TWO Worcestershire men are competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours race this weekend - but with a difference.

Father and son Richard and Phil Rogers, from Cotheridge, near Worcester, are taking part in a scaled-down version of the world-famous race for go-karts.

The duo are part of a team of six who will take it in turns, in stints lasting around 1 hours, to race continuously round a special track on the infield of the French circuit.

Phil said: "We have done other endurance races before, but nothing of this magnitude. It will be very demanding physically, although it's one of the finest karting circuits in the world.

"It will be fast but, being an endurance race, you have to preserve your kart."

Around 50 teams from all over Europe have entered the event. The Rogers duo, who have plenty of experience on the karting circuit, will be using a Stratos chassis on a specially-prepared racing kart, powered by two Honda four-stroke 160cc engines.

Phil said they were optimistic of doing well, particularly bearing in mind the success of British teams at the real event.

"The team is confident of a fairly high placing, and it would be nice to emulate the performance of the Bentley team who finished third in the main race a few weeks ago."

The team have a variety of locally-based sponsors and also plan to raise money for the Noah's Ark Trust.