Tiago Monteiro takes on the legendary ‘Eau Rouge’ behind the wheel of the world’s fastest lawnmower – #meanmower

Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team racing driver Tiago Monteiro took on the legendary ‘Eau Rouge’ corner and hill climb at Spa Francorchamps last week; swapping the relative comfort and refinement of his Honda Civic WTCC for the raw and aggressive power of the world’s fastest lawnmower – the Honda Mean Mower.

Despite damp conditions on the track following a heavy storm, the former Formula 1 driver managed to take Honda’s 1000cc, 109hp ‘Mean Mower’ up to 80mph as he approached the most famous bend in world motor sport. Furthermore, keen to see how the Mean Mower performs the job it was always meant to do, Tiago warmed up for his test drive on the track by mowing some grass around the circuit, finishing up with a few donuts to entertain inquisitive onlookers.

See Tiago Monteiro taking on the Eau Rouge (and doing a bit of mowing) here: http://bit.ly/1flM3aM

Tiago seemed to enjoy the experience of swapping his car for something a little more horticultural, commenting:

“I’ve competed at Spa in many different cars but this was a little bit different! It’s fast, very fast, and quite sensitive, making it difficult to drive at pace. With such huge power and acceleration you need a lot of concentration to take on the Eau Rouge, particularly on such a wet track.”

Honda’s Mean Mower recently became officially the world’s fastest lawnmower, averaging 116.57mph to break the previous GUINNESS WORLDs title by almost 30mph. The successful attempt took place under the watchful eye of a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS Adjudicator on the 2000km North Straight at the IDIADA Proving Ground* in Tarragona, Spain, on Saturday 8th March 2014, eclipsing the previous record of 87.83mph.

The idea behind Mean Mower was to demonstrate Honda’s sprit of innovation, its motor sport heritage, and that it makes more than just cars. Mean Mower was designed and built in the UK by Honda’s British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) partner, Team Dynamics.  The team re-engineered a Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor from the ground-up, adding an all-new fabricated chassis, custom-made from 4130 chromoly, to provide a strong, safe but very light platform. A 1000cc engine from a Honda VTR Firestorm was used, along with a bespoke suspension and wheels from a racing ATV.**

The result of this remarkable feat of engineering is a lawnmower set-up and geared to achieve a top speed in excess of 130mph, weighing just 140kg, producing 96Nm of torque, an incredible PTW ratio of 532bhp/tonne; and an estimated 0-60mph of just four seconds.

Tiago’s drive took place almost a year since Honda’s Mean Mower first broke cover, in which time it has graced a number of tracks across Europe including Silverstone, Hockenheim, Circuit de Charade, Rockingham and Donington Park.

See the video of Mean Mower’s successful record attempt here: http://youtu.be/DFo7ztlMlmg
#meanmower

To keep up to date on all the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team’s activities, check out the following sites:
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ENDS

Notes to Editors:
* Located approx 130 km south of Barcelona, the IDIADA Proving Ground is the main Technical Centre of IDIADA, development partner to the automotive industry worldwide; providing design, engineering and testing services. IDIADA is present in 23 countries.
* * For the world record and for safety reasons, special ATV wheels and tyres that are designed for racing purposes were used.