Bosses on Mobylettes aim to go racing at Le Mans

The batty bosses are at it again! Determined to give their employees a good time, a group of company directors are donning their pink crash-helmets and blue Batman capes, dusting off their battered old blue Mobylettes and planning mayhem for 2017.

Calling themselves the Meules Bleues after the 1970s nickname for a Mobylette, the bosses are heading for Le Mans and the Bugatti Circuit on 16-17 September for a marathon 17 hours of partying and racing.

It follows a spectacular last year when they held a rally in May, rode down the Champs-Elysées in September and capped it off with a Grand Prix later the same month in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez (85) dressed as Woodstock hippies.

This year they are stepping up a gear and with bosses, workers and customers having fun together in the teams, they aim to attract 717 teams and 7,170 mobylette riders for 17 hours of fun kicking off at 9.17am on September 16 and ending at 14.17 the next day.

Highlight of the event will be a massed Meule Bleue relay race with all 7,170 riders taking part in what may be the first time Mobylettes have raced the famous circuit.

The Meules Bleues started in Vendée four years ago to lift spirits during the financial crisis and one of the organisers, Philippe Maindron, tells Connexion: "Our only objective is to make links, and have fun. It's a challenge but I think we'll make it!"

There will be bands, concerts, shows, an appearance by the motorcycle police, and of course many, many Mobylettes.

Signing up for the event opens this morning at www.meulebleue.fr and last year there were bosses from all over France plus overseas all looking for a fun day out and, perhaps, the chance to make new business connections. Get a taste for what lies ahead with the bosses' trailer...

All you need now is a battered old mobylette and a pot of blue paint and you could be part of this crowd as seen in the 2016 Grand Prix at Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez in Vendée.