The 2007 Lawn Mower Race at Brinbury College, were the event had taken place for the previous 20 yearsThe 2007 Lawn Mower Race at Brinbury College, were the event had taken place for the previous 20 years
The 2007 Lawn Mower Race at Brinbury College, were the event had taken place for the previous 20 years

Lawn mower racing: A special year in West Sussex when record crowds watched 42 teams compete

Lawn mower racing is wackily British but it has become known worldwide and it is a real tonic when it is staged in West Sussex.

We are looking back to 2007, a record year for spectators, with 42 teams competing at Brinsbury College, near Pulborough, as the 12-hour race took place overnight, from 8pm to 8am.

Celebrating 20 years of staging the event on a field at the college campus, drivers competed for the coveted trophy and the winner on the night was a Billingshurst team, Accident Prone, led by Tim Ticehurst, clocking up 366 circuits of the 0.81 mile track.

Mark Constanduros, organiser, said at the time: “The club’s been going for 34 years and the 12-hour for a little less but it’s become known worldwide because it’s such an odd event. It’s such an unusual thing to do, running a 12 hour lawn mower race through the night, and people pick up on that. A lot of people want to get involved in it and previous winners have included Sir Stirling Moss and Derek Bell, so everybody wants to get their name on the trophy.”

This year was particularly special as three teams were entered by the Cricketers Arms Pub in Wisborough Green, ‘the home of lawn mower racing’, after a few years’ break from the race.