insured

A quick refuel and I’m out into the thick
of the action. Every lap is a frantic one
and it’s not uncommon to be going into
corners five abreast, backmarkers
suddenly appear on the racing line, then
a faster bike will shoot up the inside of
you through a turn without warning. I
out-braked myself into one corner,
locked the back end up and just
managed to save the slide, I got away
with it - just - but it took a few laps to
settle back into a rhythm again. By the
time my 90 minutes were over I was
aching, wet through with sweat and
feeling the effects caused by breathing
in sickly two-stroke fumes, but I’d have
happily stayed out there all day!
We were doing quite well and were
just a couple of laps adrift from our
rivals. Mark Shirley took the saddle after
me and had a great ride. We had a
stroke of luck that saw the other
championship contenders missing a few
laps with technical problems, so a good
ride for the final hour-and-a-half by
Roland Davis could see us getting the
trophy. Fellow scooter racers, John
Woods and Stuart Dean had built an
engine on a budget of £40 then fitted it
into John’s race bike especially for the
event and were doing three hours each
on their machine! Despite the low
budget and hastily built scoot, their bike
wasn’t too far off the pace and they
finished quite respectably. Roland was
putting in blistering laps on our Zip
(number 202) but his pace slowed and
disaster struck forcing him into the pits.
The variator nut had worked loose
wrecking the fan, so after hastily
borrowing one from another team he
was back out and on form.
RACE
RESULTS
Class 1
Acme Racing
No 8
Class 2
Team Scortch
No 41
Class 3
Red Mist Racing
No 1
Class 4
Chicken Chasers
No 165
Roland rode the wheels off our Zip but
despite putting in the fastest laps of the
day the lengthy pit stop cost us the win.
The chequered flag came out after 317
laps of mayhem and as the sun started
to set and it was time for the patient
sidecars to have their 20-minute race.
The walking wounded and heavily
bandaged crashers bravely limped off
home. Battered bikes and scooters were
loaded into vans and the whole crazy
festival began to pack up for the last time
in 2005. The season may be over for this
year but it gives you plenty of time to get a
few friends together, buy a rusty old
moped from a breakers yard or private
advert and get it ready to compete next
year. Mayhem is the best fun and value for
money you can have on two wheels. For
just £200 a team of up to six people get
two full days on track. You don’t even need
a race licence to compete. One- or twopiece
leathers, boots, gloves, a decent
helmet and a slightly deranged disposition
are all that’s required. Check out
www.british50ccracing.com for full details,
they even have a ‘for sale’ section so you
could even pick up a cheap bike as well.
Thanks to Chiselspeed for the invite
and a great day out.
NOVEMBER 05 45