Gallery 2020

GEAR Club Nov 2020

Story by John Barram, Photos by Ross Johnson.

I took my Cheetah to the GEAR day at Lakeside in late November to give it a run and test a few things.
For those who don’t know the Golden Era Auto Racing club is about driving your older car at the speed you want in the safety of the racetrack. No racing allowed.

I was struck by the number of Lotus cars there on the day so got Alan Conway to take some shots and bought a few action shots from Ross Johnson Photography.

One of the older cars there was Tony Galletly’s Lotus Six, looking wonderful on the track. In the same group was the green 1962 Lotus Seven which Josh George has recently bought from Alan Telfer. The car is logbooked for Historic Racing and Josh was having his first drive with Alan giving him a hand.

Bill Blackmore was having his first outing on the track since joining GEAR with his Elan +2. Driving his red Elan S4 was Lindsay Norris, in the car which Vyvyan Black owned a few years ago.

There are a few newer cars allowed to run at GEAR as they started when the eligibility was more open and this Exige is one of those.

The Lotus Cortina is a well known Group N race car which has been raced by Craig Lind and has recently changed hands.

The green Caterham looked in mint condition but I failed to identify the owner.

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Off-street parking in Cairns

By Tony Seymour.

Both Sandra and I felt very fortunate to be able to attend Targa Great Barrier Reef in 2020.

The field was reduced to around 80 cars, and with no possibility of getting monstered by Vipers and RS Porsches we decided to enter the outright category. A look at the entry list, and with only three entered in our class, a podium (or last place) looked pretty good.

For company we had Tony Quinn in the R35 GTR and Luke Anear in a new AMG SLS GTR Mercedes. Doing my homework on the opposition I quickly worked out I had the oldest car, the slowest car, and the least amount of experience. I was also the poorest guy in this category by around 600 million, just saying…

Day 1

Our first accident as we left time control, with the breath test guy running into the back of us and badly damaging the rear clam. I did wonder if he had breath tested himself, but fortunately Targa insurance will cover the repairs. Onto the action, and what a blast going up and down Gillies Range and Copperlode Dam. These stages really suited the Lotus, and I finished the day in 2nd place sandwiched between Tony and Luke. An outright stage win coming down Gillies Range was the highlight for me, a feat I may never repeat.

Day 2

Out we went to the all new stages around Mission Beach. These were fast and flowing stages and with wet roads and some light rain I approached with caution. In GT Sports we were limited to 130kmh, and stepping this up to over 200kmh in many cases required some getting used to. I slipped down to 3rd place, but my times in comparison to the others improved as we got more comfortable with the speed.

Day 3

Day 3 opened with everyone’s favorite, the iconic Kuranda Range Targa stage. What a fantastic piece of bitumen. From there we headed out to the tablelands for the balance of the day. Luke unfortunately exited on the next stage, seemingly completely missing the 7 right turn and going straight ahead into the paddock just before the finish. We were behind and were flagged by a spectator but kept going with the Merc being so far down the paddock we couldn’t see anything.

This then elevated us to 2nd and we finished the 15 min long Millaa Millaa stage 2 sec behind the GTR. Things were going well, but with the GTR being 2 min in front overall we decided not to push with only 2 stages to go. And I have to say that Targa racing requires your utmost attention all of the time, and triple caution boards are put in place for a reason. I did get the call “huge dip” from the navigator and did brake somewhat, but at 114kmh was probably a little quick. We then hit the culvert slightly off center and this threw the car sideways. We managed to keep it straight and for a moment I thought we may be ok, but a rather deep ditch put an end to that with us eventually ending up buried in the bush. If only we had gone off on the opposite side where it was flat.

We both had to get out the drivers side, and I no longer have to wonder what it’s like standing on the side of the road waving the OK boards as the rest of the field goes by. We have however joined a not so exclusive club of fast targa drivers who haven’t finished. I’m thinking Glenney, Morton, Sher, Meletepoulo, Fengels, Seymour etc. Not bad company really.

And so with all these things there’s always an upside, and with new front and rear clams on the way we will have a change of colour on the car and it’ll feel like a new one. But the big win is the navigator (who did a fantastic job btw) telling me on Monday to “get the car fixed asap” just in case we can do High Country and then adding “we’re not going back to GT Sports, it’s much better in the outright class”. Beauty, I say.

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Targa 2020 for Rookies

Story by Drew Dundas, pics by Drew Dundas and Trevor Doyle.

