If you missed part one of our BSEC coverage, you can catch up by clicking here!

As the end of Sam’s first session got close, Linsey went down to flag him in for a fuel and rider change… but he’d disappeared! We quickly realised that he’d run out of fuel as he eventually came back into view having pushed the scooter for a few hundred yards.

We lost almost five minutes due to our fuel gamble and had dropped into second place as Shaun went out for his session. Still getting over a broken shoulder from Whilton, Shaun was happy to just be back on track and his lap times were coming down throughout his session, although we were three laps down and in third place, behind SRP RaceTech Essex and SRP Real Taffspeed in first. Shaun’s consistency helped us get back up into second place and 2 laps behind before he came in to refuel and swap riders.

As the end of Sam’s first session got close, Linsey went down to flag him in for a fuel and rider change… but he’d disappeared! We quickly realised that he’d run out of fuel as he eventually came back into view having pushed the scooter for a few hundred yards.

We lost almost five minutes due to our fuel gamble and had dropped into second place as Shaun went out for his session. Still getting over a broken shoulder from Whilton, Shaun was happy to just be back on track and his lap times were coming down throughout his session, although we were three laps down and in third place, behind SRP RaceTech Essex and SRP Real Taffspeed in first. Shaun’s consistency helped us get back up into second place and 2 laps behind before he came in to refuel and swap riders.

It was time for my 65-minute session. After the change over we were down almost four laps but still running second behind Number 38, SRP RaceTech. As a team we were starting to get excited, it seemed like we were in with a chance of more than ‘just’ a class win. I’d looked at the programme on Friday evening and thought to myself we might just get on the podium in Race Class if we’re lucky, the competition was tough. We had the likes of the Dukes of Essex, Team Vespa, TASS, SRP RaceTech Essex, Two Sheds, McNair Motorsport. In racing though anything can happen and we still had almost three hours to go.

What’s it like from the riding seat?

A Vespa 90SS has been the favoured machine for many racers since the 1960s, that’s probably the reason why there aren’t too many of them left.

With decent rubber, a modified front fork with disc brake, uprated suspension and a bit of extra power the small frame is a beast. The frame geometry is just right and the dummy centre tank helps to stiffen things up to make it handle like a dream.

As I said before, Underdog’s engine is past its best and during this race it got progressively slower as the day wore on. We were each running about 4 seconds off the pace by the afternoon but the fine handling helped to make up for what we lost on the faster parts of the track. Underdog is very forgiving, you can be flat out down the back straight with a load of riders in front of you and you know you can ride inside, outside or through the middle of them in the fast right-hand bend before the twisty infield section. At this point I’m usually singing ‘Buffalo gals go round the outside’ to myself. You can pick any line and stick to it (although that’s the only line of the song I know), or change it mid corner if you need to.

Even though the Quattrini top end and the rest of the engine are ready for some winter TLC (or replacement) the scooter still has enough power to despatch most of the other scooters on track and it can live with the Pro Racers through the bends. One area we were losing out on though was the punch out of a corner, a couple of second gear corners became first gear ones just to get the power down without the scooter bogging. This scooter only makes 20bhp, that’s less than a roadgoing TS1 but it still puts many larger capacity, bigger power scooters to shame.

During my 65-minute stint in the saddle, nothing else in the world mattered. My only target was anybody in front of me, every lap became a personal battle. Riding close to the limit but not wanting to throw it away by being daft.

Riding something as fast as I can brings me to life, in those 65-minutes I was living, I mean really living and loving it. Before I knew it Linsey was waving me in using our out of date Chris Witty pit board. Knowing I’d be beaten up if I ignored her, I came in on the next lap.

Pit stop

Al was in the pits waiting to fill the scooter up. A rapid filler can makes the job much less stressful, safer and quicker. Some teams were filling up painstakingly slowly using a 5-litre plastic fuel can, losing valuable time at each rider swap and sloshing fuel around near hot engines. Of course, endurance racing doesn’t have to be serious though. It’s open to riders of all abilities and having a laugh with a few mates on your road-going PX (Martin McGowan was back commuting into London on his ‘race’ scooter on Tuesday) is perfectly acceptable. It’s kind of addictive though and after winning Road Class twice SLUK were moved up into Race Class – as per the BSEC rules. Our keep it cheap and simple philosophy has worked so far but may need to be rethought for the future.

I’d like to give Al Terry of Diablo Moto a mention here, he not only made sure our fuel was mixed and ready to go but he’s also there to mend anything if we have a problem before or during a race. Thankfully at Teesside he only had to change tyres over before the race and never picked a spanner up all day. That’s also testement to Sticky and Sam who look after Underdog’s engine. It was faultless on race day.

In with a chance

With Sticky back in the saddle we needed to keep up the pace, we were still running three laps behind SRP RaceTech when they crashed out on the bumpy Rib Bend. After a trip back to the pits they were back out though and running third, six laps behind the Dukes of Essex and 10 behind SLUK. Things were heating up trackside as we started to think we might be in with a chance. Sticky put in a sterling performance and in the excitement we realised we weren’t exactly sure how long he’d been out. We started to panic, going over the 65-minute time slot gets a penalty – we weren’t sure how many laps we’d be deducted. Linsey did her best to get our ‘on it’ rider in but he really was on it and missed the pit board… for four laps. Eventually, he came in (sorry to anybody sensitive of nature who was stood within earshot of Linsey at that time).

