December 2008
A big welcome
to Club Lotus Australia members, who will receive this edition of Lotus Notes as
a collaborative effort between the Victorian,
NSW and Qld clubs.
This month we
also welcome new members Ron Prefontaine and Geoff Boyle. Ron has bought an ex
Lotus Trophy Elise, and Geoff has a very
nice 1997 Espirit. At this stage I’m not sure what plans Ron has for his Elise,
but given it’s origins I’d suggest he’s up for some track time,
while Geoff is hoping to attend a few of Wade’s excellent social runs. Wade is
particularly chuffed with the prospect of yet another Espirit
in the club and is hopeful of gathering enough examples in the future in order
to outnumber the Elise contingent!
With the new
additions above, we’ve managed to increase the membership this year with a nett
gain of 5, once previous members who’ve
dropped out are factored in, so we’re heading in the right direstion! There are
also a couple of prospects who have recently purchased Elise
variants and whom I am confident will sign up before the year ends too! (sorry
Wade!)
As promised
last issue, Derek Dean has put together an article on his trip to the UK and it
is in this edition. I was fortunate enough to be able
to view some of Derek’s souvenirs from his journey and he has a wealth of
material, including the official program from the Goodwood Revival
meeting and the commemorative 94 page book, celebrating the 60th anniversary of
racing at Goodwood, complete with 3D pages and special
glasses to view it with! A real collectable! Derek’s article is a gem too -
make sure you read it!
Recent new
member, Gavin Schutte, has also turned out to somewhat of a writer, with
contributions to Evo (UK) and our local ‘Motor’ rag. So it’s
only fitting that he should take the next step and write for us! This month he
has contributed an article recanting the trials and tribulations of importing
his car from South Africa. Carina and you must really love that car, Gavin!
Things have
been a bit quiet on the competition front as the season winds down, but Alan
Saunderson continues to have success in Garry’s Cortina,
with a couple of good placings at Carnell Park on the weekend of October
25th/26th. Garry had heard about the abrasive nature of the Stanthorpe
track and took an old set of tyres - a good move that saved his new Kumhos for
next year!
Then there
was the Noosa Hillclimb on the weekend of 15th/16th November. Seven LCQ members
competed in 6 classes for 4 class wins, and a second
and a third place in another. A pretty good weekend’s work! I had my Noosa
debut, and it’s a very confronting layout I can assure you! But it’s really a
‘must do’ if you get the opportunity. Thanks also to those members who made the
trip to Noosa to watch us compete. One of these was early Elan
owner, Bob Butfield, who came along with Greg Bray for the weekend. Bob was like
a cat on a hot tin roof, a real enthusiast, and made several arduous
treks on foot up and down the hill over the course of the event, taking pics and
offering encouragement. It was great to meet you Bob, and we hope to
see that Elan back on the road shortly! Maybe you can write an article on it’s
rebuild for us? But I digress…back to the action - John Barram has written
an article on the weekend’s adventures, with pics from Colleen Conway, which in
this issue.
As this is
the last magazine for 2008, I’ll take this opportunity to wish everyone all the
best for the festive season and a happy and healthy new year.
Planning for next year is already in place with visits to 888 Racing, the Skelta
facility in Toowoomba, and the Bowden’s collection at Buderim.
The skidpan weekend at Gympie too. Plus the usual other excellent social
activities than Wade and Derek organise. There is a lot of work that goes
into these events, so do the right thing and come along - it’s a lot of fun! By
the time February comes around, those of us with a competitive streak,
will be ready to get back into the motorsport activities, with the Morgan Park
Sprints, Mt Cotton Hillclimbs, and the Historic events high on the agenda.
The Historics will also get the chance to compete in the inaugaral Coot-tha
Classic, a hillclimb in our own backyard! Cant wait to see that!
See you next year!
November 2008
That
awful photo accompanying my last address has thankfully been consigned to the
dustbin of history, but the lads had another surprise for me
at the last round of our regular season supersprints. They presented me with a
genuine, ethnic cab driver, beaded seat cover which apparently ‘older’
people are partial to. Thanks boys, you’ve had your fun, your turn is coming!
This
month we welcome four new members! Gavin and Carina Schutte, Tony Smith, and
Andrew Pearce. Andrew is a long term member of Aussie Elises
and has a well travelled series one Elise that he purchased new in England. The
Schuttes imported their Elise 111R when they immigrated from South
Africa, and Tony is the proud owner of a nice M100 Elan.
