By Martyn Herman
With Formula One temporarily stalled by the cancellation of this past weekend’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, motorsport fans got their fix on Sunday as the 53rd British Lawnmower Racing season began in a flurry of flying turf in a West Sussex village.
The low-tech sport lacks the glamour and speed of F1, and cash prizes are scoffed at, but the action in Ardingly was just as fierce as the ride-on mowers roared around the circuit.
“It’s so much fun. The sun’s shining; everyone’s messing around on lawnmowers. You couldn’t think of anything better,” debutant Lee McGelachie told Reuters after stepping off his bright yellow machine.
“I’ve done a lot of motorsport over the years: motocross, road cars. This is really cheap, entry-level, and doesn’t cost a lot of money. And it’s brilliant fun.”
You would not want them on your prized lawns, though.
The fastest “mowers” can reach speeds of 96km/h, and as far as their intended function is concerned, they are useless, as the grass-cutting blades are removed for safety reasons.
From April to October, the British Championship consists of 11 events with different classes, ranging from traditional ride-on mowers to more sophisticated buggy-style contraptions for more experienced drivers.
Races are typically 10 to 18 laps with points awarded on a sliding scale from 10 down to one.
Flying around a bumpy circuit also takes its toll.
“It’s incredibly physical. This is in the British Championship, so they’re longer races,” Callum McIntyre said. “Races are about 12 minutes long. In those last two minutes, you’re really struggling.”
Jensen Cresswell, Sean Tanswell and Alfie Smith won their respective classes in Ardingly, with action moving to the next round at Dunsfold in Surrey in May.
Lawnmower racing was dreamt up in a pub in 1973 by Irishman Jim Gavin and friends over pints as they watched a groundsman cut the grass at the local cricket pitch.
Since then the sport has made its mark and even attracted some of the greats of British motorsport, with Stirling Moss and Derek Bell teaming up to win a Le Mans-type 12-hour lawnmower race that is an annual event on the calendar.
Reuters
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