This ethographic study about the "rachas" of motos and cars is grounded around the question, if and in how far the acceleration of motors could serve as a methaphor for the acceleration of fluid, flexible and undetermined par-courses of life in the context of "surmodern" societies. The objective is first to understand the significations given to the experiences of speed and of the risks implied, in order to analyse then the relationship between the youth's risk conduct and the rites of passage. We will discuss the potentialities and limits of comprehending the "rachas" on one side as an individualised form of a passage ritual and on the other side as a ludicrous expression of play and joy. Thus we could interpret the "rachas" like other varieties of youth culture as a language of singularisation and affiliation emphasized by practices of traditional hegemonic masculinity.
acceleration; par-courses; risk; rite of passage