John Mitchinson has been involved in rallies for the last 10 years, both at home and abroad. His previous 40 years worth of motorcycle experiences including trials, MX and enduro meant the jump to navigation rallies was always going to be a natural progression.
Being an avid bike fan and owner of a plastic moulding & engineering business gave him the opportunity to design & develop his own bike parts, which led to the origin of Rally Raid Products Ltd.
The LC4-50 project was more a case of coming to a solution for a problem from a different angle, like most of the parts that have been made by the company.
Wesley Beane, Wes was a fixture in our kitchen, coffee and digestives most afternoons and Saturday mornings, the side gate would bang and then there he was. He was great friends with our dog JoJo, and he would certainly have loved Rosie. John and Wes would mull over bikes, forums, regs and results all long before Rally Raid Products ever emerged. Once the idea was born, Wes was John's right-hand man, a talented rider and engineer, between the two of them they would always come up with a solution, and Wes was always a willing test pilot for any new parts.
Wes’s untimely death during the 2013 Tuareg Rally has been well documented, but it is important that he is remembered on this site aswell as he was at the heart of the project and his input invaluable to it. A Dakar fanatic, he may not have got there, but we wouldn’t have got there either without him!
Martin Wittering of Torque Racing has been involved in our LC4-50 project from the start, and due to his wealth of experience in the LC4 motors from his mechanic days in Dakar, plus his own motorcycle business, has provided not only the "hands-on" element of the operation, but also a reference for past rally bikes, and most of the other after-market kits, of which he has worked on over the years.
He has also taken on Wes' role as chief "fuel injection" guy, something that he has expanded on as the project progressed, as fuelling became very important to achieve our goal. Torque Racing will be providing the Assistance Package at pre-Dakar Events such as the Serres and Mezouga Rallies as well as in Souh America in January 2015 at Dakar