Speaking of the last club meeting, we were fortunate enough to have Derek Dean
give us a brief overview of his trip back to England for Goodwood
and the Lotus 60th Anniversary celebrations. Sounds like he had the time of his
life and picked up lots of goodies while he was there. In his own words
“I haven’t lost my touch!”. He has promised an article and has plenty of pics
which we will endeavour to publish in the next magazine.
Last
issue I was able to squeeze in a sentence or two about Speed on Tweed, so I’m
pleased to say that Patrick Mewing has picked up a pen and written
a full article on the club’s adventures (including Maggie’s misadventure!) and
it should appear in this edition.
The
last round of the Qld Supersprint Series was held on the 28th/29th September,
and was well attended by LCQ members. It was however punctuated
by all sorts of weird and wonderful problems with normally reliable Elises. Mick
Cullum was seen under his MX5 as per usual, but to have 4 Elises strike
trouble is extraordinary! Giles Cooper has the wrap up on an otherwise excellent
weekend of competition somewhere within these pages.
In
Motorkhana, Tony and Michael Galletly continue to shine, including a 2nd
outright for Tony and his Seven at a recent round of the state championship.
Thanks to Tony for taking the time to write a few words about their exploits in
time for publication in this magazine.
Then
onto the Supersprint State Championship on October 18th and 19th. The only LCQ
representatives were Jason Patullo and myself, which was a bit disappointing.
More disappointment awaited me however, as I was sidelined during Friday
practice with a broken CV joint. Frantic phone calls and lots of road travel
ensured
that I was mobile for Saturday, only for the first start on Sunday resulting in
the breakage of the other driveshaft and therefore a DNF! I’d like to thank
Jason
for his assitance with the repairs over the weekend and also to congratulate him
for winning the 1600 - 2000cc Sports Car Class. Jason’s article on the weekend
is in this issue, and rather modestly he puts his win down to attrition, when in
fact he deserved to win, on merit!
Spotted! LCQ members in other car magazines. In the last couple of months we’ve
sighted a comprehensive article on Peter Burford’s Banks Europa in Unique Cars,
and a reference to Allan Saunderson’s Cortina in a Speed on Tweed article in
Australian Classic Car.
In
other news, Zupps are set to re-establish a Lotus Dealership in Brisbane. I had
a phone call and follow up email from their marketing manager and they are keen
to forge closer ties with the club, to the extent of offering special prices for
parts etc. I realise that this is not much assistance to club members with older
models,
but at least it’s something. They are also keen to host us for a club meeting or
two, so we may have a break from our now ‘normal’ meeting point at Shannons.
Coming up, Wade has re-scheduled the trip to the “Trains” at Springbrook for
November 30th, and we will have our Christmas Lunch and club presentations on
December 7th at a venue to be confirmed. Our last club meeting for the year will
be at Derek’s “Motorman” establishment on December 16th. This was a
really well
received event last year and this year will be even better. Derek will fire up
the BBQ too! Keep an eye on your email inbox for further details.
Until next month...
October 2008
Tragic. That’s the only way to describe the photo on the left. (Webmasters
Note - sadly the photo appears to have been destroyed??)
This is what happens when you celebrate one of life’s milestones a little too
enthusiastically and then let your partner loose with a camera! Still, you only
reach 50 (half a century!) once, and Maree did a great job of keeping my
surprise party a secret! Thanks to all those who attended, and enjoyed the laid
back afternoon of ‘bare foot bowling’. I even saw some of the Elise guys
‘measuring’ to determine the outcome of an ‘end’! Talk about competitors!
What a great weekend away we had at Montville! Thanks to the superb organising
by Wade and Derek! Big thanks to Wade’s parents for the catering at
the skidpan and also to Mark, our instructor at Roadcraft. The skidpan was blast
and an event we will definitely repeat next year! See Clive’s article on the
weekend’s events in this issue.
Leyburn Sprints were held on the same weekend as the Gympie/Montville weekend
and despite many of our number venturing north to slip and slide around
the skidpan, we still managed a couple of representatives at Leyburn.
