The A-Z of Le Minz 24-hour Scooterthon

It's a fundraiser, but that doesn't mean the racing is warm and fuzzy, as Team Bikesales found out first-hand on December 4-5

The results tell the final story: Team Bikesales finished 29th in the 2014 Le-Minz 24-Hour Scooterthon at the Xtreme Karting complex in Pimpama (Qld) last Friday and Saturday, just a few laps – well, 109 but who’s counting… down on the winning ATA combination led by world endurance campaigner Gareth Jones.

But like any 24-hour event, the scoreboard only paints a fraction of what transpires before, during and after the 1440 minutes of combat on 50cc scooters. There’s plenty and, as a rookie combination, Team Bikesales -- Mark Fattore, Rod Chapman, Marton Pettendy and Matt Brogan -- probably endured more trials and tribulations than most. But we didn’t lose our tempers once – well, except for a mini outburst that you can read about in the ‘W’ part of our A-Z Le Minz account. Here goes:

A is for Aprilia. The marque’s little SR 50 R was the bike of choice for the majority of the 60-bike field, and that included Bikesales. It’s a little cracker, has great brakes, and our bike didn’t miss a beat the whole time – despite full throttle being the staple. We started the event with 58km on the odometer, and in the space of a day the first service now beckons…

B is for Bullocking. When you aren’t world-beaters, the other top teams pass you a lot. And I mean a lot. And the likes of Josh Hook, Glenn Allerton, Gareth Jones, Mike Jones and Garry McCoy are masters at it, managing to find – and fill holes – that you wouldn’t think are possible. But Hook isn't super human – after passing Bikesales for the umpteenth time he had to make an unscheduled toilet stop around the back of the circuit.

C is for Crashes. There were plenty of ’em, especially with rain and storms lashing the circuit from about the four-hour mark. A few unfortunate souls were carted away with the standard shoulder and collarbone ailments. Bikesales came down three times, with Chapman starting the rot after a front-end loose, followed by Brogan and Pettendy. No damage to riders or the bike, apart from scuffing – just as well as we didn’t have any spare levers.

D is for Darkness. Riding in it is inevitable during a 24-hour race, although it does help when sunrise in Queensland at this time of year is about 4:30am. There were a couple of portable floodlights set up around the circuit; otherwise it was left to the Aprilia’s headlights to decipher a wet from dry line.

E is for Entry Speed. As well as the road racing stars at Le Minz, the event also attracts a healthy dose of dirt track royalty, and the entry and corner speed of those riders is phenomenal. I lost count of the amount of times I braced for a bike to crash in front of me as they barrelled into a turn at practically full noise, but somehow the 13-inch tyres (for the Aprilia, anyway) held firm. The best seat in the house.

F is for Footwells. Quite a few of the Aprilias, including ours, ‘lost’ the plastic inserts on the footwells during the race, and some ended up on the racing lines.

G is for Gareth Jones. The world endurance rider has lobbed back in Oz for the off-season, and his long-distance prowess was immediately on show: he had his Aprilia humming from the get-go, didn’t crash, kept his cool, and his team churned out the laps in three-hour stints. On that score, and with quality back-up, success was just about inevitable. Bikesales’ longest stint was just over two hours, so we aren’t quite the ironmen just yet.

H is for Honda. There were a few teams who braved the Aprilia onslaught on their 50cc Today scooters, and one of them had extraordinary corner speed – but thankfully was a cinch to pass on the straights!

I is for Indecision. When there are 60 bikes on a track, there’s no time to weigh up then pros and cons of a passing move, otherwise you’ll be swallowed up from those behind.

J is for Jerry Cans. There were plenty of them floating around the refuelling bay, and it does pay to make sure the top cap is removed before screwing on the funnel. That faux pas cost us 30 seconds, but considering that we finished three laps behind 28th place, it wasn’t a total calamity.

K is for Kilometres. Even at our moderate pace, we churned out plenty of them – 1164, while the winners hit 1339. Not a bad day’s work.

L is for Le Mans start. A ubiquitous feature of endurance racing, and Le Minz continues the tradition. This author was the Bikesales starter and, despite possessing a sprinter-like abundance of fast-twitch fibres, got away around mid-pack. Too many young and fit young stars to contend with…

M is for Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Transport duties from Melbourne to the Gold Coast return were handled by the mighty Sprinter, which carries a massive payload and drives like a car. We also slept in it, and it also became a safe haven during the race when the horizontal rain kicked in.

N is for Next one. Le Minz gets you hooked and, despite suffering from extreme fatigue, some of us immediately began discussing the merits of a return bout in 2015.

O is for Outside passing. Improvisation is the key at Le Mans, because you’re rarely alone belting though a turn. So you’ve got to manufacture passing manoeuvres, and around the outside was definitely one of the favourites.

P is for Practice. It’s like a dirt track racing -- there’s not a lot of it, and even less when you stop to comfort a rider who has crashed, as Chapman found out. But it all adds to the intrigue of the event.

Q is for Quality care. You can’t just turn up to Le Minz and race; it’s quite the logistical operation when you factor in sleeping arrangements, food requirements, medical bits and bobs, etc. We had the team from Motorcycle Safety & Rescue looking for us, and our every whim was taken care of – down to midnight smoothies. Nachos would have been nice to go with it, though…

R is for Racesafe. Le Minz is a fundraiser for Racesafe, the tireless medical organisation which tends to injured riders at motorcycle race meetings throughout the country. The Racesafe All Stars, led by Glenn Allerton, finished second as well, which was a great result.

S is for Strategy. Despite a team meeting the night before, the Bikesales strategy won’t have to be stamped ‘Top Secret’ and declassified in 25 years. We mixed things up a bit, but next year we’ll be wiser for the occasion, especially on fuel consumption.

T is for Trouble. It’s hard not to stay away from it at Le Minz, either as a direct result of your own mistakes or being caught up in the collateral damage of others. That’s what happens when 60 scooters are let loose on a 1.5km circuit.

U is for Undergarments. Here’s a tip: invest in some Skins or other such compression gear. It’s a godsend in the heat, and makes getting in and out of your leathers a damn sight easier.

V is for Variable weather. It was a wild 24 hours in Queensland, and along the whole Eastern seaboard for that matter, and all four Team Bikesales riders felt the wrath of it at different stages. The last strong ‘episode’ was at about 9:30am on Saturday, complete with some fearsome winds.

W is for Weariness. You could see it happening: as the hours passed, we spent more time relaxing in our vast pit complex – two quickshades flanked by the Sprinter van – rather than watching our teammate churn out the laps on the perimeter fence. Eventually, the indifference reached a crescendo when no-one was around to help Chapman refill the Aprilia – so he simply rode through the pits, across gravel and through gullies, to alert us of the fact in a fairly emphatic fashion.

X is for Xtreme Karting. The complex where the event was held, which is located at Pimpama, about 10 minutes from Surfers Paradise. It has excellent facilities, the circuit is in superb condition, and there’s plenty of pit space.

Y is for Youthful. We’ll have to admit it – Le Minz is kind of a young person’s game. They are leaner, carry less aches and pains, require less sleep, and are generally much faster. What say a veteran’s class in 2015 for the over 35s?

Z is for Zany. You get them in every crowd – some riders just love hamming it up at Le Minz, and the standard go-to move for the biggest wags is grabbing ducktails on the way past. We were spared for the most part.

There you go – all the ups, downs, highlights and lowlights of the 2014 Le Minz 24-hour Scootherthon. If you’re keen to take the event on, visit the event’s Facebook page.

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The A-Z of Le Minz 24-hour Scooterthon

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