The final hour

This left Sam to do the final hour and what a ride he put in. We were already at the top of the leader board but to finish first, first you have to finish. You could tell as he was nearing the end of the race that he was starting to get excited – and so were we at the side of the track. Young ladies were throwing underwear at our teenage sensation, he was going to get lucky this evening!

The last few minutes counted down on the trackside timing screens and Keith Terry was getting ready with the chequered flag. Sam crossed the line in first but with 2 seconds left on the clock it meant he had to do another lap. Thankfully there were no mishaps and Keith waved the flag stylishly at Sam as he crossed the line.

We’d done it, not only had we won Race Class but we’d also won overall by nine laps (more on that later). SRP RaceTech were second, SRP Real Taffspeed third. We need to give a good mention to the Dukes of Essex who we thought would be the ones to beat but the odd bit of bad luck (like a loose end can that needed regular tightening) meant they ended up in fourth place.

That was it, we’d not only won but we’d won, won! SLUK Racing are a team of rally-going scooterists, rather than a professional race team but we were coming home smelling of Martini and with a handful of silverware for First in Race Class, Race Class 1st Overall winner 2021 (for covering the most laps this year in both meeting) and of course we’d taken the race win!

So far SLUK Racing have taken the following in the first four British Scooter Endurance Racing Club events…

2019 Tside 6: Road class winner
2020 Tside 6: Road class winner
2021 Whilton Mill: Third in Race Class
2021 Tside6: Race Class and overall winner

Friendly rivalry

Of course, this was just our perspective of the race. Around the track, 36 other teams had been having their own personal, team and class battles. Endurance is certainly nothing like an eight-lap sprint race. After six hours we’d notched up 271 laps of Teesside Autodrome. Front runners and favourites had been forced to quit with mechanical issues. Other teams fought running battles throughout the day to make sure they were there at the end. Teams like Maico riding Diese Blutige Mobile Chikane who had to rebuild the engine of their German tank mid-race but got back out again. The Irish lads from Tuatha De Danann Vespa had a few problems during the day but still finished on their PK, despite running a cylinder kit and exhaust that cost just €200 for the lot.

The good thing about BSEC is that it’s very friendly, people will help other teams to either start, or finish a race. If they have the parts, equipment or know how they’re happy to share. Even the people who run the kart track were happy to help out, welding exhausts up in their workshop. New teams are accepted, helped along and included. The paddock is a friendly place to be.

Time to fess up?

The day after the event Sticky watched the live footage on YouTube (watch it here if you missed it) and noticed a couple of irregularities. At one stage we’d notched up an extra four laps for no apparent reason. He also checked out his ride time and he had gone over the 65-minute limit. On the timing sheets, we’d finished nine laps in front of second place. There’s no pride in cheating so he confessed to Keith Terry. The four extra laps were taken off us and for time infringement we were deducted three laps. That left us still winning but by just two laps.

Presentations and Parc de Ferme

Full results

Pro Race

#38 SRP Racetech
#74 SRP Real Taffspeed
#111 RFS Tune

Race Class

#71 SLUK Racing
#155 Dukes of Essex
#41 SRP RaceTech Essex

Club Class

#347 IDK Endurance Racing
#56 Foster 56
#114 Spire Tarmac Terriers

Road Class

#55 Team Numpties
#8 DC 10 SERT
#4 London Lambretta Club

That’s it, another BSEC event over and it ran like clockwork. Although there were a few inevitable crashes during the day nobody was seriously injured and the ambulance wasn’t needed. There were no red flags or other stoppages for the full six hours – a great result in itself.

On a personal note, I’d like to thank IDK Endurance Racing for not only showing so much excitement and enthusiasm before the big day (I thought Mungo was going to explode) but for also starting the fundraising to help get the live feed up and running. You all did a fantastic job.

Words and photos: Iggy
Additional images: Sticky

Thanks also to Lee Hollick for the race gallery in our first part – you can check out hundreds of great race photos on his website.

Also thanks to Col for the fuelling video.

Thanks to the sponsors

BSEC is helped by many sponsors, both companies and individuals, we’d like to share the main ones here.

Live broadcast sponsors

AME Auto
ScooterNova Magazine
ScooterLab.UK

Business sponsors

AME Auto
ScooterNova magazine
ScooterLab.UK
Thanet Area Scooter Services
Express Signs
AF Rayspeed
Properly Protected.co.uk

Club sponsors

Lambretta Club of Great Britain
Wearside Wanderers S.C.
Smugglers S.C.
A19’s Scooter Club
Darlington S.C.
Norton Commandos Teesside

Keith Terry would also like to give a shout out to the following who have chipped in to help…

Ken Bowen, RJ86, Essex Tongue Pie, Team 333, Two Sheds Racing, IDK Automotive Ltd, Julie Tracey, Tuatha Dé Dannan, McNair Motorsport, Barking Mad S.C., Norman, Team DC10 SERT, Michael Leigh (Whitedog.co.uk), Lee Abraham, everybody at Gathering of the Clans Scooter Rally, Adam Kelly.

Also thanks to Keith’s wife, Bev, Daughter Kirsty, Mike Bonett, and a big shout out to Darren and Wendy Glenn for their support and help with scrutineering and being in charge of pit lane (a job that involves telling lots of pumped up friends off for breaking rules).