If you’re at a loose end this Saturday – May 6th and want to see 40 classic geared scooters thrashing around a track non-stop for 8 hours you’d better read on.
That’s right, it’s the first British Scooter Endurance Club event of 2023 at Whilton Mill near Daventry in Northamptonshire. The kart circuit boasts great facilities, including an American-style 80-seater restaurant with a good view of the track. The circuit also has plenty of space so you can camp there as well for free. Spectating is also free but if you want to give a donation to the fundraising effort that would be appreciated. All funds go towards the live YouTube feed.
What’s on?
If you’re arriving on Friday there’s a two-hour practice session from 16:30-18-30, this will be followed by a scooter riders karting event from 19:00-20:30.
Race day – Saturday
Saturday is race day and you won’t be short of track action! From 9 am-9:30, it’s qualifying for the main event.
At 10 am the flag will drop for the eight-hour scooter endurance and the track will be open until 18:00. During that time teams will be swapping riders at least every hour, they’ll be refuelling, changing tyres and fixing both man and machine. Endurance racing is brutal. The team with the most laps will win and there will also be awards for the first three machines in each class.
The starting grid consists of 40 teams, that’s the highest entry list for BSEC so far and after a Le Mans start that first corner is likely to be pretty hairy!
Pro Race
There are 7 teams in Pro Race, including new team, Corse Swarb 96, made up of scooter and bike racer Scott Swarbrick and his two sons.
Race Class
This class has 10 teams, including SLUK Racing who won last time out at Teesside in September. New to this class are TASS Vespa Racing. Timo Drack’s TD Customs Lambretta team will also be back after their Whilton win last year onboard a Targa Twin.
Road Class
This class has 12 teams, with no new ones but #347 IDK and #12 Tuatha De Denann are moving up from Club Class.
Club Class
This is where most endurance teams start out. There are 11 teams including new ones from #19 Pickering Gold Stars, #50 Gasworks SRT and #72 GTR – Groundhogs Team Racing.
Rushden Lambretta Club are fielding a new B Team (#200) riding a Lui with an RB 200 engine mod.
Sponsors
Scooter endurance couldn’t exist the way it does without the help of a few sponsors.
Once again this year the following have stepped up to help: AME Auto Ltd, ScooterLab, ScooterNova, TASS, LCGB, VCB and AF Rayspeed.
10 Signs you’ve taken scooter racing too seriously:
1. You have your name on your leathers rather than the name of the bloke who originally got them made and owned a Suzuki
2. You have an electric lift to get your race scooter out of the transporter, not a plank of wood
3. All your pre-painted sponsors logos line up perfectly
4. You hate adding stickers for people who don’t pay you in parts, money or sex
5. You do your hair and makeup before going on any form of live broadcast
6. You have a separate catering department with all metal cutlery and real glass drinking vessels
7. You are so beholden to your sponsors that you can’t be seen holding a rival brand of energy drink, tyre, oil, or scooter in case it goes on social media
8. You photograph your race scooter in front of a really fast car in the hope that some of the ‘fastness’ will rub off
9. You get your bike holder to push the scooter towards the rider for the Le Mans start to gain unfair advantage
10. You replace every scooterist in your team with teenage ‘ringers’ from another sport
Watch it live on TV!
Thanks to the hardworking fundraisers from IDK and their crowdfunding, plus the help of AME Auto, SLUK and ScooterNova this event will be shown on a live professional feed from Alpha. If you can’t make it to the track you’ll still be able to see the full 8-hours of coverage on YouTube LIVE as it happens!
You can watch that on your phone, tablet, computer or TV. The Alpha crew will be helped out in the commentary box by a few scooterists during the day. Be sure to watch and give your support by commenting, sending emojis and sharing the live feed during the event.
We hope to see you at the track!
Words and photos: Iggy
Additional photos: Lee Hollick, Scott Swarbrick
Top 10: Sticky
SLUK Racing t-shirts and hoodies!
If you want to support SLUK Racing get yourself some of our merchandise. It all helps to go towards tins of matt black paint for when we inevitably throw ‘Underdog’ Sticky’s Vespa SS90 down the track.
