Mower Race Features Fight

Lawn mower racers Willy Boyd and Simon Hunt fight during a weekend race in New Zealand. Boyd said Hunt, driving a larger machine, had deliberately tried to push Boyd during the race. Otago Daily Times

The old joke goes ''I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out.'' For some New Zealanders, ''hockey'' can be replaced with ''lawnmower race.''

A weekend lawnmower race in Queenstown, New Zealand turned into a brawl as two riders used their fists to settle their differences.

One of the riders, Willy Boyd, said he is not sorry for his actions. Boyd, a manager at a Wanaka, New Zealand mower and chainsaw shop, saw red when his ride-on lawnmower was pushed by a bigger machine driven by Queenstown landscaping contractor Simon Hunt.

''I was seriously worried he was going to tip me over,'' Boyd said of the incident, which escalated when Boyd confronted Hunt and punched him.

Boyd's boss, Mark Mclellan - who is also the main sponsor of the mower race - said several collisions during the race were deliberate. The heavier machine could have potentially tipped Boyd's smaller mower over and ridden over the top of them, he said.

''There's not going to be any apologies from us,'' he said. ''I totally condone the response.''

Mclellan dispelled any suggestion there was a feud between the mowing contractors. However, the fracas could earn both drivers lifetime bans from competing in lawnmowing races at the Lake Hayes A & P Show.

Show president Mike Smith said the lawnmowing race was governed by rules and regulations.

''Clearly these two individuals have been involved in an incident that does not comply with these,'' Smith said. ''The society does not condone this sort of behavior and the individuals concerned in the dispute will no longer be involved in the show.''