During the last two years scooter sprinting has become more and more popular. This is mainly due to the coverage in Scootering and of late Twist & Go magazine, not to mention 100-mph-Lambretta.com and ItaljetDragster.com. With sprinting's popularity increasing people began asking when there would be another scooter sprint like those of the early nineties. 100-mph's answer to this; there are sprint meetings going on all year of which several scooter riders attend, the only problem being not many attend due to the nature of the meeting i.e. the first time you ever go up the track there are hundreds watching as you are put up against a super bike, fair enough. So the answer to this, organise another scooter sprint. Unfortunately with the scooter scene the way it is these days, the event would have to be planned well in advance to avoid date clashes.
 
Because this event had such short notice (about two months) it was easier to pick a public test day at Santa Pod. The only down-side of this was we would be sharing with cars and bikes alike but what better way to see if people were really interested in scooter sprinting? A date was set on July 15th as this would clash with only two other events. It had been promoted in the above magazines and websites and PM tuning had kindly offered to put up trophies. With all the above said and done it was now up to all those scooterists to attend. The weather was great and that could be said for the attendance and I don't just mean scooters. This had to be the biggest turn out of cars I had ever seen. There were a great deal of road going Lambretta's but not many Vespa's - where were you? As regards twist & go's the turn out was very good. I'm not that up on these new scooters (I am learning though) but there seems to be a bit of a cult going on with these Italjet Dragster's which seems to be growing steadily. These things get off the line remarkably quick and I'm sure as they are developed, more will be turning a few heads. I don't think I will be getting one just yet though... Finally there were six sprinter/track bikes which was nice to see. Mixed in this lot were two ex-racers from the early seventies, a lad from Guernsey and several people who had travelled long distances to get here. Obviously with so many people trying to use the track there was a bit of a delay but everybody got there runs in. Some good times were set especially by some of those who had never tried sprinting before.
 
Overall it was a good day and for the first time classic and twist & go scooters joined as one. All those who attended really enjoyed themselves and were calling for this type of event to be put on again. Obviously it would be better as a scooter only event and with the right backing and support it may become a reality next year. In the meantime there will be an NSA sprint at Santa Pod in September of which there will be a scooter class. This will be slightly different as it will be an ACU event so the regulations will be more strict (leathers, boots etc.) but already some of those who attended this event have expressed an interest. We will be promoting this at 100-mph-Lambretta.com as I am sure will Italjet Dragster.com, Scootering and Twist & Go magazines. It only leaves me to say thanks to all those who attended and I'm sure there are better things to come.
 
Words: Stuart Owen.
 
 
Italjet Dragster.com News Report:
 
16/07/01 : Go to 'Run Wot Ya Brung' at Santa Pod and you'll be treated to a visual feast of souped-up two and four wheeled vehicles, the smell of burning rubber and a cacophony of roaring engine noise - music to your ears... Yesterday's unofficial scooter sprint competition could be considered a taster of what's to come in the drag race fraternity with the introduction of the new 'Automatic' class. Star of the new scoots was none other than Joe Elliot who came first place on his 25bhp Dragster 180 running the quarter mile in 14.744 @ 82.4mph, not his fastest time to date but enough to clinch the trophy. Technically Joe would've got second place too with a 14.88 after taking a test ride on PM Tuning's splendid 'Equinox' Runner under the watchful eye o' course of Mr. Paul Melici. Marred by his weight disadvantage Paul had a taste of the action and ran the quarter mile on the Equinox in the late 16's. Early 16's and we see a 21bhp Aprilia SR50 (fitted with a Malossi 172cc engine) cross the finish line at 16.46 (76.62mph) thus winning second place. Owners of Runner's and Speedfight's could also be seen competing during the course of the day. Stuart Owen ended a successful day's racing with a broken gearbox but managed to win first place in the Lambretta sprint class with a 13.39 @ 96.8 mph. Torn between racing my Dragster in it's current 'unstable' state (lame excuse I know) or photographing the day's events, I opted for the latter but all being well I'll be ready to race next season.
 
Words: Paul Robinson.
 
 
RESULTS:
 
Automatics:

Joe Elliot	Italjet Dragster 172cc	14.74 @ 82mph
Paul Melici	Gilera Runner 172cc	15.13 @ 80mph
John Brearley	Aprilia SR 172cc	16.46 @ 76.62mph
Ian Sim	Italjet Dragster 172cc	16.50 @ 70mph
Dave Barrett	Gilera Runner 172cc	16.80 @ 75mph

Street Class:

Jez Mann	Lambretta TS1	15.98 @ 68mph
Dean Percival	Lambretta TS1 225	16.01 @ ??mph
Damien	Lambretta TS1	16.21 @ 70mph
Eden	Lambretta 225	17.57 @ 70mph
Rob Nicholls	Lambretta TS1	17.79 @ 66mph
Adam Winstone	Lambretta TS1 225	17.86 @ 67.17mph
Adam Kijowski	Lambretta	18.99 @ 65mph
Steve Gilligan	Lambretta TS1200	19.37 @ 62mph
John Petchey	Vespa GT	19.51 @ 62mph
Andy Horne	Vespa PX 166	20.12 @ ??

Sprint class:

Stuart Owen	Lambretta	13.39 @ 96.8mph
Richard Baker	Lambretta	13.50 @ 92.3mph
Scotty	Lambretta	14.22 @ 89mph
Trevor Green	Lambretta	15.24 @ ??mph
Mark Bedson	Lambretta TS1 225	15.64 @ 82.3mph

Thanks to Stuart Owen and Eden @ 100mph-Lambretta.com