Keith Terry created something very special when he came up with the idea of The British Scooter Endurance Club.
Usually, in the UK, motorsport is governed by the ACU but by running on less high-profile tracks under your own organisation things can be done slightly less formally. It means riders don’t have to jump through hoops to get a race licence. Instead, they just need to have a road licence (or race licence depending on class), some decent protective kit and a scooter suitable for the class they wish to enter. It means the racing can be as accessible and as cheap as possible because you can enter on your road scooter if you like, as some teams did at Teesside.
Friday saw a damp practice session with many teams deciding to sit it out rather than risking an early slide. SLUK Racing don’t let a bit of moisture get in the way of an hour and a half of track time for just £40 though. A pair of old Heidenau wets replaced our super sticky Mitas dry tyres and we were soon ripping the track up on Underdog – Sticky’s tatty looking matt black Vespa 90SS. The scooter may look rough and the engine belongs to the last decade but it’s a sublime scooter to ride. The Quattrini M1-L kit is from 2009 and at the minute makes just 19bhp (less than half the power of some of the Pro Race scooters) but it’s reliable, rideable and very agile.
Club Class sponsored by Lambretta Club of Great Britain
There were no less than seven new teams joining us on the grid, including a second Tuatha De Danann team from Ireland (#32) on a budget-built Vespa PK in Club Class. Also new to the class were Team JetSet (#88), with the LCGB mag’s editor, Linda Bedson forming part of the Series 2 riding team. Another new lady entrant (and deputy ScooterNova editor) was Ann Murphy-Gillard riding for the Wearside Wanderers (#11)
Road Class sponsored by ScooterLab.UK
In Road Class Independent Idiots Race Team (#70) were made up of regular rally-goers, Martin McGowan, Bob McGee and Jonno Holt. RFS Tune 2 (#112) were also fielding a new team in Road Class.
Race Class sponsored by ScooterNova Magazine
New to this class were McNair Motorsport (#47) and Two Sheds (#200)
Pro Race Class sponsored by AME Auto
Another new team, (#87) Tenfoot Special literally threw themselves in at the deep end in Pro Race. The team had built a Series 2 despite coming from a bike racing background and never having sat on a Lambretta!
Another new team but with very familiar names were SRP RaceTech Essex (#41) an offshoot of the usual SRP team. With a very trick fibreglass Series 1 Stuart Day and the team were likely to be ones to watch out for.
Hospitable
Heavy rain overnight had given way to bright sunshine and we woke up to the sound of sizzling bacon in the paddock. Diablo Al was cooking up a storm in the SLUK hospitality suite. You can’t go out to battle on an empty stomach.
Qualifying
The track was still a bit damp in places as we went out for qualifying but it was drying nicely and after qualifying in ninth with a 1:17.508 lap (almost 9.5 seconds behind the favourite, Hornet Racing’s (#6) Vespa who put in a staggering 1:08.022 to start in pole position). Six hours is a long time in racing though, anything can happen – especially when you’re racing a highly-strung two-stroke.
Welcoming the crowds
The crowds were starting to arrive as it got closer to the 11 am starting time and plenty of shiny scooters could be seen parked at the circuit. Being the first spectator event in two years it was always going to be busy though.
11am – they’re off!
A Le Man’s start is always an exciting way to get a race underway and with 37 scooters on the grid, the mad dash across the track looks impressive. The scooters were away cleanly though, with John wheelieing the blue and white 40bhp Hornet Racing Vespa off the line.
An early lead
Sticky was doing the first-hour long stint for SLUK and he wasn’t messing about. Good consistent laps and a fastest of 1:11.876, we were steadily moving up the field, seventh, fifth, fourth and after just nine minutes he’d got us up to second. Sadly, not long after that the leader and new fastest lap holder, Hornet Racing had an engine failure and retired. Although this now meant we were in the lead!
New lap record
John ‘The Greek’ Chitoglou’s blistering 1:07.488 lap record still stands though and will take some beating. He set that on lap two of the race with a clear track not long before retiring. If you want to see what a fastest lap looks like from the rider’s seat take a look at his onboard footage above.
Fuelling strategy
Club Class race team (#333) NuNuPudArdTwig make hard work of their fuel stop by using a big funnel and two 5-litre cans.
With endurance racing it can be taken as just a laugh or can be more serious and there are some tactics involved when it comes down to refuelling and rider changeovers. Before the race we’d measured how much fuel we’d used in the two-hour Friday practice. We had almost two litres left in the tank. Somebody in the team (a person who has an aversion to stopping for fuel on the road) came up with the bright idea of not refuelling at the one-hour rider change. It would potentially save us a minute or two.
In theory, our long-range seat fuel tank could run for two hours at race pace. The rest of the team agreed with me, …err I mean him. The fools.
The second hour
Sticky came in after an hour and swapped riders, Sam went straight out and kept up the good work. His riding style and racecraft have come on at every meeting since he started endurance in 2019. He manages to keep a level head despite his young age. He maintained our lead throughout his session. Our main Race Class rival, Team Vespa (#15) suffered an engine failure and retired after changing an engine. They’d lost too much time in the pits. This left us with the Dukes of Essex (#155) as our main worry, especially when that cheeky young scally, Mikey Bonnet was on it!
