Gentlemen, start your engines. Getcha wheels spinning and cut loose. Forget ya’ LS one, twos and threes, Barras won’t get a look in, neither will sooty old turbo diesels. Nope, this thrill-a-minute motorsport action is the domain of your Briggs…
Gentlemen, start your engines. Getcha wheels spinning and cut loose.
Forget ya’ LS one, twos and threes, Barras won’t get a look in, neither will sooty old turbo diesels.
Nope, this thrill-a-minute motorsport action is the domain of your Briggs and Straton, Kawasaki and Toro V twins, straight out of your garden variety ride-on lawnmower. Then again, some racers opt for a motorbike engine transplant. Mostly plonking a 250cc unit, complete with five or six-speed manual cog swapper. Those that keep the mower motor have the advantage of an auto, variable-ratio driveline backing the (generally) V-twin engine, which displaces 700cc and upwards.
Yeah, I can hear you all bellowing, just like I was before laying my peepers on these machines, that a ride-on mower only hits a top speed of five to eight kays per hour. Not much in the way of thrills and spills to be had at those knots. In fact, I’d say boring as bat poo. Or dull as watching grass grow!
But, as I found out, these squat, compact lawn-haulers can spin rubber upwards of 60 to 80 kays. While that doesn’t seem too high, when your backside is inches from the turf, your body is jolting hell west and crooked from the lack of suspension and your competitors are mere inches away, it feels like you’re hitting the ton along the back straights.
The solid rear axle, devoid of the standard diff, enforces understeer if driven ‘sedately’ around corners. Kinda’ forces you to hammer the loud pedal to encourage wheel spin, oversteer and drifting – cool, huh! The variable driveline seemed to return a great mix of low-down snappin’ torque to launch off the line. Combined with the top-end speed to produce an eyes-wide-shut crappin’ ya dacks experience at full pelt.
Revhead folk that swap to a motorbike engine revel in the higher RPM that can be had from the tiny 250cc blocks. Think here 11, 12 and up to 15,000 screaming RPMs. Compared to the more sedate yet torquey V-twin mowers that struggle to top three-five on the dial. Of course, high revs return mind-blowing acceleration. Provided you keep the engine in the sweet spot to develop that power and torque. Get caught outside that rev range, and you’ll find yourself dropping places pretty damn quick. On the other hand, if you’re fast enough on the change to keep the tiny powerhouse on the money, then you’ll easily be line-ball with the three-times-larger displacement mower-engineed mob.
It’d be a tough call picking which engine I’d go with. Admittedly, before seeing them in action, I was leaning towards the motorbike engine. But seeing the mower engine and autos performing, if Red Bull, Monster Energy or anyone else wants to sponsor me… I’ll take the bigger mower engine please.
Of course, there are gearing changes to encourage the ride-on to hit higher speeds. The bike engines rely on a chain drive and appropriate cog size on the solid rear axle to help generate speed along with the manual five and six-speed changers. The mower engine remains belt-driven but changes to pulley diameters to gain that speed. Get the pulley size wrong and bog down with under-powered and over-geared slow speeds. Or you’ll run out of legs with your high-speed runs. Essentially, you could ‘dial in’ your garden gangster to each track. Pending length of straights, tightness of curves or general layout.
Forget all that technical stuff for now; the main aim of any motorsport is to go fast or go home. And have maximum fun! The mile-wide smiles were literally breaking out of every full-face helmet. Yep, these blokes and sheilas were having a bloody blast. They were thrashing their mowers around the dirt track regardless of what engine, what speed, and their position.
Given fearless teenage lads were pushing the envelope, older… ahh… more mature gents driving at nine-tenths and a handful of gals mixing it with the best, I simply couldn’t wipe the smile from my dial from behind the lens. I can only imagine the grin I’d be wearing if I found my way into the driver’s seat… Mobil, Shell, SuperCheap Auto, any other sponsor, are you taking note?
Let’s not fluff about. You don’t get to be competitive in any motorsport unless you spend some dough and have some talent. But having a crack at mower racing will not see you mortgaging the sheep station to get a look in. No siree, a few of the fellas on the day mentioned figures of a few grand, give or take a beer or two to get into a decent, competitive ride. Wow, that’s pretty good going given the exhilarating, dirty fun that can be had regardless if you win, lose or draw.
Yeah, things break, and you’ve either gotta be handy on the tools to hammer it straight yourself or pay someone else to do the dirty work. But other than the odd mishap, it seems to me that once you’ve got your wheels spinning and steering the way you want, then it’s only dumping minimal fuel into the tiny tanks each race meet.
You’re hardly going to burn through too much rubber wheeling on dirt, and besides, lawnmower tyres aren’t fetching Formula One tyre prices. Factor in an oil change now and then. Hey, they take all of a litre and a bit! Plus maybe spark plugs when you think of it, perhaps some brake pads, and you’ve got an incredibly low running cost machine.
We were graciously allowed to attend and cover this event hosted by Kempsey Mower Racing Club in their hometown on the mid-north coast of NSW. There is a splattering of mower racing clubs around most states of Australia too. Get in touch with your local to discuss membership and vehicle options and requirements before jumping into a build or purchase!
The Kempsey mob hosts club race meetings most months of the year, as well as larger interclub stoushes. That’s a brilliant bang for ya buck to get into a grassroots (see what I did there) motorsport that won’t send you broke.
Personally, I reckon every person should be made to fang about in the dirt as part of learning vehicle control before learning road rules and eventually gaining a driver’s licence.
Yep, cuttin’ loose, learning circle work, drifting, pushing to nine-tenths and knowing how to handle a vehicle in an emergency is not only a hoot but a highly valuable skill to have. Especially for that one time you might get into a bad situation on a public road. It could – no, make that definitely – be the difference to making it home alive from a drive.
No, we are not condoning hooning on public roads – far from it. Obey the damn rules while driving or riding on the road and leave the racing to the track.
