Winners in My Book Even if They Don’t Win
There’s something very interesting to me about taking machines designed for one thing and using them to do another. That’s why I love the idea of racing Vespa scooters 1,000 miles the length of the Baja Peninsula. Tutto Mondo Racing is doing just that.
The Tutto Mondo Racing has teamed up with Leonardo Pilati and Pietro Bologna to make this happen, according to ADV Pulse. Pietro is the head of the Central Italian Vespa Club and Leonardo has won many championships racing Vespas in various European racing clubs.
This won’t be the first time a Vespa was raced in the Mexican 1000. Back in the 1970s racers took to the route on Vespas. Bringing the scooters back will be a return. Tutto Mondo Racing’s Marcus Benham sounded excited about the opportunity to do the race this way.
“There’s no way to look cool racing a Vespa, so you have to just go out and have fun. Just like any off-road race vehicle, our Vespa’s have skid plates, bigger tires, and some work done on the shocks. If you want to race on a budget, they can’t be beat. We were doing some prep at a shop in Mexico, and soon had 20 of the locals joining in to help. I wouldn’t be surprised if racing Vespa’s became a big thing over here like it is in Europe,” he said.
The Mexican 1000 is known for its diversity in terms of what types of bikes and vehicles compete. Triumph raced a Scrambler XE last year and placed 5th overall. It will be cool to see how the Vespa racers do.