WEST SUSSEX, UK (CBS) -- The team of "Who's Racing" took the top spot in this year's most prestigious race on the Lawn Mower racing calendar, the 12-hour in the English county of West Sussex on September 25.
The team beat 34 other teams from across England and even the United States.
The event kicked off September 24 and finishes in the early hours of Sunday morning. Because the date of this event was several weeks later than previous years, it meant even more of the race was completed in darkness; nearly 11 of the 12 hours.
The 12-hour race sees three different classes of lawn mowers racing. The overall trophy is awarded to the team completing the most laps or distance during the race.
For this endurance race, many months of preparation have been put in, ensuring the machines and drivers are at their optimum performance for the race.
For obvious safety reasons all the blades are removed for racing mowers. Each team has three drivers who swap periodically (like at Le Mans). There is a pit lane where teams refuel and carry out the inevitable repairs as mowers break down throughout the race.
Race conditions were perfect for this year, which pleased all the racers and the more than 21,000 capacity crowd. Over the past five years the race has been abandoned twice because of the uncertainties of British weather.
After a grueling night, dawn gave way to a wonderful sunny morning which was a real inspiration to drivers struggling with fatigue. Most of the mowers were still in the race as the final hours crept by. By this stage all of the drivers, despite their changeovers, were both mentally and physically exhausted. Their bodies and hands ached from the punishingly bumpy course. At 7.00 am after a painful 12 hours, Team No. 41, 'Who's Racing' took the checkered flag having completed 362 laps.
The sport was started in 1973 at a pub called the Cricketers Arms in West Sussex and grew in popularity in mid-Seventies when legendary British Formula One racer Sir Stirling Moss started competing in the sport. The first 12-hour Lawn Mower race started in 1978 and with a Le Mans type start it attracted 47 entries that first year. After a night of thrills and spills the winners turned out to be former Ex-British driving ace Stirling and his partner five times Le Mans winner Derek Bell.