Two years of lead up

After volunteering to help out in TARGA GBR 2018 and 2019, I thought it was my time to race. After all, how much fun would it be to race on closed roads and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow competitors.

Which Car

After many hours research and surveying the cars and owners that entered TGBR, I purchased a 2012, 1.8l supercharged Elise, for the purpose of competing at some local club events and ultimately to enter TGBR 2020. The salesman told me it was driven to church once a week by a dentist, how could I go wrong?

Navigator

TARGA is a team event and you must have a navigator. So after a few drinks with a mate, Mick and establishing that he doesn’t get motion sickness – ‘ever’, the invitation was made about navigating with me in TGBR.

Preparation

The obtaining of obligatory items of fire extinguishers, helmets, inter helmet communications, timers and clothing was undertaken gradually at first and then with more haste when it appeared the event was still going ahead as some states came out of Covid lockdown. We had intended on using the Lotus race support package to take the worry out of car preparation, but had to think about our options when border closures prevented SSC from attending the event.

Friends and mates who wanted to be involved and absorb the atmosphere of motor racing, kindly volunteered to be crew and run spares and tools around the various stages.

Simply Sports Cars were very supportive of a couple of rookies, who were doing their best to prep’ an Elise for their first competition. Through sponsors Wescto Motors, Fuch’s oils and Bursons Autoparts, Fuchs oils were obtained and an oil change, brake fluid flush and check of brake pads was completed with time to spare. On a side note, since the Fuchs oil has been used, the niggling timing chain tensioner rattle, has all but disappeared.

Day 1

There were 6 stages on day 1 and started with a fairly short and easy stage to work ourselves into a routine. Butterflies, adrenaline and a heavy foot had us in before time and a hefty penalty, but more was to come.
The Gillies Range was next up and our aim was 20km of 200 plus corners at 82kmh average. This was the stage we were all looking forward to. Driving on the wrong side of the road didn’t feel right at first but once the tyres came up to temperature we settled into a routine, we arrived a little behind schedule this time for more penalty points.

Some teams and crew were looking very pale and glad to have some down time at Atherton, after racing up the Gillies range. After some laughs, lunch, stories and tips, it was the Gillies Range in reverse direction, this time to really test the motion sickness stamina of the drivers and their crew.

Next was Copperlode Dam along Lake Morris Road. It is 12km of the narrowest and challenging roads around the Cairns area and 10 minutes of the most fun you could hope for in a Lotus. Credit to my navigator who managed to navigate, keep time, call corners and have lunch 2 more times on this stretch of road.
The other Lotus in this class, driven by Peter Quinn and Ross Johnson, were always there to say hi and to offer tips on how to get the best out of a Lotus. Thanks for the help boys.

There is something about driving an Elise fast around challenging roads that brings a grin to the face of any one who remotely loves cars.

We were running 5th – mid field we thought, was not embarrassing.

Day 2

There were 6 stages on day 2 and after consuming some motion sickness medication, we were ready to race.
South Johnson and Mena Creek district, offered flowing stages that bisected the cane fields in the area. It was difficult to keep the Lotus under the maximum speed of 130kmh and it did serve us a lesson on the nuances of TSD.
We managed to complete one stage in exactly the time required for a perfect score, or so we thought. Thanks to the Marshall boys in their Ford Falcon Pursuit Ute, they pointed out to us that we needed and extra 0.3 of a sec to get a perfect score of 0. Marshall’s were only too willing to give tips and help 2 rookies get one perfect score of 0 on the day.

Lunch at Mission Beach and then the morning stages in reverse.

Running 5th – and feeling good about our achievements.

Day 3

There were 6 stages on day 3 and started at the Kuranda range and went onto Milla Milla and Ravenshoe.
We were really into the routine of times, speeds and calling cautions out by now. The Kuranda range is 11km long and needed to be driven at an average speed of 92kph. A slow time had us penalised a hefty amount of points but still holding onto 5th place.

The challenging 28km stage on the Old Palmerstone highway, was such an adrenaline rush with the bends, narrow roads and cautions all making for a memorable stage. The Lotus was designed for these types of roads and I discovered on many corners that the car will perform at a level the mind has difficulty comprehending.
After lunch it was a return to Cairns with the reverse of a couple of the stages with us getting within 3 points of 4th place.

TGBR is an event that really needs to be viewed from both a volunteer’s and competitor’s perspective to appreciate and understand what goes into running a successful TARGA event and also to appreciate what happens behind the wheel and the work required to have a team compete.

