<I>Crash.net</I> launch Le Mans bid.

On the eve of the 72nd running of the Le Mans 24 hour race in France, leading motorsports website Crash.net has launched its very own Le Mans 24 hour racing bid.

Crash.net journalists Henry Beaudette and Andy Stobart will be competing in July's Le Mans 24 hour kart race which takes place on the Circuit Alain Prost kart circuit, nesting itself right beside the famous Porsche Curves at La Sarthe.

Beaudette, Crash.net's American motorsports editor from 2000-2003 and now a freelance contributor for the website, now runs his own karting team, OSB Motorsport. This will be Beaudette's first 24-hour kart race, the longest event he has contested previously being a 9-hour endurance event.

Stobart, Crash.net's national motorsport editor and general dogsbody, has previous experience in the event having raced in the classic karting showdown in 2002 against the likes of Karting for Holland, Bentley and the German National Karting squad, taking a fine sixth place in the VKR team.

The duo used to race in karting events together when at university in the British University Karting championship, both as members of the championship winning squad in the year 2000 for Cardiff University Motorsports.

Though they are former team-mates, their racing rivalry is fierce. "I can't wait to race Andy at Le Mans," says Beaudette. "When we were in the same team, Andy was the captain, but when it comes to Le Mans I think he'll find that we are the daddies!"

Should be fun on track then. "We've been involved in only a few racing incidents, which is surprising really considering the amount of racing we used to do both with and against each other in our uni days," says Stobart. "There could well be some more incidents to talk about soon."

Those 'uni days' included much racing at the infamous Race Hire race venue near Bridgend. The indoor, and sometimes outdoor, karting venue has been a service stop on the Wales Rally GB and over the years Beaudette and Stobart have raced in some rather out of the ordinary race formats at the track.

"Karting with a roundabout was probably the most interesting," explains Stobart. " There was literally a roundabout in the centre of a figure of eight circuit and you had to give priority based on who had the biggest balls. I got the fastest lap that day by taking a different route and missing out half the track..."

Other events that Beaudette and Stobart raced in included enduros with a half-time change from clockwise to counter-clockwise, indoor-outdoor races where the racing moved outside to the car park then back into the 80,000 square foot industrial unit, and even the odd spot of mini-moto racing, which is certainly an activity for those with very few brain cells.

The 24 hour Le Mans kart race in which Crash.net's test dummies will compete is organised by Teesside Karting owner Bob Pope and includes teams backed by Lamborghini of London, Toshiba, and Vodafone as well as works kart manufacturer squads.

Beaudette has been getting regular kart practice competing with his team in the Llandow kart club's Senior Pro MSA Sprint series and currently lies fourth in the championship with team-mates ahead of him in second and first position. Stobart, meanwhile, can only boast of having in a kart race once last year as his most recent experience.

"I raced against the likes of touring car ace Tim Harvey and then Williams tester and current F3 driver Marko Asmer in the BTCC media/teams' karting event," he explains. "I did get the fastest lap for our team but the kart was a total nail - I'm hoping our steed in France is rather better than that so I can show that Beaudette how it's done."

The gauntlet is down.

Keep tuned to www.crash.net/lemans for the latest news on this weekend's Le Mans 24 race and the karting exploits in July from our intrepid journalists.