Sportive

Six things you didn’t know about Revolve24

Sponsored feature: Revolve24 returns to Brands Hatch in September - here's why you should be there

Revolve24 returns to Brands Hatch on the weekend of September 10 and September 11 after a successful debut edition in 2015, with the Le Mans-style event set to be bigger and better for this year’s event.

If you’re not familiar with the concept, Revolve24 is a 24-hour endurance race on the iconic Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in Kent, where future world champion Nigel Mansell claimed his first Formula One win in 1985.

Revolve24 returns to Brands Hatch in September after the success of the inaugural 24-hour event (Pic: Joolze Dymond)

Open to soloists, or relay teams of two, four, six and eight riders, the challenge is simple – ride around the 3.9km track as many times as you can in 24 hours, competing for category prizes (or riding for charity).

The Brands Hatch pit garages give you the chance to give your bike the once-over before riding, and also serve as a base for any team-mates or registered crew members to keep an eye on proceedings.

The event is free to attend spectators and, besides the 24-hour race itself (which includes entry to entries for £40), there’s plenty more going on across the weekend, including six-hour and 12-hour challenges, and an omnium.

So what else do you need to know about Revolve24? Here are six reasons why you should check out the event – and if you want more information or to enter, just head to the Revolve24 website.

There are six, 12 and 24-hour races available

Despite its name, Revolve24 is not just about the 24-hour challenge – so if you’re not quite ready to slog it out for a whole day, either as a soloist or as a team, don’t worry.

As with the blue riband event, there will also be a six-hour event, open to soloists or duos and to teams of four (though the latter will not be eligible for prizes).

Not up for a 24-hour challenge? New for 2016 is the 12-hour ‘dusk ’til dawn’ ride (Pic: Joolze Dymond)

Taking place on the Sunday, the ride gives you the chance to sample the event at Brands Hatch in a more manageable – but still challenging – chunk.

New for 2016, and introduced by popular demand, is also the 12-hour ‘Dusk ‘til Dawn’ challenge too – sponsored by Exposure Lights, who are offering 20 per cent on certain lights to participants.

Prizes will be awarded to soloists, duos and teams of four, while registration is also open to teams of six and eight.

Jason Kenny is taking part

While his former team sprint team-mate Chris Hoy has taken to 24-hour motor racing, Jason Kenny will be heading to Revolve24 after the Rio 2016 Olympics to take on a different endurance challenge on two wheels.

Jason Kenny will ride Revolve24 after Rio 2016 (Pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Kenny, who also rode the 2015 event, will join the Revolve24 Global Team with race director and former Olympic cyclist Simon Lillistone and some of the R24 founders.

So if you want the chance to compete with or race alongside a three-time Olympic gold medallist (or hopefully even more after Rio…), Revolve24 is your chance to do just that.

Soloists can join the Everesting Club

The Everesting Club, for those unfamiliar, is an exclusive club open to cyclists who have climbed 29,029ft in a single ride – equivalent to the height of Everest.

The rolling Brands Hatch circuit mean soloists can potentially climb enough to ‘Everest’ the route (Pic: Joolze Dymond)

The rolling Brands Hatch circuit, which includes the short ascents or Hawthorn Hill and the ironically-named Pilgrim’s Drop, has a total elevation of just a little more than 210 feet per lap, with a maximum gradient of nine percent to truly test the legs over the course of the event.

David Stoyle joined the Everesting Club at last year’s Revolve24 by completing 145 laps of the circuit (Pic: Strava)

It means any soloist completing at least 139 laps of the circuit will earn a place in the Everesting Club hall of fame (and, thanks to Revolve24 organisers, prizes from www.snowandrock.co.uk).

The honour of being first to join the Everesting Club on the circuit belongs to Bath CC’s David Stoyle, who conquered 145 laps in last year’s inaugural event.

It’s a RAAM qualifier

Soloists are not just able to bag a place in the Everesting Club, either – this year the event has been recognised as an official qualifier for the Race Across America.

Revolve24 is one of only two UK races afforded the badge of an approved qualifying event for RAAM (to take part in RAAM as a soloist, you have to successfully completed an approved 24hr ride).

Revolve24 is a qualifying event for any soloists looking to take part in the Ride Across America (Pic: Joolze Dymond)

Qualification would be valid for either the 2017 and 2018 edition of RAAM, with the minimum distance requirements being 350 miles for male soloists and 325 miles for female soloists – allowance has been made from the normal qualifying distance of 400 miles because of the profile of the circuit.

To enter as a RAAM qualifying hopeful, you just need to sign up to the non-drafting solo category.

You can ride for charity

Competition is one thing, charity another. Revolve24 has six official charity partners, though participants can, and do, ride for whichever charity they like.

Ride for yourself, as a team or for charity (Pic: Joolze Dymond)

The six official charities for 2016 are Breast Cancer Care, the Royal Air Forces Association, Scottys Little Soldiers, The Wallich, Mission Motorsport and the Kent Sports Trust.

The event will also have a mechanical support provided by www.cyclesurgery.com, who are teaming up with www.recycles.org (a social enterprise run by the Salvation Army) to look after participants through the weekend.

There’s also an omnium

For riders who want to test their mettle as an all-rounder, the Revolve24 weekend also includes an omnium on the Brands Hatch circuit. The omnium is classified as a Regional A event by British Cycling and consistent of three events – an individual time trial, criterium and two-hour track endurance race.

The individual time trial is one lap of the Brands Hatch GP circuit (3.8km), while the criterium takes place on the Indy Circuit (1.19km per lap) and will be 24 minutes plus two laps.

Revolve24 also includes an omnium, featuring a time trial, criterium and road race (Pic: Joolze Dymond)

Finally, the two-hour track endurance road race takes place on the GP circuit. All three events will carry equal weighting in points to find the overall winner. Team prizes (for teams of four riders) will also be on offer in both the men’s and women’s categories.

The omnium is limited to 80 individual participants per event, and is open to category two, three and four race licence-holding senior and junior men, and all licence-holding senior and junior women. The women’s criterium is run in association with London Women’s Racing.

Website: Revolve24