Scooter Endurance Race Le Mans style!

A new organisation has been set up to host a UK scooter endurance event, and is already receiving huge interest. Paul Green find out more from the man behind it all, Keith Terry

Keith Terry is a veteran of scooter racing in the UK and holds sprint records, despite being of an age to certainly collect his bus pass. He has raced both scooters and motorcycles, including the Isle of Man races. This year Keith has taken on a new project and is the man behind a new organisation, the British Scooter Endurance Club, which has been set up to hold the first endurance event held in the UK for many years. We asked Keith how and why this has come about: “When I returned from the endurance race in France last year I thought it would be great to do one here in the UK, but I was told it could not be done. I knew that other endurance events took place, so set out to find out some more. After a bit of investigation I found that these events ran without the riders having an ACU licence, but we would have to find different insurance as this is normally covered by the ACU.”

I’m sure that Keith won’t mind me saying, but he can be stubborn and determined, not just on the track. So in Keith style, he set about searching around the UK at what tracks there were that may help, and this search took him to Teesside. In the 90s, this circuit was known as Langbaugh and is built on old industrial land between residential and industrial areas. It was regularly used for scooter racing and local race teams still use it for testing. “Fortunately, there are some tracks about that will run these meetings, so then it was down to finding one that could cater for most of my needs, and this

is where Teesside Karting looked better than some other options,” said Keith. “They have the timing equipment and the screens to see what is going on, plus they will run the meeting for us on the day. The track is big enough to make it interesting, but not too fast for the novices that will be out there.”

So Keith took to Facebook and started to put messages out there. Immediately he received a lot of interest, not only from racers and race teams, but also from individuals and clubs. The Production Class introduced a few years ago into BSSO racing has shown the RB200 set up to be both fast and reliable, so has proven that fast scooters can actually be fast over long periods, too. The endurance races held on the continent are very popular, to the point where UK teams are now building machines and going over to Europe to compete. This style of racing is all about keeping reliable as well as quick over long periods. So it is all about preparation and mechanics, as well as rider ability. It’s an ideal event for teams of people or clubs to take part, where several people can be involved.

Keith’s determination has seen him get things in place to re-introduce this type of scooter sport for 2019. Sunday September 1 is the date it is going to happen. The British Scooter Endurance Club was formed and is up and running. So far, advertising has been via social media and is going well. The BSEC has a Facebook group page where interested parties have been able to get information, including a copy of the relatively simple regulations. I asked Keith how entry will work and he told us: “I have worked hard to answer questions, update the page with info, pictures and videos as these have become available. Teams wanting to be considered need to email me at bsecuk@outlook.com. We have been controlling the amount of entry forms I issue, as we need to have everything organised well in advance rather than last minute.”

So, if you fancy taking part in a gruelling six-hour event, then get in touch with Keith sooner rather than later to book your place. On the day there will be a two-hour practice session for riders to get used to the track layout and have time to adjust things like gearing if they want. This session will be followed at 11.30am by the six-hour endurance event with a Le Mans-style start. The prospect of the lead riders running to their machines will be an indication of the spirit the event is being held in. At the time of going to press, 30 teams had already registered, including teams from France and Ireland. Its expected number will leap as word gets out, with a nice cross-section of racers and novice teams armed with race and road scooters. There will be three classes – Race, Road with race and novice riders, and Road with only novice riders. For spectators there is no admission charge, so it will be a great day out watching scooters in a unique event. This is the first of this style of event for a long time in the UK, and the interest is reflected in the entrants already taking up the challenge. Interview: Paul Green Photographs: Tim Simpson