Keith Bontrager in action earlier this year

The Bontrager Twentyfour12 will return to Newnham Park, Plymouth on 25/26 July 2009 and online entry opens Saturday 1 November.

Twentyfour12 began as a collaboration between race organisers InEvent and Bontrager in 2006 when Keith Bontrager, a veteran of 70 odd 24 hour races, came up with a novel format to make the race as fun as possible for riders of all abilities.

“Our goal was to create the best race possible for the competitors and their friends and families,” says Keith, “so we focused on making a challenging mountain bike course along with a great atmosphere in the arena.”

Twentyfour12 has moved around a bit, starting at Lodgewood Park, Shropshire and then shifting to Cotswold Park Farm, before settling in at Newnham Park, Plymouth this year. Newnham Park has been chosen to host the event for the next three years.

“We started with Keith and we were really keen to carry this on now that we have a venue that is about as close to perfect as you can get,” says Martyn Salt of organisers Inevent. “The Newnham estate are so supportive and we are looking at what we can do together to improve what we feel is already a pretty unbeatable package And the DJs will be back too.”

“If you missed it then you missed out on one of the finest 24 hour races ever,” says Keith. “Make sure you get yourself signed up for next year. We’re already working on how we can make things better and are currently building some extra singletrack. You can never have too much singletrack.”

The format won’t see any major changes, though there will be a few extra slots in the 24 hour solo category due to demand. The Torchbearer12 12 hour race, starting at midnight, will return and the course will be slightly altered in length to allow for a greater capacity of riders.

Find out more and get your entry forms at www.twentyfour12.com.