Congratulations to Mick Cullum for his top ten finish outright and to Richard
Raymont f
or keeping John Blackburn’s Europa in one piece and completing his first
competition outing! Andrea Cullum has made her debut as an author with an
article
on Leyburn which should be in here somewhere!
The
following weekend was our annual ‘Tour de Sheds’. Big thanks to Wybe and Garry
Saunderson for an excellent day of touring around the Brisbane Valley
area and poking about in some of the member’s sheds. Garry and Leila also put a
lot of effort into our visit to the old Lowood race circuit, with plenty of
memorabilia and anecdotes from the circuit’s heyday. John and Rhonda Blackburn
hosted us for a BBQ lunch - thanks John and Rhonda! (sorry the convoy was
a little late in arriving, are we ever on time?) See Russ Carter’s write up and
photos of the day in the following pages.
As
part of my birthday celebrations, some of the lads chipped in and gave me a
driver training day at Lakeside with Paul Stokell Motorsport (what are you
trying
to say boys?). It’s been over 25 years since I turned a lap there, and I’d
forgotten just how fast and bumpy the place is! I had the pleasure of Clive’s
company
for the day and we both enjoyed the day immensely. Clive had the services of
Paul and one of those Performance Box data gathering devices, and got valuable
feedback, which gels with what Garry Pitt wrote in his article last edition.
Paul puts on a great day with full catering and it’s your choice as to how much
or how
little instruction or training you’d like. All in all, thoroughly recommended.
Big, big thanks to the boys in the club who made this possible for me!
As
I write this, I’ve just finished, ten minutes ago, replacing the back window in
my Elise (which was obliterated by a rock flicked up by a Porsche GT3 that I was
chasing around Lakeside). Lotus saw fit to bond this in with something akin to
chewing gum mixed with superglue, ie. very tough stuff that took a bit of
persuasion
to dislodge! After reading all the horror stories about having to remove rear
bodywork to complete the task, I’m pleased to say that I got the job done
without
resorting to a “clam off” weekend and I need not fear a further breakage as a
piece of tinted acrylic ($20) now resides in place of the original safety glass
item.
Speed on Tweed has just been run for 2008. John Barram and John Lungren ran
their Sevens, John Blackburn and Richard Raymont shared John’s Europa, Mike
Goodfellow had a go in his Elan plus 2, and I’m pleased to say that ex president
Patrick Mewing turned up in his Elan and managed to win his class! John Barram
tells me that it was once again a fantastic event with many rare and exotic
machines both on display and competing. There will be a full write up on this
event
in the next issue.
Coming up in the next couple of months...a trip to the Skelta factory in
Toowoomba on a date yet to be confirmed. On the weekend of October 18th and
19th, some of us will head to Warwick for the Supersprint State Championship at
Morgan Park. Then in November we will have a social run to Springbrook
and the scale model steam trains (further details via email), and of course some
of us will be competing at the Noosa Hillclimb on the 15th and 16th.
Catch up next month (without the tragic photo!)
September 2008
While
the postponement at the eleventh hour of our visit to 888 Racing was a shame, at
least it ensured a good roll up of members to our August meeting!
Those who attended give yourselves a pat on the back, and those of you who don’t
attend regularly should make the effort to attend - we get the
formalities
out of the way quickly, therefore ensuring that the rest of the
evening can be devoted to catching up and general lie telling!
Another big gong to our social coordinators, Wade and Derek, for the Christmas
in July run to Toowoomba and lunch at Platform 9. Although a small turnout,
an excellent day was had by all, with a fantastic run home in perfect winter
weather. Chris Bray has written an article on the day with photographic support
from Russ Carter. Those who were unable to make it, missed out big time!
On
August 2 and 3, those of us with a competitive streak, once again made the trek
to Warwick for round 3 of the Sprint Series at Morgan Park. And, once
again a great weekend of fine weather and Lotus comradery was enjoyed by all. On
the track, personal best times were the order of the weekend, with
Garry
Pitt showing the value of driver training by acing the battle of the
standard engined Elises, and off the track we helped Giles celebrate
another
birthday.
Whilst he was quite coy on his actual age, it must be up there a bit, because he
had a “Senior” moment on the track when he forgot to
add petrol for hisfinal run on Sunday. This is the same man that cheekily suggested that Series 2
Elises were ‘gas guzzling monsters’, when Rob Stevens and
I accompaniedGiles on a trip to Sydney a couple of years ago. Therefore I got a real chuckle
out of his predicament and will be ‘dining out’ on it for a while yet!
