I work with a guy who raced it several years in the 80s. He is a very smart guy and I wonder what it takes to just ignore the danger and hit the rev limiter in every gear.
When he says “I have a cemetery full of friends with good intentions” to a group of people, I am the only one in the group that knows he is using the term literally.
I was looking at the kill stats and it is interesting that more spectators are killed some years than competitors.