Here we see what is both speed and metal together with humans, cast aloft in celebration of speed and metal together with humans. Of difficulty. In difficulty, we have the speed. Transformational speed, in that it transforms a car into a car soaring through the air, that air being the air that exists above the ground, that ground being the ground upon which is run this year’s Rally Finland.
The ground, itself, is both there and not there. In its thereness does one find acceleration. In its not thereness there is, instead, air. This is air that the cars, having accelerated, fly through. It is, yes, that these cars are jumping. It is also, yes, that the ground drops out beneath them. What is clear is that when they are in this bi-natured state of hovering and leaping, of jumping and falling, it is cool and we like it.
Observe at the start of this video by the wonderful Tor Andre Børresen, as rally human Sebastien Ogier launches his rally car, a Citroën C3. It is about ten or so seconds into the video, the first thing after the intro. The car goes high up into the air, as well as far down the road, again, in the air. When the car lands, it has spent so much time traveling both high and far into the air that the suspension bottoms out in such a way as to send the diffuser of the car flying. It flies on its own path. It flies its own flight. One flight begets another flight. Diffuser flight, son of Citroën flight.
The diffuser itself: an aerodynamic device meant to keep the car on the ground. An aerodynamic device that is a product of the current generation of WRC cars that are wider, are more powerful, are more in need of aerodynamic appendages to aid them in staying grounded. It is a symbol of the human condition of Speed Adoration and Anti-Sense to make a car that needs a diffuser to keep it sucked down to the ground and then to send that car flying through the air in such a way that when it lands it casts off its diffuser like it is laughing about it.
Ogier will be retiring from the WRC after next season. Ott Tänak (with the good hair) won both the event of Rally Finland overall and claimed the fastest time on the final power stage, upon which we see this wild jump by Ogier.
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