Anyway,there’s an article on the weekend in this issue - thanks to Rob for taking the
time to write it.
The
very next weekend saw the running of the big National Historic Meeting also at
Morgan Park. Those backing up from the previous weekend included
John Barram (albeit in a different car) and Mike Goodfellow. Their weekends were
poles apart, with John tasting success in Regularity, while Mike found
himself caught up in someone else’s accident and suffered substantial damage to
his Talisman, but fortunately none to himself. Bad luck Mike, and hope
you can get the car repaired and track ready again soon. See John’s article with
supporting pics from Gary Saunderson.
Whilst we’re on the subject of competition, club member David Reid has sent some
pics of his first race in the US at Laguna Seca. David shipped his Junior
over to do the US rounds of the 50th Anniversary World Series so he
is certainly making a huge commitment to his racing. Good work David!
What
does everyone think of the new Lotus Evora? I quite like it - there are some
elements of the design that look a bit fussy, but I think it will be one of
those cars that look so much better in the flesh than in photos. Hopefully,
there will be one here next year doing the motor show circuits and we can get
a better look. Also revealed at the Brittish Motor Show was the Eco Elise
concept. A supposed ‘Green Car’, with the use of materials such as hemp, eco
wool
and sisol for body panels and trim combined with hi-tech water based paint
solutions. It’s actually quicker than a standard Elise as the use of alternate
materials has trimmed 32kg from it’s waistline. Curiously, the shift light has
been replaced by a ‘Green’ light, indicating to the driver the optimum time to
change
gears for the best fuel economy. What the?
If
you have a lazy couple of hundred thousand lying around, there will be an
opportunity to purchase some of the late John Dawson-Damer’s collection when
it’s auctioned on November 16. Some of the world’s most famous racing cars are
in this lot with the flagship being the ex-Jim Clark/Richard Attwood, 1963
World Championship-winning 1962 Lotus 25 Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater which is
expected to reach $1,100,000 - $1,800,000. Also on offer is one of the
examples that started ‘ground effects’ in Formula 1, an ex-Mario
Andretti/Carlos Reutemann 1978/79 Lotus 79 Formula One Racing Single-Seater and
the
estimate for this is $480,000 - $620,000.
Coming up we have Speed on Tweed on 19th, 20th and 21st September so get down
there and support the LCQ contingent, the 4th and final round of the
Supersprint Series at Morgan Park on the 27th and 28th. Wade has organised a
trip to Springbrook on the 28th as well, so the combative types who attend
the sprints will forgive you for not coming up to support us at Warwick, but
only if you go on the Springbrook run! Then in October we are hoping to
organise
a trip back to Toowoomba to visit the Skelta factory. I’m sure most of you would
be familiar with the exploits of the Skelta’s constructor, Ray Vandersee, in
Tarmac rallies, so this will be a great chance to see how these cars are put
together. There is a run to Tambourine planned for October 19th, but we may
move it as it clashes with the Supersprint State Championship on the same
weekend, which will attract the usual motorsport nutters in the club.
until next month…
August 2008
A
good roll up to our July club meeting - cold snap or not! George Row even
brought out his very tidy early Seven replica, still in it’s Targa
configuration.
It was good to finally catch up with George and present him with
the trophy from McLeans Bridge that we owed him. We have an article on George’s
beautiful
Eleven in this edition. In the absence of Wybe, I presented the
shortest Treasurer’s report in the history of the club, followed by one of the
shortest meetings
as well. It seems that no one has got anything they need to
get off their chests, or they’re keeping their powder dry for latter.
Welcome back Maggie! Yes, our secretary Maggie has finally returned to the fray
after her trip back to the UK for her Mum’s 100th birthday. We’ve been a little
bit ‘lax’ with our duties while you’ve been gone Maggie, but no doubt you’ll
have everything whipped into shape in no time. Oh, and thanks to Craig for
‘subbing’
as secretary for the last couple of months.
New
members continue to roll in and we welcome Joe Arico to the fold. Joe has a
black series 2 Elise which he purchased from the original owner Alvin Ing of
Sydney.
