If you were to choose a vehicle in which to stage a 12-hour overnight endurance race, you might not plump for a sit-on lawnmower.

But that's exactly what happens every August in Five Oaks, a hamlet in England's southern county of Sussex. 

For a full half-day – including overnight – enthusiasts motor their mowers round a 1.4 kilometer track, hundreds of times. 

But these are no ordinary mowers. Barreling along a purpose-built track – and taking advantage of ground baked hard by an English heatwave – the souped-up machines can hit speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour. 

No wonder the course is surrounded by bales of hay, to protect any drivers spilling out of control – and any spectators unlucky enough to be in their flightpath. 

To make it even more like the famous Le Mans 24-hour race, drivers for each of the 40 teams begin with a sprint to their mowers. 

This year's winning team was a father-son-son trio, with Alfie Smith leading his sons Kenny and Marshall. They'd won their first title in 2023 and were determined to grab it back this year, piling up 420 laps of the circuit over the 12 hours. 

Lawnmower racing has grown into a structured endurance competition, with pit stops for re-fueling and repairs, and teams of three drivers alternating behind the wheel… but for safety purposes, mower blades are removed prior to racing.