Lawn Mower Racing: The Basics
What is it?
Lawn mower racing is very much what it says on the tin, a load of somewhat modified lawnmowers having a race. The concept began in 1973 in a pub in West Sussex where a man called Jim Gavin decided he wanted to develop a motorsport which was cheap and easily accessible for everyone and pitched this to ideas to his friends. As a common household machine, the idea of racing lawnmowers spawned very quickly and once removing the blades they were able to make it happen. To keep the sport so cheap it ran on the objectives of no sponsorships, no commercialism and no wildly expensive modified mower engines. From here the sport only grew, and has spread so far that there is now even a Worldwide Championship.
How does it work?
The racing is kept fairly simple and the usual premise is to either cross the finish line first or to get the most laps under a time limit. For safety reasons the blades are obviously removed and the engines on ride on mowers are usually kept the same, but wether the engines are modified with or not usually comes down to the event and their rules and regulations.
Lawn mower racing was one of the first motorsports I ever watched and it certainly gave me the bug. It's not as fast as races you may see in Formula 1 or MotoGP however it makes for great watching as you can often see most of the track and can really appreciate the action which I see as equal to that of larger championships.
There are a large range of lawn mower championships in Britain, such as the British Championship or the 12 hour endurance , which means there's something for everyone whether you enjoy short races or like to hunker down for hours of entertainment.
What's it like to watch?
While I hope one day to get to go and experience one of the larger races in England so far I've only had the pleasure of watching smaller, local events, which are just as exciting and definitely worth the watch if you have any going on around you.
One of these events that I've gone to many times is on the island of Sark, where over a weekend they hold a Hill Climb and an Endurance race.
The hill climb has the mowers taking it up the steep harbour hill of Sark which has many twists and turns, one of the most interesting being at the very top where many mowers will spin off or at least take wide corners. They are timed on their speed in making it up to the top of the hill as racing them against one another at the same time is impractical.
The hill climbing is a good watch, especially in Sark where you're observing from within the nature looking down on the race, however you are limited on what in the race you see as you can't see much of the hill from any point so while you get to see the mowers whizzing by you often miss out on most of the action. The best thing I'd suggest to get around this is to try an work out which place has the most going on and station yourself around there, luckily in Sark the corner at the top of the hill I mentioned earlier is also right outside the pub so that makes for some good watching.
As can be seen from the amazingly captured photo above from the , these mowers can go quite fast. Some people who run the event in Sark have estimated they can reach about 30 - 40 miles an hour, although I'm not sure if it reaches near its max speed on the steep Sark Hill . As can also been seen in the picture it is a very uneven, muddy road, mostly down to the fact Sark roads aren't tarmaced as the tractors, quad bikes and mobility scooters are the only motor vehicles usually allowed on the island, with most people using bicycles or walking as their main method of transport.
When the mowers are really able to unlock their ability is during the endurance race on the Saturday, in the 4 hour endurance race. With a few drivers to a mower the mowers barely stop and held in a relatively empty field you can always see at least half the track and it won't take much movement to be able to see the other half, it comes with all the same attraction as some of the bigger races, with overtakes and (to some degree when taking into account their on lawn mowers) speed, it's definitely worth the watch. While I do suggest taking a picnic or some form of food as 4 hours is a long time and you will be looking for something to eat, although most races like Sark will provide some form of food at the event. One issue, which may be a Sark only issue as you're so up close to the action and is held in the warm summer, is that it can get quite dusty and on a sunny day very hot however with a bit of suncream and a pair of sunglasses these issues can be worked around.
Unfortunately, due to the low budget of most of these events, watching it live is the only way of getting a shot of the action however I also believe that is one of the things that makes this grassroots racing so unique and interesting. So while their may be some downfalls trying to watch the sport or participating in it, it has many things which more then make up for these.
Overall I would definitely suggest giving lawn mower racing a go, something that's cheap and easy to go and watch there's not really much you can loose by trying . If this article has also inspired you to look into Sark that's also a place I'd highly suggest for a visit, another event I'd suggest going for is the sheep racing weekend which has lots of entertainment.
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