Muammar Al Khadafi

"Pahala joint the racing", Mr.Sagala insert those words in our long distance call from California one day. To clarify this shocking news, we dial the phone and talk to Pahala, my youngers  :"Did you ever joint car racing there?", I ask him curiosity. With  smile tone he answered : "No papi, its not true", he said. But from his tone, I had a feeling that it is true. It doesn't matter for me since he love a cars since childhood . My question is can he afford it?.
Later when they spend the holiday in Jakarta, they hand me a Betamax video and the pictures of his Genio Honda sport model, showing his is in action, racing.



He enjoy speedy with his Honda in free way in South California when he study there until one day, un noticed, a helicopter fly over his head  to monitor all car's speed along the toll road. His car exceded  the maximum speed, tell him to stop and then remind to obey the law and hand him a ticket.

                                             Toby,s car

But his love for racing emerge again when  racing season  one morning at February 22, 1999 at Sentul circuit, an internasional racing arena,  outsite of Jakarta. My curiosity willing to watch  him drive his white Mitshubishi Lancer sedan B.21GX with big number  69 in front door. Before going to the field, he hired a technician to ajust machine accelerator and emptied the compartmen as much as possible to make it lighter and adding the speed. Unfortunately, as a beginners he lost the competition.

I remembered long time ago, when I went to training for a month and my position and office car take care by someone else, Pahala crying and call me. That is how he love the car from his childhood. Then after he enter high school, we never realized when he really start driving a car, we didn't know, we just know he sit behind the wheel and drive fluently.

When he transfered to California high school, we bought him a Genio Honda, sport car, since his brother class in another place. One time we notice that his car modified, following the trend  of youngsters  in State and Jakarta as well. He modified the car frequently, not like his sister and brother, keep the original one. This hobby then continue when he come back to Jakarta again. Not only his own car modified, but our car too, a Nissan Jeep,  make it shorter and not comfort to drive. When everybody saw the car passed, the their head turn to see and smile.

The funny and interesting thing to see when his hobby come down to  Tobias, his first son, age 3 years old. Amazingly, he understand all kind of cars on the road. If asking him a question what kind of car just passing by in a high speed, he mention the right mark precisely. So my blood come down to my son and grandson as well.




Toby behind the stir





Nothing wrong with this hobby as long as you can afford it, since this sport needed a lot of money and only high class community could pay.