Members of “Aussie Elises” will be familiar with this car, as Alvin has
maintained beautifully. Joe has ventured out on a couple of runs with the Elise
guys and is keen
for more action! Thanks to Wade for organising the excellent run to Flaxton for
lunch on June 22. We had a bigger than usual turnout with fantastic weather,
some
excellent roads, a pit stop at The Beechams weekender at Maleny and Lunch at Le
Relais Bressan. Big thanks to Chris and Patty Beecham for putting on morning
tea,
and for scouting some of the route. Clive Wade has written a comprehensive story
on the day and it will appear within these pages somewhere.
The
following weekend we had breakfast at Grabz who are a supporter of the club via
their advert in the magazine. A smallish group of us enjoyed a feed with the
obligatory caffeine ‘hit’, and then a few ventured on to the Motorfest at Eagle
Farm racecourse. Daryl Wilson gives us his version of the day in this issue.
Further details are now starting to emerge about Lotus 2009. The schedule of
events and booking forms have been released. There will be hard copies of these
at the
club meetings leading up to the event and we also have a link to the information
on the LCQ website (thanks Daryl). This is going to be a great weekend of
competition,
concourse and socialising and I can hardly wait!
The
sharp eyed among you will notice a subtle change to the magazine cover from this
issue on. The Lotus Club Victoria rondel has been replaced by the 60th
anniversary
Lotus logo, which will be present until years end. This will then be replaced by
the well known, official, Lotus rondel. Both these changes have the blessing of
Lotus Cars
Australia and the alterations have been made in an effort to make the magazine
look like a collaborative effort between the Victoria and Qld, which it is,
rather than a mainly
Victorian production with us tagging along. So get those thinking caps on and
get some articles in!
As I
write this, I have just seen the first official pics of Project Eagle, rumoured
to become the Lotus Evora. Looks pretty good, with a lot of the M250 concept car
in
the design. It’s supposedly a 2+2, but the back seats are only for small
children. It’s got a Toyota V6 in the back of it, so it should go reasonably
well. I cant help but
wonder if there’s room in the Lotus range for both the Europa and this car
though. Time will tell.
By
the time you read this, we’ll have had the Xmas in July run, Morgan Park Sprints
round 3, the visit to 888 racing, and probably the Morgan Park Historics, which
leaves
the ‘Tour de Sheds’, and the Gympie Skidpan weekend still to do this month.
Coming up in September will be Speed on Tweed at Murwillumbah (rumoured to be
the last
running of this event) and then back up to Warwick for the last round of the
regular season sprints. On the same weekend as the sprints, there will also be a
visit to the
model steam trains at Springbrook, which is becoming an annual event.
See you at a club event soon!
July 2008
Only
a small number of the faithful turned up to the June club meeting, no doubt due
to the cold, rainy weather in the days leading up and a threatening sky on the
night.
As it turned out, the rain held off and a gaggle of Lotus were seen, in
formation, disappearing into the tunnel under the RNA later that evening, much
to the bemusement of
other motorists.
With no new members last month, this month I’m happy to welcome
Stephen McKean, Richard Raymont (nephew of John
Blackburn) and my mad mate Mick Cullum.
Mick is a Morgan Park regular and has a
much modified MX5 with a massive turbo’d Nissan SR20 engine. We’ll excuse him
for the moment as he has pledged to
buy
a Lotus sometime.
Big
thanks to Russ and Leigh Carter for their hospitality after our blast through
the canefields on May 25th. The Carters hosted a barbecue lunch at their home
and
even allowed us to lay some rubber atop the bitumen driveway, which is more
like a hillclimb! Hope you didn’t get too many complaints from the neighbours!
Russ was a busy man,
having planned the run (complete with written test after),
led the charge and manned the barbie. That apron is a bit dodgy though Russ…
See
Garry Pitt’s article for
more details of a great day.
Round 2 of the Morgan Park Sprints was held on the weekend of May 31st/June 1st,
and a bunch of us headed up under a threatening sky. Despite the bleak and
blustery
weather it hardly rained at all in Warwick and a great weekend was had by all
with no incidents to report, on the track. All the lads were very
competitive and I think we all
finished in the pointy end of the field outright, helped by the short track
configuration. Off the track it was a different story however, with Elise owner
John Bona providing
some great moments of ‘fiscal irresponsibility’. He’d make a great Treasurer.
