Lawnmower racing: West Sussex field hosts 12-hour endurance event

BBC News

a day ago

Every year in West Sussex, dozens of drivers line up at the start of a prestigious motor race - but the vehicles might be more at home in a back garden, and there is no tarmac in sight.This is Le Mow, an annual 12-hour lawn mower race in Wisborough Green, known as the most affordable way to take part in competitive motorsport. It runs all through the night, from 19:00 BST to 07:00 BST and whoever makes the most laps around the track wins. "I've raced cars on circuits and nothing feels as fast as this, they can get up to 55mph," Callum McIntyre, who is competing in this year's race, told the BBC.
Competitors stop every 45 minutes to pull into the pit lane, refuel, and fix damages to the mower - or to the drivers. "I've not had any bad injuries, only broken ribs," Callum's teammate Glyn Saunders, 54, said.Teams are typically made up of three drivers who share the effort throughout the 12 hours. Just finishing the race is a huge achievement.
Daz Whitehead, of the team Northerners Kick Grass, is the most successful driver in the history of the race.Last year's victory earned him his seventh overall win, coming 26 years after his first, but this year his goals have changed. "Mark Rostron, who was part of our winning team last year, sadly passed away a couple days after last year's race," Mr Whitehead said."The idea is just to race in his memory and what will be will be in terms of result."
'No better feeling'
Lawn mower racing was dreamt up in 1973 at a pub in Wisborough Green by a group of friends bemoaning the state of motorsport and commercialisation. One suggested they race lawn mowers and reclaim the sport's values. Fifty two years later, this still remains true. "It's one of the cheapest forms of motorsport, which is probably why most people are getting into it," Nick Webb, who is competing for the first time this year, said."The cart will probably cost you about £1,000, and the entrance fee's £65."
Indianna Winchester, 28, competed in motocross when she was younger but when her brothers started a lawn mower team, she could not resist getting involved."It's a different kind of sport," she said. "The endurance is obviously so much longer and there's no suspension, so the back takes a bit of a beating."Despite previous female-only lawn mower races drumming up interest in the sport, Indiana is the only woman taking part in this year's race."It would be nice to see some more women coming through," she said."I think if you've got the heart for it then why not go for it? There is no better feeling than beating the boys."
Alfie Walliss, 23, has lived in Wisborough Green his entire life but only recently made the race something of an annual tradition. "We always saw signs but assumed it was just a cutting grass competition," he said."Two years ago me and my family popped in and had a great time. We've never looked back."
Whether a team comes 1st, 40th or doesn't end up finishing, they are all bonded by the comradery of taking on such a demanding feat. "I can confidentially say I've got 200 friends out there. And they're all friends," Peter Hammerton, the event's president said. "It's my life's hobby and I've never even raced a mower."