NORTH WEST LAWN MOWER RACING ASSOCIATION
Race Report from the 2005 NWLMRA 6 Hour Endurance
Race – Oct 15th/16th
The final race meeting of the year saw 36 teams of Lawn Mower
Racers gather in Little Morton, near Retford for the annual
NWLMRA 6 Hour Endurance Race. The one mile long track had
been cut and rolled several weeks in advance, and needed minimal
work to make it race ready over the race weekend. As in previous
years, the format would be Scrutineering, Signing On and First
Practice on the Saturday, with a brief Second Practice on
the Sunday Morning before the Race
Most teams went through scrutineering with very little problems.
Only a handful of machines were sent away needing work to
make them race ready. First Practice started once all machines
had been satisfactorily fitted with Transponders, which were
on loan from the BLMRA. The early pacesetters were #27 Piston
Broke with a best lap of 1:59.754, who were almost 10 seconds
a lap quicker than the 2nd placed #96 Randy Randalls. Just
behind these were a whole host of teams including #41 Cupid
Stunts, #60 Hay Ewe Mower Sport, #47 Pain in the Grass Racing,
#74 Whos Racing, #100 The Sheikhs, #7 Bend Sinister, #86 Lincolnshire
Yellow Bellies, #69 The 69’ers and #66 Team Yellow Beryl.
The fastest Group 2 Roller team was the #55 Battle of Britain
Mowmorial Flight, with a best time of 2:25.050. Towards the
end of first practice, news filtered up and down the pit lane
that #71 Teme Valley Mowersport had blown an engine. It was
their first NWLMRA or BLMRA Race meeting. However they had
won the Le Fox 24 Race held in late August, and have already
said that they will be back next year!
First practice ended at 5pm, and following a short break,
most people gathered in the marquee for the annual NWLMRA
Prize Giving, and Charity Auction. The Charity Auction was
a success as ever, raising over £2,500. The now, infamous,
cake helped to lift the total raising over £800 as the
last item to be auctioned. Following the Auction, the Ten
O’Clock Horses played a set and were as loud as ever,
despite playing ‘unplugged’. Most people seemed
to be in bed by 2am, but there were reports of some people
still partying at 5am!
Sunday dawned early, with many people taking advantage of
the excellent breakfasts on offer in the marquee. The last
few machines were scrutineered early in the morning, and final
Practice was under way at 9.30am. The general consensus was
that the track was slower on Sunday morning, probably due
to the heavy dew. Nevertheless, 3 teams still managed to improve
their lap times compared to the Saturday. At the end of the
Practice Session, all times were used to allocate qualifying
positions. Pole Position went to #27 Piston Broke, ahead of
#96 The Randy Randalls, #41 Cupid Stunts, #60 Hay Ewe Mower
Sport, #47 Pain in the Grass Racing, #100 The Sheikhs, #74
Whos Racing, #7 Bend Sinister, #86 Lincs Yellow Bellies with
#31 Team NKg rounding out the top ten
As 11.00am approached, the machines were lined up along the
pit straight for a Le Mans start, with the drivers having
to run about 25 metres before racing off. John Gill dropped
the flag and the race was under way with a hectic start for
the front runners. #27 Piston Broke quickly established an
early lead from #41 Cupid Stunts, #96 The Randy Randalls,
#7 Bend Sinister, #60 Hay Ewe Mower Sport and #100 The Sheikhs.
#41 Cupid Stunts were the first team to hit trouble, loosing
places on the opening 3 laps before recovering. Elsewhere,
#74 Whos Racing, #69 The 69’ers, #93 Red Missed (Again),
#31 Team NKg and #26 D’Crew all ran into early problems
costing themselves time and places on the Leader Board
The #73 Cutting Crew had the shortest race as their Group
4 expired after just 9 laps. #26 D’Crew weren’t
far behind as their race lasted just one lap more. The first
big news of the race came when Piston Broke retired from the
lead after snapping the axle in half on the #27 Lawnbug. #96
The Randy Randalls then inherited the lead, ahead of leading
Group 2 Wheels competitor #7 Bend Sinister, #21 TMS was 3rd,
leading Group 4 machine #60 Hay Ewe Mower Sport 4th, #47 Pain
in the Grass Racing 5th and #86 Lincs Yellow Bellies 6th.
