Pondering the P-range
With a PX Vespa thrashing Lambrettas on the racetrack recently, Paul takes time to reflect on his own P-range experiences…
It was 32 years ago when I bought myself a P-range Vespa. At the time I was saving up for a house and I had suffered two broken Lambretta crankshafts within only three months, depleting my savings each time. So the time had come to try and save some money and the P-range was therefore the natural choice – dependable, safe, cheap and (boringly) reliable. I would never be stranded on a Vespa P Range… would I?
So the PX150 arrived – it was totally standard and I quite enjoyed it. The neighbours appreciated it too I think, as it replaced a Lambretta with a VW pipe on a baffleless Clubman exhaust. At the time I was riding about 1000 miles a month mainly up and down dual carriageways, so the P-range was comfortable and reliable, though it didn’t have the style of the Lambretta it replaced, nor the handling!
In time, the PX150 was later replaced by a P200e, as I was actually quite liking the reliability at the time, but I just wanted to go a little faster, though I missed riding it spiritedly and throwing it into bends like I did the Lambretta. I couldn’t put my feet back and my ass to the rear of a Snetterton like I could on the Lambretta and I remained sat relatively upright as I cornered on the wallowing scooter on square edged Michelin tyres – you know the ones.
All this was flooding back to me as I sat in the grandstand at Cadwell Park recently, watching the crazy Scotsman ‘Mad Dog’ Stewart Mackenzie, throwing his Production Class P-range into the corner and then up the mountain at Cadwell. I was watching something I honestly never thought I would see… a P-range Vespa in front of the LCGB Production Class Lambrettas on a racetrack… what was happening?
There were plenty of others watching in amazement too, the most successful BSSO race class that was introduced last year now (embarrassingly to some) has a Vespa leading the class. Mad Dog even joined the LCGB so he could legitimately compete in the Production Class.
The Production Class was put together with Lambretta in mind, but now with potential subsidised parts made available by Norrie Kerr of VE, to mirror the subsidised RB kits available to the Lambretta riders, a new angle was suddenly possible. I don’t think many people honestly expected that anyone would actually build and race one, but that was probably all the more reason for someone whose nickname is Mad Dog to put one together!
Watching some ‘on-bike’ video footage from Cadwell made me realise just how hard it must be to hustle a Vespa P-range around a racetrack and actually mix it with two or three of the very quickest riders in the country on RB powered Lambrettas. It was spectacular and incredible footage for sure.
So what does the race paddock think about this? Well, I think the main body of people are actually quite excited about it, but there are still some scratching their
I was actually quite liking the reliability at the time but I just wanted to go a little faster, though I missed riding it spiritedly and throwing it into bends like I did the Lambretta.
heads in amazement and pondering what has happened. I guess it’s the same kind of thing as when Volvo turned up with an estate car in the British Touring Car Championship in the Nineties. It’s kind of exciting, embarrassing, uncool and actually very cool, all in equal measure. It has shown what can be done, and perhaps it will encourage more people onto the track, as a Vespa P-range could be even more economical to put on the track than a Lambretta GP. I really hope so, as it could bring a whole new set of people to be interested in racing scooters in a (relatively) economic way.
But going back to my experience of a P-range 30 years ago, which then was my everyday main transport, I had a front rack, a back rest and a Pitone exhaust… so it wasn’t exactly a racing machine. Yes, for sure, one could be tuned to go fast in straight line, but would I ever have imagined racing one with knee scraping on the track? Erm… no. Did I ever expect to see one in front of Lambrettas on a race track in 2017? Erm… no. Am I glad to see a Vespa finishing races ahead of equivalent class Lambrettas… hell yes. It’s good for the riders, the spectators, future racers and the sport in general. Well done Mad Dog.