TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Red Bull Showrun street racing show debuted in Taichung on Saturday (Sept. 28), attracting a record crowd of 48,000 people, said organizers.
Total attendance was based on 30,000 general admission tickets, which sold out minutes after going on sale, per CNA. An estimated 18,000 people lined the street course to witness the action.
The event was the only premier Red Bull-sponsored event in Asia to feature Formula 1 (F1) division race cars. It required 1,500 security personnel drawn from Taichung’s five police precincts.
Japanese driver Tsunoda Yuki drove the championship RB8 on city streets. He entertained fans by “burning rubber” and spinning tires in an exciting mix of speed, noise, and fumes.

Tsunoda wowed the audience by performing high-speed maneuvers, pushing the V8 engine to the limit. During the demonstration, the vehicle’s tires seemingly became so hot that the RB8 vehicle appeared to catch fire, per UDN.
Fortunately, the Red Bull pit team was prepared for such an incident. Within seconds of the vehicle coming to a stop, a half dozen pit crew members rushed to the RB8 with fire extinguishers.
According to Red Bull, such an occurrence is normal, as fire extinguishers are regularly deployed as a precautionary measure to cool down vehicles. Organizers prepared for any potential mishap or accident.