Lawnmower racing is a type of motorsport in which competitors, using modified lawnmowers of the ride-on or the self-propelled variety, and without the blades, compete with each other to see who has the fastest lawnmower.
The original engines in the mowing machines are retained, and the sport is open to people of all ages. Most of the time, the competition is all in good fun, but some aficionados take the sport very seriously, and the competition can be extreme.
In the UK, the sport was invented by a group of young men in 1973 in The Cricketers Arms pub in Wisborough Green, not far from the town of Horsham in West Sussex, England. The group formed what was called the British Lawn Mower Racing Association, and shortly afterwards, the North West Lawn Mower Racing Association was formed, according to the official website.
With the season running from May to October, the first event got underway in rural Surrey, south of London on Sunday. “The atmosphere here today, being the first one of the season, is one of excitement because of course we have been off for six, seven months and people are raring to get their mowers onto the track,” organiser Ian Radcliff said, according to ABC.net.au.
“It’s a little unusual, it’s not like jumping in a car and turning the wheel and peddles and gears,” said Dean Fuller, British Champion on the wheel-driven variety. You have got to learn how you lean, how you brake, the different types of surfaces … So it really does take three or four years before you get the hang of (it).”
But after a weekend of getting all the kinks out and meeting old friends and new members, the group is already looking forward to the round two race, set to take place at Thornton Hall Country Park, near Skipton May 14 and 15. The results of the Ludlow round are as follows: First Place – Mark Rostron, Second Place, James Pawlet, and Third Place, Daz Whitehead.
