Magny Cours Challenge Scootentole | RACING

The Circuit de Nevers, Magny Cours was once home to the French Grand Prix. It’s located about 300 miles into France, next to it is another track, now owned by BMW and used for track days and testing, and is also used for the Challenge Scootentole 10 hour scooter endurance event, and this is where my story begins.

Having raced in the British Scooter Endurance Club events in the UK since 2019 I have become rather addicted, our team, IDK Endurance Racing has become like a second family, and when given the opportunity to race we are usually rather keen.

So when Billy Simmons from team, DC10SERT posted about forming a team to compete in France it was an opportunity too good to turn down, calls were made, medicals were passed (a French rule) plans were made and channel crossings were booked.

The plan was to ride in class SP2, this is for large frame scooters with limited modifications. We’d be on Billy’s scooter, a Moto Vespa GT160 fitted with a PX 200 engine, Polini 208 cylinder, reworked head, standard ignition, 24mm carb, SIP Road 3 exhaust and Sfera forks, modified to fit.

It would be a whole new experience for Henry and myself as we usually ride and race Lambrettas, but we were going racing, so what did it matter?
In true scootering fashion, our plans all seemed rather last minute, with the scooter being in bits the week before and then dyno’d by Alan Terry at Diablo Moto the day we were due to leave, only about four hours away from the van we were due to load and travel down in.

Seven of us made up our team, Myself (Mungo) with my wife Lorraine, and Henry and Alison, all from IDK racing. Martin and Toni McGowan from the Independent Idiots and Billy from DC10SERT. Off we set to catch the night ferry to France, followed by the long drive down to Magny Cours, arriving early enough to eat and drink a cheeky pint before the gates opened and we could all get set up.

Being my first European event, I had no idea what to expect, and this was soon to become an eye opener. Teams from across Europe were in attendance, and very well organised, pitching up a gazebo next to the likes of Rimini Lambretta Centre and Casa Performance can feel rather intimidating, but they were in a different class to us, so not to worry, too much.

When you see pro teams pulling scooters apart before the event, in preparation for what is to come, we stayed proudly English and made tea instead.

Moist

Saturday started with rain and the hum of engines and a bustle of people attending scrutineering, which we passed, following the replacement of a tail light bulb.

On a personal note I don’t like wet tracks and have not boded well in the past, so on with the wet tyres and out for practice we went.
What followed was a few hours of rider changes and watching people come off on wet and slippery corners. The 2.5km track was taking no prisoners, but we had our go, got used to the track and scooter and got in our qualifying time. Then we settled down for the evening, chatting to other teams and admiring the fine selection of beers that had arrived with each of them.

Early start

Two other UK teams were entered, Roger and co from Thanet Area Scooter Services and Neil and co from Two Sheds Racing, both competing in class LP1 large frame with unlimited modifications.

Sunday morning seemed to sneak up rather fast, with a start planned for 9 am, but word went out that 8.45 was the new target. Although the track was still rather wet, it had stopped raining and the weather gods were being kind to us with cloud and a gentle breeze.

Out of 41 teams we had qualified 36th in the Le Mans line up and were quite happy to be away from the chaos at the front when the flag dropped at 8.45.

We opted to stay on wet tyres for the beginning, and as the flag dropped Billy took the first stint, changing to Henry after the first hour, then into the pits for a tyre change to slicks, followed by Martin and then myself.

Sadly a nasty crash during my stint left a racer being taken to hospital with a shoulder injury and I got to follow the pace car round in a 40 scooter procession until the ambulance returned.

Rider change and repeat the order, refuelling at each stop, adding about 4 litres at each refill, quite economical compared to our usual racers. It was interesting to see how many of the scooters were carted off track and into the pits for repair, including some of the pro teams. It seems that some of the highly tuned scooters do not like the continuous punishment that endurance racing throws at them, as our not so highly tuned GT proved as it ran continuously and flawlessly. We picked up a lap penalty for starting our scooter early in the pit lane, by about five feet, but rules are rules and we broke one.

For us, the event went well for the whole ten hours, with the GT performing well, handling well, and staying the right way up for the whole event. Henry took the glory as he passed the chequered flag.

Final results had put us fourth in class (out of 8) and 25th overall, which we consider to be a great result for a first time out, (and as I understand it 10 scooters never actually finished the full ten hours), and at the trophy presentation we got a medal for the best newcomers, which truly put the icing on the cake.

From this point on the festivities began, partying with our new-found European friends and revelling in the glory of completing the event. And not too concerned about the long journey home on Monday, where, as a side note, I did not see a single 2CV.

Words: Mungo
Photos: Mungo and Steve Crane