Jason Patullo has written a comprehensive story on the weekend’s event, which is
in here somewhere.
In my column last month, I mentioned teaming up with the Westfield Club for a
couple of ‘Track Days’. They invited us to such an event on the 15th June, but
unfortunately
they only gave us a couple of days notice! With most of the track regulars
having ventured to Morgan Park a fortnight earlier, there wasn’t a lot of
interest. Hopefully, we’ll
better positioned to attend these in future, provided they communicate in plenty
of time. There will be a Lakeside day, either a Thursday or Friday, in late
August, pending
the resolution of the ongoing legal dramas at the venue.
As mentioned at the June club meeting, we are lucky enough to have an ‘in’ at
888 Racing. In case you live in a cave, 888 run Falcons in the V8 Supercar
Series, driven by
Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup. Club member and Europa ‘S” owner Tim Moore has
a son, Jeromy, and Jeromy just happens to be Craig Lowndes Race Engineer! 888
have
offered to host us on a tour of their workshop facility at Bowen Hills and, all
being well, this will be on the evening of August 5th starting at 6.30pm. We
need to work out the
logistics of this one at our July meeting, as we won’t be able to hold our
August meeting at 888 as we had originally planned. Therefore we need to devise
a plan to move people
between Shannons and 888 on the night. More on this via email.
Coming events? Well, it’s probably time to start thinking about Lotus 2009. This
is the biennial national gathering of all the Lotus Clubs in Australia. The 2009
event will be held in
and around Beechworth in the Victorian high country. I haven’t attended one of
these yet, but have read the reports from the 2005 and 2007 events and it looks
like a ‘must do’.
There’s something for everyone, Concours, Competiton, Dinners, Drinks,
everything! Some of us have already made initial enquiries about renting rooms
at the La Trobe retreat in
Beechworth and I suspect that once all the event details are released,
accommodation will get scarce very quickly!
More immediately, we’ve got the ‘Christmas in July’ run to Toowoomba on the
27th. We will meet at Park Road, Milton at 9am. From all accounts this was a
good run last year and
Wade has got some new roads to explore this time with a lunch stop at Guy
Beddington’s restaurant atop the range.
And another reminder about the weekend away in August with the Gympie skidpan on
Saturday, returning to Montville for dinner Saturday night, and a quiet run home
on Sunday.
I understand that some of you are just doing the day at the skidpan and not
overnighting, but those of you intending to stay need to get cracking! Last
time I checked with Montville
Mountain Inn, they had very few Lotus Club bookings.
There is a wedding reception at the venue on the same night so get on the phone
- 1800 671 269 - or you will be staying in a tent!
See you at a club event soon!
June 2008
Many thanks
to Mal and Chris Kelson for hosting a club breakfast on April 20th.
There was a good turn out of members, and those who didn’t attend missed out on
seeing Mal’s
amazing 2 storey “shed”, complete with a full machine shop and all manor of
toys, including a self built 7 replica. Very nice Mal! I had to miss the post
breakfast run and
subsequent lunch, so I’ll leave Wade to fill in the gaps in his article, which
should appear somewhere within these pages!
Another good
roll up to our May Club meeting – not quite as good as the April turn out, but
close. The record stands at 17 Lotus in the carpark, so come on guys, let’s see
if we
can break it at the next meeting! After we’d
sung a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday to Chris Beecham (many happy returns
Chris!), he gave us a brief report on the Classic Car
and Airshow at Toowoomba
which
he attended on May 4th. It sounds like a great day out and something which we
should try to incorporate with a club run next year, providing it
doesn’t clash
with other things
like it did this year. We are also looking at going to Bowdens collection later
this year, which, from all reports, is an absolute ‘must see’.
The
'McLean's Bridge Classic Sports Car Display' was held on
Mothers Day, May 11th, and it was huge! This year was my first time
and it was a real eye opener. LCQ had 21 cars on
display, which would be close
to our biggest roll up. The Lotus attracted a lot of interest and we were kept
busy all day fielding questions from the eager crowd. Our trophies went
to
George Row for his amazing Eleven, and Wybe Geertsma for his immaculately
restored Elite. Congratulations guys! There was a further gong for Wybe, when it
was announced that
his Elite had won “Shannons Choice” for the best sports car
on the day out of all the marques present! In fact Wybe was so chuffed that
he’s written a story on the day for this issue!
