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<p><font size="2"><b>Six young lads were recently discovered thrashing a twenty-four
year old within inches of life. The relevant forces were informed but on further
investigation the truth was revealed. It was discovered that the twenty-four
year old in question was a highly tuned 1974 A50 Suzuki Moped and the lads were
all competing in the British 50cc Road Racing Championship Series, that had
its final race of the season in mid September.</b></font></p>
<p><font size="2">The little publicized 'Moped Mayhem' Series, as it is more commonly
known, runs from Spring to the Autumn and consists of four main races of between
four and six hours at a time. The lads have just finished their third year of
racing finishing mid way up the league table of thirty teams in their class.</font>
</p>
<p><font size="2"> 'It seemed a logical progression' says Ben Karthauser, 21,
an engineering student in Cardiff and the founder member of Ape Racing. </font>
<p><font size="2"> 'We all had moped when we were sixteen and we always wanted
them to be the fastest in the town. Now we have the opportunity of competing
with other similarly insane people to push the 'peds to their true capabilities.
' </font>
<p><font size="2"> Neil Smith, 21, a member of Ape Racing, agrees. </font>
<p><font size="2"> 'We bought the bike in a box a couple of years ago and it was
like assembling a giant Airfix model. Ben got out his spanner and his welder,
tinkered around for a bit and low and behold here's what we've got'. </font>
<p><font size="2"> There's more to it than that though. </font>
<p><font size="2"> 'Most people think of old mans shopping bikes when they think
of mopeds. But that is so far from the truth. Our moped has been clocked at
around 70 mph whilst some other bikes are capable of well over 90 mph. Not that
many see that fast though as the circuits are less than a mile long and there
are a lot of bikes out there.' says Mike, 23, a Web Designer from Bristol and
the older brother of Ben. </font>
<p><font size="2"> ' It's so easy to get started. You get your bike sorted and
go racing. It only costs £120 to enter the team for a weekends racing
which includes camping and entertainment as well as a days practise and scratch
races (10 lap sprints). There's no need to get any special licenses and as long
as the bike starts and stops and no bits fall off they'll virtually allow you
to race anything.' </font>
<p><font size="2"> ' Racing moped's has allowed us to take everything we've learnt
on the road and use it on the track.' says Ben Stobart, 21, and one of the fastest
riders of the team. </font>
<p><font size="2"> 'On the road you rarely get the chance to take a bike up to
full speed. On the track, its a different story. Our moped is run to it's limit,
we push it as fast as we can. There are the occasional spill's but as we have
full race leathers and the necessary safety gear we've not had much more than
scratches and bruised ego's.' </font>
<p><font size="2"> The team has also managed to get sponsorship for the last two
seasons from RODOR, from the town of Andover where the team is currently based.
RODOR also provide a van that Ape Racing use to get to the various meetings
scattered in the North of England and the Midlands. </font>
<p><font size="2"> 'Next year we aim to be bigger and better' says Ben K. </font>
<p><font size="2">'We have a lot of ideas that we can implement
for the next season. A bit more tuning wouldn't go a miss but at the end of
the day what matters is reliability. You could have the fastest 'ped on the
circuit but that's no good if it doesn't last the race. We also aim to get another
bike on the circuit, providing we can find the cash or sponsorship to do so,
but whatever happens, we'll still be racing. Anyone wishing to know more about
starting out in moped racing or willing to strike up a sponsorship deal are
welcome to get in touch. With a bit of thought and frenzied riding, we could
be well in for a chance of a top ten result.' </font>
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