The announcement was made about 10 days prior to the event, when the sledging and intimidation commenced. Bets were drawn, some team members were already finding excuses for their certain loss, and others were already speculating about the format of the race, and its results, All of us were buzzing at the idea to have a lawnmower race. At the event, we welcomed “The Rock”, the new addition to the New Zealand team.
We all started with a civilized lunch, followed by few palette games to raise the tension, and then our machines were assigned. The format was 4 races of 15 laps each, with variation at the departure grid for placement. The first race was more or less a practice run, warming up the tyres, checking out the corners, looking at the competition, and practicing the overtaking. The straight line gave only advantage to the light weights, but it became obvious that the overall race will be won by some subtle nudging.
The following 3 races, all hell broke loose: Things to remember:
- How to badly bruise Margaret’s entire left hand side: Ask Stuart to take her out in a corner and having his pursuant (Yann) T-bone Margaret at full speed (I mean lawnmower speed).
- How to overtake James: no need any special technique, James fair play was exemplary, he just goes aside politely, which earned him the fair play award.
- How to overtake Marcel: with the fastest lap by far from everyone, no chance.
How to make the best lap time: don’t ask Stuart (he thought he could reduce his lap time by placing an imaginary end of lap 10 meters before the actual finish line – go figure!!!)
How to win the race: wait patiently behind Marcel and Stuart battling, they will make a mistake.
Overall, they were some very good “battle of the corners” and some aggressive lines as race after race everybody confidence grew a notch and our thirst for victory was insatiable. A special mention to Sunita, as her prudence was remarkable, which earn her the safety award. For the overall final positions, experience and consistency prevailed, and Yann took the trophy, Marcel finished second; despite some amazing lap time and Stuart who thought “Force Majeure” played against him took the third place.
Story by Yann
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