THE ONDO MOTORRACE: AFTER THE RACE, & SMOKE SETTLES, COMES THE PARTY

 

The smokin’ Hills Golf Resort has the best view of Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State where the 6^th Ondo Motor rally will take place. Ilara-Mokin popularly referred to as the second capital of Ondo State by some has the freshest air and extraordinary history of golf landscape in the world. The hills surrounding the town are legendary for their vigour vapour smoke in the mornings and evenings and sparkles under the sun’s rays. And on the 8^th of April, 2023, it will be open for business, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors.

When the work is done, with the business of racing, the whole kit and caboodle is over and the drivers, technical teams and rest of the workgroup let down their tools, comes the play and party. The race organizers usually hold an after-race party of carnival standing which, for many in attendance who have been present at such motor race festivals in the past, represents the main attractive off-track fun and entertainment; a meaningful, ritualized part of the event closely linked to, as the organisational name suggests, the work & Play culture.

The 6th Ondo Motor Race, coming starting on the 8th of April, 2023, will follow the same pattern, the festive celebrations often continue at the bar, restaurant and open space areas of the smoking hills golf course, and it typically never closes early!

So Daramola, a student and soon-to-be professional physiotherapist and computer-gifted, of Medical University, Ondo, Blossom, of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba, Ondo, and Nianna of the University of Benin, there it is. A partial response to your query about, “what you youths,” get, in addition to the car racing!

Now, I said “partial answer,” to your question. To that, let me clarify further:

It is a festival and, in a festival, as you all know, you get a potpourri of scintillating and exhilarating undertakings, and pursuits.

Once the rev, race and completion on the tracks are over daily, the bars, fields and any other available spaces take over. On the ground would be my favourite off-the-cuff best music creator in the world, the ‘kegites’ on hand to ‘gyrate.’ By the time of the party, the beautiful leggy chair-leading ladies would have changed into much more comfortable party wears and continue to dazzle all and sundries with their presence, and the cultural dancers would be on hand to thrill and add glare with their traditional beats and dance. Trust me, every fun-lovers wanting to let their hair down once in a while for fun, health and longevity reasons won’t want to miss any of these!

Motor racing by Work & Play is not just your run-of-the-mill event, it is a festival of feasting on the fast lane!! It is a festival to unwind, wine and dance; where the organizers put in the work and everyone else is invited to play.

If you have not experienced the Work & Play Promotions Motor race events live and up close, then you have not experienced once in a lifetime and real-time true fight-or-flight hormone rush. Imagine what it is likes to experience watching cars bearing down towards you and zooming past at the maximum speed of up to 300 km/h. It is better witnessed than described.

Nothing beats the Adrenalin rush, that unique sound of motor revs, the razmataz of music blaring, the girls, the barbecued food, the drinks, and the pockets of party performances, by their cars of rich upward mobile youths here and there. It is heavenly.

And no matter what kind of Motorsports you’re witnessing, whether it’s demolition derbies where it is all about cars colliding into one another until only one winner remains, whether it is an F1 race or motor rallies such as the one coming up in Ilara, the atmosphere on the track and off tracks is always one that is lively, electric, and intense. Perhaps the best way to describe it is to imagine the atmosphere of expectation of a large crowd in a live concert with the combined characters of music artists; Davido, Olamide, Kiss Daniel, Whizkid, etc staged at a festival!

There are always large crowds, food and drinks stand, and of course, just like you would expect in such a festival, music, loads of it, loud, pleasing, and booming.

All of the attractions and enticements above considered, there is an added touch, to this flair according to the CEO of Work & Play Promotions, Ade Ojuoko. It is a unique opportunity for all youth, youths at heart and adult gamers to participate and win big money. As the Chief Operations Officer, Gamr, Kunmi Adenipebi, further explained, there will be a virtual game competition at the festival and it will mirror virtually, the exact real live one taking place on the track, it is a real-time competition where participants can be assembled to race, it is a multiplayer game with two participants playing at a go, and can accommodate a total of 256 participants overall. Additionally, there is a chat room where every gamer, wishes to meet. Finally, there is an incentive #200,000.00 cash price and other prizes for the winners. 

In my next articles I will be bringing to you, interviews with some divas; goddesses, princesses, queens and kings in their right, of entertainment expected at the festival.