Media Release Le Minz Gold Coast Le Minz 24 Hour Scooterthon maintains record breaking tradition
SCP The inaugural Le Minz 24 Hour Scooterthon held on the Gold Coast had it all – on-track rivalry, torrential rain, a power black out and new world record as 10 scooters crossed the finish line at the Parklands Showground circuit at 2pm on Tuesday 17 October
Despite some tough competition by Mark Brown [Yamaha] and Dale Corser [Arqin], Omar Khalek [TGB] broke his own world record for the greatest distance travelled on a scooter over a 24 hour period. Khalek, completed 1605 laps of the Parklands track, the equivalent to 1059.3 kilometres and 77 kilometres more than his previous effort.
The 2005 Guinness Book of World Record holder, Mark Brown launched the challenge on Khalek early and after the first four hours of the Le Minz 24 Hour Scooterthon had a 25 kilometre lead on the rest of the field. Mechanical problems plagued Brown in the later stages of the race and he recovered to claim second position with 1039.5 kilometres completed.
Another challenger in the race for the World Record was Dale Corser who was the first to exceed the previous record set by Khalek at the Melbourne Le Minz 24 Hour Scooterthon. Corser broke the record on lap 1489 and maintained the lead and record for the next ten laps.
According to Khalek, the new world record came as a surprise after the 20-year old struck trouble in the opening stages of the endurance test.
“I didn’t think it [the world record] was going to happen due to the conditions and I had two big falls early in the Le Minz 24 Hour Scooterthon. As a result, I was 50 laps down on the leaders after the first stint of the race and I didn’t think it would be possible to catch up,” Khalek said.
Khalek added that warmer weather conditions experienced on the Gold Coast made his second world record attempt a lot easier.
“Melbourne was more difficult due to the cold weather conditions. The rain experienced during the night [at the Gold Coast] was a bit of a bother and made the riding conditions very tough.”
Winner of the team component of the Le Minz 24 Hour Scooterthon was Team Scooter Scooter Bolwell who recorded 1648 laps of the Parklands circuit.
According to Mark Petersen from Southern Cross Promotions and organiser of the Le Minz 24 Hour Scooterthon the event was extremely successful.
“Considering this is the first time the Le Minz 24 Hour Scooterthon has been conducted on the Gold Coast, the event was a huge success and has a lot of potential to grow in the future,” Petersen commented.
“Omar did a fantastic job to break his own record in the weather conditions experienced - which were a far cry from what we expected to experience on the Gold Coast.”
The Le Minz 24 Hour Scooterthon is a prelude to the Australian Motorcycle Expo Brisbane which will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from the 3 – 5 November. Additional details can be found at www.australianmotorcycleexpo.com.au.
published 24/10/2006 |