Total fuel for three days of fun: $140
Total oil for three days of fun: $0

Thanks to Mick for calling the cautions and navigating throughout the 3 days.

The Elise is one of those cars that makes you smile when you drive it, and take a second peek when you see it. People want to ask questions about it and kids want to sit in it.

Will we be back next year – definitely.

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A Very Special Thank You

By Mal Kelson

I am selling my car and needed to obtain a Vehicle Safety Inspection Certificate. Unfortunately the car failed due to the rubber gaiters on the steering rack being split.

When I removed the front wheels from my Elise, I discovered that the inner end of the gaiter was 150mm inside a small box section of the chassis, and almost impossible to secure the cable ties that held it in position. Taking the steering rack out also appeared to be a very difficult job and I was feeling very dejected.

Giles Cooper arrived at my place a short while later and I asked him the best place to obtain new gaiters and how do you fit them! Giles did not have the answers but assured me he would endeavour to find out. An hour or so latter Giles rang to find out the best time his team could arrive. At noon on Thursday, Giles (with very special double acting extra long pliers), Joe Arico (with tools and gaiters), Daryl Wilson, Barry Mather, Phil “Winno” Piddington, and Alex Molocznyk arrived in force.

After two hours of most enjoyable banter, superb skill and engineering knowledge, the team had the gaiters fitted and the car back on its wheels.

I have shed many tears of joy as I have thought about the generosity of all the people who helped. Thank you.

The banter is an important part of the task

Lucky Giles didn’t tell any more people – the whole club would have turned up to help

Townsville Supersprint 2020

By Jason McGarry.

With 2020 being the year of disruption, confusion and challenges it has enabled me to compete in an event that will probably never be repeated again.

The opportunity came at the recent Winter Noosa Hillclimb event where my fellow competitor Chris Ching (Evo and Porsche driver) asked me would I be interested in going to Townsville to compete in a sprint event, my obvious answer was yes. Two days later I secured a spot to compete in the second weekend of the Townsville SuperSprinters support category for the Townsville Supercars.

The event was 5 races, three on the Saturday and two on the Sunday each being 25 minute sessions in a sprint format so we were racing against the clock and not position on the track.

Setup was on the Friday with scrutineering, workplace safety and Covid inductions, the event was under the control of Supercars so it was very heavy on compliance and adhering to their rules, with biggest one was that we had to stay in our own Bubble. I set up beside my fellow friends from south east Queensland, Chris Ching (Porsche 911) and Roy Davis (Triumph GT6) and their very capable wives being their pit crew.

My pit crew flew in later that afternoon and got acclimatised at the Townville Yacht Club and organised drinks and diner for our arrival, both guys have beautifully restored Datsun 2000s so the night was a motoring feast of information.

The event was run by the Marque Sports Car Club of NQ and Drive-it which is the group behind developing and building a permanent track and driver education facility about 40 minutes out of Townsville. Have a look at the Drive-it website, it is very exciting as Stage 1 is complete, and Stage 2 of construction should occur early in the new year.

The array of cars competing were from the fastest, being Michael von Rappard in a Stohr where he got down to a 1m 16s (which was within 2.5 seconds of Scott McLaughlin’s Mustang), to Roland Dane in a 1967 Camaro, Paul Morris in an XJS Jaguar. Regulars competing in south east Queensland events, Chris Ching in a Porsche 911 Cup car, Roy Davis in a Triumph GT6, Trent Laves’ 200SX and of course, yours truly in the Caterham R300. The Caterham was great to drive around the tight street circuit except for the main straight that seemed to go on forever (the Exige would have been a better choice) as I just ran out of legs heading down it.

I decided to take the Caterham as I thought it would be great to show this type car at an event like the Supercars so it would achieve some exposure, which it certainly achieved especially on the Saturday afternoon, where the commentators talked at length about Caterhams. In the end my time dropped from 1m 46s in the first race down to 1m 36s in the last race, positioning me 23rd out of 32 cars which I was really pleased with, and no serious mechanical issues or damage other than a fuel leak and destroying a set of soft race tyres over the weekend.

2020 will go down as the year in history as a year of change and disruption but I will remember it as the year where I and the green R300 (Hulk) competed in a V8 Supercar event!

DTC – Friday 14 August 2020

By Daryl Wilson, Photos Steve Johns.