#70 Still Don’t Know Racing were leading Group 2 Roller,
while #101 The Hareem were leading the Standard Class
#74 Whos Racing were the next team to drop out, covering
just 16 laps before putting a hole in the side of its Honda
engine. #52 Worth A Squirt Racing also dropped out shortly
afterwards. Also in trouble were #100 The Sheikhs who had
been running in the top six earlier in the race. Problems
dropped then well down the order
At around 12.30pm, #44 Team RGM blew their Briggs Engine,
which they then replaced before rejoining the race. #66 Team
Yellow Beryl also ran into problems, with a lengthy pit stop.
The race was still being led by #96 The Randy Randalls, ahead
of #7 Bend Sinister which had moved up into 2nd place, ahead
of #21 TMS, #47 Pain in the Grass Racing, who were now the
leading Group 4. #60 Hay Ewe Mower Sport had dropped to 5th
place, while #86 Lincs Yellow Bellies were still in 6th. #70
Still Don’t Know Racing were continuing to lead Group
2 Roller, while #101 The Hareem were still leading the Standard
Class
Into the 3rd hour, and Lap 59 seemed to be unlucky as #93
Red Missed (Again), #46 Green Stripe, and #100 The Sheikhs
are retired. At the head of the race, #96 The Randy Randalls
crashed out of the lead whilst negotiating the chicane on
the back straight. The let #21 TMS briefly into the lead before
they suffered problems and dropped out of the top ten. As
the race settled down again, the #7 Bend Sinister team found
themselves out front with a slender lead over #47 Pain in
the Grass Racing. Third place was #60 Hay Ewe Mower Sport,
ahead of #86 Lincs Yellow Bellies and #96 The Randy Randalls.
#41 Cupid Stunts who were on the pace, but outside the top
ten had another problem that dropped them down the order again.
#70 Still Don’t Know Racing were still leading Group
2 Roller but coming under increasing pressure from both #55
Battle of Britain Mowmorial Flight and #89 Harvey’s
Herberts. Towards the end of the 3rd hour #96 The Randy Randalls
had a belt break on their mower whilst in 5th place. This
cost them time and the leader board now read #7 Bend Sinister,
#47 Pain in the Grass Racing, #60 Hay Ewe Mower Sport, #86
Lincs Yellow Bellies, who were now the leading Group 3. #31
Team NKg were in 5th place, ahead of #33 Team NKg2 –
Weapon of Grass Destruction. #64 The Wafty Crankers and #66
Team Yellow Beryl both retired in the 3rd hour
#47 Pain in the Grass Racing took the lead of the race in
the 4th hour after passing #7 Bend Sinister. #86 Lincs Yellow
Bellies crashed out of 4th place after hitting a tyre on the
last corner of the track. They later rejoined in 8th place.
At the end of the 4th hour #47 Pain in the Grass Racing had
opened up a small lead over #7 Bend Sinister, with #60 Hay
Ewe Mower Sport in 3rd, #31 Team NKg, now the leading Group
3, in 4th. #96 The Randy Randalls were 5th and #75 The Blind
leading the Stupid now moving up to 6th place. #70 Still Don’t
Know Racing were still hanging onto the lead in Group 2 Roller,
with #55 Battle of Britain Mowmorial Flight and #89 Harvey’s
Herberts both closing in. #101 The Hareem continued to lead
the Standard Class from #49 Joys Toy and #13 Bouncing Boobies
Drama struck again at the start of the 5th hour as the #7
Bend Sinister machine broke a driveshaft and the team lost
their chance at claiming overall honours. All was not lost
though as they had built up a huge lead over #25 Gruntfuttocks
and needed to just cross the finish line in order to win their
class. The driveshaft was removed and welded up before being
refitted to the machine. #33 Team NKg2 – Weapon of Grass
Destruction also hit trouble in the 5th hour as the T-Drive
collapsed costing them a chance of a solid top six finish.
#70 Still Don’t Know Racing suffered from problems which
let #89 Harvey’s Herberts close down their lead and
ultimately pass them to take the class win by one lap in the
closing moments of the race!