Competition wise, there has been quite a bit happening. Allan
Saunderson has been having some success with his Cortina at the Gatton and
Warwick sprints, and we had a good
contingent compete in the historic meet at
Morgan Park on the 3rd and 4th of May. John Barram had
some engine trouble in the Seven, but Doug Lucas (in John Lungren’s Seven),
Sean
and Allan Conway, all acquitted themselves well in Regularity. Mike Goodfellow
and Peter Boel ran their Formula Juniors, with Mike winning one of the handicap
races. See Gary
Saunderson’s and Maggie Goodfellow’s respective reports in this
edition.
Tony and Michael Galletly ran their Caterham in Round 2 of
the Qld Motorkhana Championships on May 11, with great success. Competing
against Motorkhana specials, Tony finished
7th outright, with Michael
13th. Tony tells me that the organisers also hold “Come & Try” days
throughout the year which cost $30 to enter, so if any of you are looking to get
involved in this form of motorsport it’s not a huge commitment to have a go.
Tony also ran his Elan at the Morgan Park sprints in April and jagged a 2nd
in class, despite some
overheating issues caused by an errant fan belt.
Further to the discussions about our own “Track Day”, I had a
chat with Frank Lui, the secretary of the Westfield Club. They will be holding
some “Test & Tune” days at Morgan
Park later in the year, and maybe Lakeside as
well. Apparently Cams have brought in new regulations for these events,
including the compulsory attendance of a Cams Steward,
manned flag points, scrutineering, and full safety and fire control planning. This has added to the
costs of hosting these days, which inevitably passes down to those using the
track,
but it’s just a sign of the times I guess. They’re keen to do something
with us, so watch this space!
So what’s coming up? Sunday June 15th, we have a
club run to Mt Mee for lunch. Meet 9am at McDonalds, The Gap, for a ‘spirited’
drive to our destination. Oh, and don’t forget the
weekend away in August with
the Gympie skidpan on Saturday, returning to Montville for dinner Saturday
night, and a quiet run home on Sunday. If you haven’t already done so,
book your
accommodation at Montville Mountain Inn on 1800 671 269.
See you at a club event soon!
May 2008
Wow! What a great roll up to our April club meeting - standing
room only, no less than 17 Lotus in the car park, and Tom’s E type Jag.
It seems that we have accepted that Shannons is our new “home”, and after some
initial reluctance, we are getting more and more members turning up for
meetings. Great work everyone!
The other good thing is that our membership is steadily growing. We
are averaging around one or two new members per month and this month we welcome
Cameron Campbell - Brown,
Geoff Somerville and Evan Molloy to the fold. Cameron
and Evan are both Elise owners, and Geoff has a nice Exige “S”.
A couple of the long term members have light heartedly suggested
that the president of the club should have an old car! Hey, I’d love one!
Something like an Elan or Europa would be great, but then I’d want it to be the
best/fastest - you know how it goes! My Elise is already a money pit and has
been the cause of a severe
case of “Upgraditus”.
There is no known cure for this. So unless the is a remarkable turnaround in
the availability of those precious resources, time and money, I will remain the
proud
owner of just the one Lotus
Last month I mentioned in my column that Peter Boel, Allan Conway
and David Reid had ventured south for the big Formula Junior meeting at Calder -
it seems that I sold them short -
the same
guys had previously been to New Zealand for race meetings at Pukekohe and
Taupo, then back to Calder, followed by Phillip Island!
This comprised the Tasman leg of the Formula Junior Golden Jubilee World Series
which has now moved on to Europe. None of our members are competing in the
European section,
but
David Reid is shipping his car to the US later in the year for the American
leg of the series. Peter Boel is compiling an article these adventures, which
hopefully will appear in this issue or next.
Also doing a lot of miles, Tony Galletly and Peter Yeomans who
both competed at the “Festival of Sporting Cars” at Bathurst on the weekend of
March 22/23.
Tony actually drove his Elan all the way to Mt Panorama, raced it, and then
drove home! Peter drove his Eleven in the Historic Sports Car class, while Tony
finished 12th out of more
than
100 competitors in the Regularity event. Also driving at Bathurst that weekend
was club member and Elise owner David Barram. David had a ball, winning a
couple of races in a
borrowed
Mazda MX5. (I think it’s ok to mention MX5 here, as the Elan was the
inspiration for it!)
