So why could a Piranha fish be compared to an F1 race car?
The only way for me to explain this is to ask our art lovers to read these two scenes and make their comparison;
Scene one
Capybara, a rodent the size of a medium dog comes down to the waters edge on a small tributary of the mighty Amazon river.
A Caiman crocodile cruising just off the waters edge, sensing food makes the attack dragging the struggling animal into deeper water, by rolling its body over and over, the prey is drowned.
The commotion in the water and the smell of blood attracts a small school of twenty piranha, they get into position.These fish are all pristine specimens of the red belly species and all ready to carry out what they do best, feed.
The Caiman pulls a limb off the dead animal and swims away. The frenzy starts, the water turns red and the ‘race’ is on as the leading fish hit the carcass, their razor sharp teeth going into action.
What happens next is inevitable or just natural. When the feeding is at its most manic and visibility is minimal the fish start bumping each other to gain a better position.This leads to the competitive school taking pieces out of each other in their struggle to gain an advantage and get to the front.
Some unlucky Piranha are forced to quit the attack and leave the mayhem to seek shelter in a safe area and recover for another day.The winner is the fish who has eaten its fill, there is not a lot left of the poor Capybara as the school move off and start getting ready for their next feeding ‘race’.
This scene has been happening every day for thousands of years somewhere in the Amazon.
Scene two
Its race day, the two-tone notes of the electronic pass reader chimes as the personnel enter the paddock.All twenty modern grand prix cars beautifully engineered and meticulously prepared rest under their covers and will take to the circuit in five hours driven by the best drivers that have reached this level by being winners in their motorsport careers.
The race will be the shortest of the season and the fastest.The circuit has tons of history, built in a lovely green park it has seen its fair amount of drama in its one hundred and two years. It is also the home race for the most well know team in motorsport history whose cars are painted red.
The build up is a religious experience and before anyone realises the start marshal walks across the back of the grid with his green flag in the air. The red lights are on, the engine noise increases, the crowd stand and the lights go out.The race is on!
It’s a long run to the first corner, an awkward slow chicane, and a place of action on lap one, cars lean on each other to gain the advantage. Tyre smoke causes slight visibility issues, team mates that have raced together for seasons make contact,a front endplate flies off scattering razor sharp shards of carbon fibre onto the circuit. All cars get through but two have to get out of the battle and limp back to their pit hopefully for repair by the crews, they will be out of the running on a short fast race like this.
Another two cars take pieces out of each other when a desperate challenge goes wrong at the fast chicane after the bridge. One is left on the grass in a sheltered area at the exit of the corner and the other limps back to the pit, its race over and in a safe place to recover for another day. Before all realise the race is over and the winner sprays the champagne, points go to him and his team.The crews pack up the cars and kit and move off to the next event.
This scene happens on race tracks of the world championship twenty four times a year in different countries with different outcomes.
I hope our racing piranha sculpture collectors can see the link between these two scenes and enjoy their racing fish as much a we enjoy designing and making them.