As the final hour approached, #47 Pain in the Grass Racing
pushed hard to open up a lead of 2 laps over #60 Hay Ewe Mower
Sport who seemed to be cruising to the finish. #31 Team NKg
were also pushing as #96 The Randy Randalls were closing in
fast. Unfortunately the #96 machine lost another drive belt
and this left the gap too big to close so they settled for
4th overall. #75 The Blind leading the Stupid inherited 5th
place and held on to it despite pressure from the recovering
#21 TMS
#47 Pain in the Grass Racing crossed the finish line having
covered 155 laps at 5pm to take the Overall Win and 1st in
Group 4. #60 Hay Ewe Mower Sport were 2nd Overall, and 2nd
in Group 4 after covering 153 laps. 3rd place overall, and
1st in Group 3 went to #31 Team NKg on 150 laps.
#89 Harvey’s Herberts won Group 2 Roller, finishing
12th overall on 113 laps. #7 Bend Sinister eventually crossed
the finish line to cover 101 laps, 17th overall and take 1st
in Group 2 Wheels. #101 The Hareem took a convincing Standard
Class win after 66 laps, finishing 20th overall
The presentation took place in the main marquee at
5.30pm and awarded the following trophies: ~
Overall Winners #47 Pain in the Grass Racing
1st in Group 4 #47 Pain in the Grass Racing
2nd in Group 4 #60 Hay Ewe Mower Sport
3rd in Group 4 #75 The Blind leading the Stupid
1st in Group 3 #31 Team NKg
2nd in Group 3 #96 The Randy Randalls
3rd in Group 3 #21 TMS
1st in Group 2 Roller #89 Harvey’s Herberts
2nd in Group 2 Roller #70 Still Don’t Know Racing
3rd in Group 2 Roller #55 Battle of Britain Mowmorial Flight
1st in Group 2 Wheels #7 Bend Sinister
2nd in Group 2 Wheels #25 Gruntfuttocks
1st in Standard #101 The Hareem
2nd in Standard #49 Joy’s Toy
3rd in Standard #13 Bouncing Boobies
1st Ladies Team #11 Racer Chicks
2nd Ladies Team #101 The Hareem
3rd Ladies Team #49 Joy’s Toy
Shires Trophy Lancashire
Full Results of the NWLMRA 2005 6 Hour Endurance
Race
Pos. Number Team Name Class Laps
1 47 Pain in the Grass Racing 4 155
2 60 Hay Ewe Mower Sport 4 153
3 31 Team NKg 3 150
4 96 The Randy Randalls 3 148
5 75 The Blind leading the Stupid 4 143
6 21 TMS 3 142
7 86 Lincs Yellow Bellies 3 138
8 69 The 69’ers 3 137
9 41 Cupid Stunts 3 134
10 11 Racer Chicks 3 133
11 8 Team Crash 4 122
12 89 Harvey’s Herberts 2R 113
13 44 Team RGM 3 113
14 70 Still Don’t Know Racing 2R 112
15 55 Battle of Britain Mowmorial Flight 2R 106
16 7 Bend Sinister 2W 101
17 101 The Hareem Std 66
18 49 Joy’s Toy Std 58
19 25 Gruntfuttocks 2W 57
20 13 Bouncing Boobies Std 44
21 12 The League of Extra-Ordinary Grounds Keepers Std 38
22 18 Boozy Birds Std 29
Not Classified
DNF 33 Team NKg2 – Weapon of Grass Destruction 4 110
DNF 66 Team Yellow Beryl 4 87
DNF 64 The Wafty Crankers 4 85
DNF 93 Red Missed (Again) 4 59
DNF 46 Green Stripe 4 59
DNF 100 The Sheikhs 4 59
DNF 27 Piston Broke 3 25
DNF 52 Worth a Squirt Racing 4 24
DNF 74 Whos Crew 4 16
DNF 26 D’Crew 3 10
DNF 73 The Cutting Crew 4 9
DNF 24 Smiler 2W 0
DNF 71 Teme Valley Mowersport 3 0
DNF 63 Northern Menace 2R 0
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