The 3rd LCQ Lakeside Driver Training Centre Timed Laps event for the year was on the Friday public holiday for the Royal Queensland Show, better known as “EKKA” Day. Due to Covid-19 the “Ekka” was cancelled this year and the Ekka public holiday was moved from its traditional mid-week Wednesday to the Friday to give BrisVegas people a long weekend holiday.

The long weekend break combined with several other events also scheduled for the weekend ie, MG Car Club Mount Cotton Hill Climb, Noosa Hill Climb meant that many of our regulars escaped for the weekend or had other commitments. Shane Murphy, Jon Young, Dick Reynolds and Jason McGarry had all committed to the Noosa Hill climb, plus Andrew Row and partner Bridie Moran who headed off for the weekend escape! This translated into a smaller than usual field of 17 entrants and only 15 runners on the day.

Special thanks to Jason McGarry who detoured to Lakeside on his way to Noosa, to help set up and do the scrutineering.

Unfortunately for Jason and the others going to the Noosa Hill Climb, the traffic north to the Sunshine Coast was extremely heavy, so they had a horror run.

The day started off foggy and a little cool, around 14c for you poor southerners who are doing it tough as I write this! Gideon did the driver briefing and we were about to start at our usual time of 9.00am, when the QR Lakeside Supervisor arrived to tell us we could not start until 9.30am! Unsure why the change of time, but probably has to do with the complaining neighbours!

Despite the track being a little dirty from a previous Skid pan and drifting group everyone soon got into the groove and times dropped steadily. Dick Reynolds was running his rebuild engine Mark 2, (we won’t mention Mark 1!) for the first time and was initially unimpressed as he felt little improved performance on the short track. However he came back with a big smile on his face after running the long track, he was heard to say lots more torque over 3000 rpm! It seems his new Cams/Power band is much more suited to the faster flowing longer track.

Brian Meade a new LCQ member had his first track outing in his Lotus Exige 350 and put together some good times to be in the top 7 on the short track and top 5 on the long track. Father and son duo of Graham and Byron Maxwell ran their very tidy and quick Lotus Elise with Byron pipping dad by 0.282sec on the short track and a mere 0.0018sc on the long track. Other Lotus members Juan Renato Laporta, David Yule, Campbell Anderson and I made up the small Lotus field. Colin McKay drove his Lotus Elan up from the Gold Coast in the fog and heavy traffic to see his friend Colin Berneville- Claye run and was soon drafted into action as Timekeeper. Thanks Colin for your help.

As is usual we had a few newbies on the day Colin Berneville- Claye ran his very tidy Fraser Clubman for his first outing after a period of maintenance, repair and rebuild. We also had a group of guys running in Mazda MX5’s, Peter & Callum MacLeod, Gary & Calum Balinger and Peter Cox. Calum Balinger the fastest on the day on both the short track and the long track.

Gideon Street was on fire blitzing everyone being almost 2 seconds faster on the short track with a best time of 46.521sec and on the long track with a best time of 54.842sec, very impressive. See full list of best times for both courses attached.

A great day with perfect weather after the foggy start, everyone had lots of runs and a well organised event thanks to Gideon. This was the first time we have used the RACERS entry and login system and despite a few minor glitches everyone seemed to manage the change and it should only be better for future events.

Keep your eye on the LCQ Club Calendar for the final scheduled 2020 LCQ Lakeside DTC on Sunday 20 September 2020. This is scheduled to be a round of the Interclub Challenge, so please be quick if you plan to enter.

Lakeside DTC – Short Course 1

Car	Driver	Make	Best
15	Gideon Street	Lotus Exige V6 S	46.521
13	Byron Maxwell	Lotus Elise	48.281
12	Calum Ballinger	Mazda MX5	48.397
4	Graham Maxwell	Lotus Elise	48.563
7	Dick Reynolds	Caterham Super 7	48.760
9	Daryl Wilson	1998 Caterham Super 7	49.471
14	Brian Meade	Lotus Exige 350	49.810
16	David Yule	Lotus Elise S	50.216
3	Peter Cox	Mazda MX5	50.734
8	Colin Berneville-Claye	Fraser Clubman	51.643
5	Campbell Anderson	Lotus Exige Sport 410	52.009
17	Gary Ballinger	Mazda MX5	53.200
1	Juan Renato Laporta	Lotus Elise 2013	53.607
2	Peter MacLeod	Mazda MX5	57.294
11	Callum MacLeod	Mazda MX5	59.077
6	Ross Ponting	Porsche Boxster S	–
10	Graham Sorensen	Cooper 1978 Special	–