On the 6th April, a few of our more competitive members headed out
to Mt Cotton for the Historic Hill Climb.
A combination of rain and noise restrictions made for a more subdued event than
normal, but it was still a good social day, swapping stories in the corporate
tent.
See John Barram’s article in this issue.
On the subject of competition, I’ve been approached by a couple of
members asking about the possibility of holding a ‘track day’.
I think it’s a great idea and a great opportunity for the newcomers to test
themselves on a track, as well as those who have been there, done that, but
just want to blow out the
cobwebs.
It is however, quite expensive to hire a circuit for a day or half day, so I
will be making the approach to some other clubs, to see if they are interested
in sharing a day with us to
drefray the costs.
Some of you may have heard about the internet forum
www.aussieelises.com. As the name suggests, this an online group who discuss
all things Elise.
There is a very active local component to this forum, and informal ‘runs’ are
often arranged, sometimes at the last minute, which is the beauty of electronic
communication.
I will be endeavouring to keep all LCQ members in the loop as to what is
happening when these events are on, hopefully so that you can join in! One of these runs was last Sunday
(April 13)
and we had 15 Elise/Exiges turn out for it! Easily our best ever turnout and
boosted by the presence of LCQ members John and Penny Barram, and Mike and
Maggie Goodfellow
in their Elises.
So what’s coming up? We’ve got the Annual Classic Car Show at
Mcleans Bridge on May 11th (Mother’s day).
We will be awarding trophies for the best presented Lotus so get to the garage
and shine those cars up!
Then the “Cane Field Dash” on May
25th – meet BP Yatala, 9.30am for a dash through the cane fields and barbeque
lunch at The Carter’s house.
See you at a club event soon!
April 2008
AGM
Big thanks to Patrick Mewing for his time at the reigns of LCQ
these past years.
He steps down from the top job, and I inherit the role, and hope to do the job
as well as Patrick.
Subsequent to my election as President, I visited Patrick at his
house for “handover” and I now understand why he has had to step down!
With two young ones, and a very impressive renovation to complete, he’s got his
hands full!
Also thanks to those stalwart members who were returned to their
positions on the committee.
Namely:
Maggie Goodfellow - Secretary,
Wybe Geertsma - Treasurer,
John Barram - Vice President,
Craig Wilson - CAMS club delegate and Club Liaison Officer,
Wade Greensill and Derek Dean - Social Coordinators,
and the other new face on the committee,
Chris Stacey, who takes on the role of Magazine Coordinator.
Events
On the 1st of March, the World 50th Anniversary of the Formula
Junior was held at Calder in Melbourne.
Three of our members, Peter Boel, Allan Conway and David Reid, made the journey
south and acquitted themselves very well,
with David winning race 3! Well Done! (Hint: That’s worthy of an article
David!)
My first event as president was the first round of the
supersprints at Morgan Park. It was great to have Giles Cooper back after his
recent health problems,
and he has celebrated his improvement by going out and buying a Winnebago to
tow his Elise with! He wasn’t too keen
on the idea of surrendering it as
the Presidential Palace for the weekend, so I let him off the hook when he
promised to man the barbecue.
This was a great weekend away for those who attended and we had 11
cars from the club entered. See John Flynn’s article in this issue for the full
story.
The following weekend, Wade and Derek came up with a “Fish &
Chip Run” on the Saturday afternoon which was a blast!
There was some sort of mumbling that he had pinched the route from another car
club, so well was it mapped, but whatever,
who cares? Everyone enjoyed it! See
Wade’s blurb, also, hopefully in this issue.
Don’t forget, coming up on April 13th, we are meeting for
Breakfast at Mal’s house at Springwood 8:30 am – then a
run to Tamborine Mountain for a picnic and stroll through the shops. Full
details via email closer to the date.
Wanted
With the magazine our biggest expense, we need to get full value
from it. So we need articles.
Please put your thinking caps on and come up with some print worthy ideas.
Doesn’t have to be much, even a couple of lines and a photo or two.
If you are not confident of your writing ability, but have some suggestions,
let either Chris or myself know, and we’ll assist with putting a story
together.
Chris will even ghost write it for you, wont you Chris?
Hope to see you all at the next club meeting!