
Touge is not an organized form of racing, but cheap mods is quite common to be found up there. When you say "we" concerning touge, you're talking about A LOT of people...including drivers from Japan, this is how Keiichi got his start with TRD. Even after he flew is CP110 over a cliff, he still pursued and managed to gain his knowledge. I dont know about most of you, but I'm not wealthy, and when stuff breaks, WHATEVER WORKS WILL DO, up to a limit...this doesn't mean if I break my shift stick I'm just gonna take a broom-stick and stick it into the tranny. Touge has taught me a lot about mechanics and motorsports as far as my car is concerned. If only people think with an open-mind, **** would be a lot easier to understand.
Recently I think touge has been placed with a bad reputation...inexperienced people start coming up with an attitude, push themselves to a limit without knowing, and end up flying off cliffs/walls. What does this do? It kills the atmosphere and fun. I'm sick and tired of using a winch more often than my car up there (which is the main reason I stopped for a while). I've learned a lot from touge though, I never push myself to the limit when I first started out. I've crashed as well, but it taught me a lesson which I just got comfortable with. Touge is a place where people share modifications, experiences, and straight out talk to each other about anything going on. Lately, "superior groups" have been formed, people start talking trash, and the pride of being an elder up there has grown. This is how it is everywhere, but since we're in America it shouldn't be a surprise anyways. America has the potential and the talent to explore and establish new types of racing, I'm just waiting. For now, speed channel will do