Lakeside DTC – Long Course 2

Car	Driver	Make	Best
15	Gideon Street	Lotus Exige V6 S	54.842
12	Calum Ballinger	Mazda MX5	56.419
13	Byron Maxwell	Lotus Elise	57.205
4	Graham Maxwell	Lotus Elise	57.223
14	Brian Meade	Lotus Exige 350	57.243
7	Dick Reynolds	Caterham Super 7	57.330
16	David Yule	Lotus Elise S	59.903
3	Peter Cox	Mazda MX5	60.014
17	Gary Ballinger	Mazda MX5	60.611
9	Daryl Wilson	1998 Caterham Super 7	61.850
8	Colin Berneville-Claye	Fraser Clubman	62.255
5	Campbell Anderson	Lotus Exige Sport 410	63.249
1	Juan Renato Laporta	Lotus Elise 2013	64.189
2	Peter MacLeod	Mazda MX5	68.171
11	Callum MacLeod	Mazda MX5	69.827

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Morgan Park Sprints – Aug 2020

Morgan Park Group B Sprints – August 1st & 2nd 2020.

Story and photos by Cris Johansen.

It was getting close to 6 months since I had driven down to Warwick in the Granite Belt region of South East Queensland and I’d forgotten just how picturesque it is around there. Coming down from Cunningham’s Gap towards the New England Highway was looking stunning in the winter sunshine. When compared to the same time last year, when the region was suffering through severe drought without a blade of green grass to be seen, this year the countryside was looking so good that I stopped for a photo of the landscape.

Most of the Lotus contingent had gathered at Morgan Park for practice on the Friday afternoon and joined those who could not get down in time at Pit Stop Lodge on Friday night to catch up, over a drink, on the impact of COVID-19 on our lives since we had last gathered. We walked down to the Stockyard Tavern for a socially distanced meal and enjoyed the crystal clear night sky and a great view of the moon in close proximity to both Saturn and Jupiter on the way back to our accommodation.

Saturday morning brought perfect conditions for the track with full sunshine, no wind and a temperature in single figures and, despite the challenges of social distancing, the Warwick District Car Club had things running very smoothly with the first group of cars out on the track by 8am. With round 2 being cancelled as a result of the lockdowns of late, this event was counted as round 3 and ran on track layout E that most of us enjoy, particularly since they had resurfaced the section of the track just leading onto the main straight.

The Lotus cars made up 2 run groups, with group 3 consisting of a Clubbie, an Evora and 4 Elise variants, whilst run group 11 had the Honda powered and/or supercharged Elises’ along with 2 V6 Exiges and an S2 Exige.

Some of us where a bit rusty having not driven on the track for several months but no one embarrassed themselves too much with everyone enjoying the opportunity to put in some quick laps. Geoff Noble was fastest as usual but was keen to ensure that his recently applied silicone sealant was staying in place and lost track of the laps and Barry Mather was having trouble with a wheel bearing that ended his weekend prematurely.

It was great to 2 guys down from the Sunshine Coast in their Elises and both Pat Richards and Peter Quinn kept getting quicker as the weekend progressed. There were relatively few hold ups on the track so we all managed to get our 4 runs in on Saturday in plenty of time to head back into Warwick for a catch up before dinner at Bluebird Smokehouse, followed by dessert back at The Lodge thanks to Marie who organised the ice-creams and chocolates.

Sunday was another stunning day with identical perfect weather for a day at the track and most of us managed to put in our fastest times during one of the 3 runs we had on the second day of the event.

The final results of the event were that everyone was a winner for having been able to enjoy our first track time after such a long break and for having the pleasure of enjoying driving our Lotus’s in the way they meant to be. For those looking for more trophies to fill their garages, were as follows;

Sports Cars 1501 – 2000cc
1st – Gary Pitt
2nd – Allan Hunt
3rd – Rob Stevens

Sports Cars 3001cc and over
1st – Geoff Noble
2nd – Tony Seymour
4th – Martin O’Brien

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Noosa Winter Hillclimb – August 2020

Words by Shane Murphy. Pics by Dick Reynolds, Jason McGarry and Shane Murphy.

This year, the Noosa Beach Classic Car Club teamed up with the Sunshine Coast Motor Sport Club to revitalise the event. This year’s Hillclimb, postponed since June, was restructured around COVID-19 restrictions, resulting in many changes, however even with these COVID changes, a new and vastly improved format was born.

Unfortunately, the Friday Hastings Street parade and the Friday welcome drinks suffered the fate of many social outings and were cancelled completely.

