Video: witness the fiery terror of figure-of-eight racing… with buses

Yesterday’s discovery of the World Figure 8 Championship provoked unanimous horror in the TG office, with several members of staff now seeking counselling to address the psychological scars.

By the sounds of it, your reaction was much the same.

We couldn’t possibly have imagined a race formula more wince-inducing, but luckily the United States of Motorsport Nutjobs have done the job for us. Again, this an old clip, but having found it, we feel obliged to bring it your attention.

Figure-of-eight school bus racing (yes, really) operates on exactly the same principle as every other Figure 8 race, except the tendency for buses to be much longer and more metally than cars means there are consequently more accidents. Big ones.

The above race took place at the Orlando Speedworld circuit in 2011, as part of the East-Coast Crash-A-Rama series which also includes a ‘Boat and Camper Trailer’ race and a ‘Full-size Demolition Derby’.

A quick scan of the rules reveals that five-point seat belts and reinforced doors are mandatory, although nowhere does it mention that the schoolchildren must be emptied from the bus first.

The winner - likely to be the sole survivor as far as we can tell – receives a cash prize of $1000, which presumably goes towards covering the massive insurance premiums faced by those crazy enough to enter.

We’re happy to sit and watch from the sidelines. Any takers?