With entrants limited to 125 cars, no spectators and only one pit crew member per car, the paddock, usually a bubbly mass of humanity, was remarkably serene and bush like. You could even hear the crickets chattering in the background.

The course was lengthened by about eight metres, the bitumen was well swept, the earth gutters cleaned, the track was fast and stable.

In a clever move, the remarkably unreliable historical timing system was updated to include Natsoft software and Westhold timers, as a result times were available immediately after each run – a fantastic improvement.

Due to cost cutting, the option of road registered cars retuning to the paddock via the main road was eliminated, however with groups of forty cars all parked up at the top of the course waiting to be ushered back down the track, a great social setting was introduced as drivers all chatted about their recent run and compared times and g-forces etc.

The most remarkable improvement over previous events being that we each managed ten or twelve runs, the tyres even keeping a little heat in them between runs. Congratulations to the joint organising committee.

With numbers limited due to administrative restrictions and the clash with the Hillclimb Championships, the LCQ team was missing a few key runners, we certainly missed Zaid and Gayle as foundation members of the Noosa Club.

The entry list included;

Class C1
Number 19 – Shane Murphy – Clubman – ADR Tyres – 0 to 1600 cc

Class C2
Number 13 – Jon Young – Clubman – ADR Tyres – 1601 to 2000 cc
Number 15 – Dick Reynolds – Clubman – ADR Tyres – 1601 to 2000 cc

Class E2
Number 37 Peter Quinn – Sports Cars – ADR Tyres – 1601 to 2000 cc

Class E3
Number 36 – Pat Richards – Sports Cars – ADR Tyres – 2001 to 3500 cc

Class F2
Number 47 Jason McGarry – Sports Cars – Race Tyres – 1601 to 2000 cc

Class G6
Number 75 Paul Carroll – AWD Non-Modified – ADR Tyres – 3001 to 5000 cc

Class E2
Number 112 John (Ross) Johnson – Modified Passenger INC SUV – 3001 to 5000 cc

The fastest time for the weekend was set by Trent Laves in his Nissan S15 200SX with a 58.8557, unfortunately Trent put the Nissan into the wall on the final run of the weekend… she is a treacherous strip of road.

As usual the weekend is a hive a fun and this year was no exception. A little drizzle on Saturday afternoon was the only hiccup, otherwise we were blessed with temperatures in the mid-twenties on both Saturday and Sunday

Smokin’ Jon suffered a blowout during his four-hour trip to Noosa on Friday, luckily for Jon he was able to race tape his boots together and get on with the important affairs.

Observers noted that Pat was really on pace the whole weekend, a steady diet of pies and baked beans was clearly part of his winning strategy.

Peter Quinn, clearly an important and potent player in the world, kept us safe as he paraded around the pits in his HI Viz jacket as a COVID-19 security officer.

Luckily for Dick there was enough bandwidth for his g-force analysis of each run.

Unluckily for Jason, he got rear ended on the dummy grid by an overzealous driver warming up his tyres, a bit of panel beating required to straighten hs rear end out.

In a remarkable turn of events, Dick and Shane dogged each other’s times all weekend, even on sighting laps. It’s uncanny how close the elapsed times were on each run.

Jon managed to lead the B1 – Formula Open Wheels – (Race Tyres) – 1301 to 2000cc class for most of the weekend. It would have been a brilliant result for Jon if he could have maintained his form and pulled out a win, all things considered.

Newby John (Ross) Johnson, put in a steady first-time appearance in his 260 hp Toyota 86.

Flick Coffee managed to keep us all caffeinated all weekend. If you ever need a Coffee Van at your event, Flick is your answer.

LCQ featured big-time on in the results:

Shane won class C1 with a PB of 65.0776.
Dick finished second in C2 with a 65.3214.
Jon a strong third in C2 with a 66.9961.
Peter brained E2 with a 65.6768.
Pat nailed E3 with a 64.5833.
Jason romped it in F2 with an impressive 61.5950.

Paul and Johnno setting times of 71.2370 and 75.4258 respectively.

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Stokell Track Day – July 2020

Paul Stokell Driving Events Track Day

Story and photos by Steve Lennox.

I’ve been considering doing one of these days for a couple of years now, mainly because the DTC doesn’t really give the Europa the opportunity to open right up. So, this year when my boys asked, “What do you want for your birthday Dad?” I was prepared with “sign me up to one of these track days.”

Before getting to the track I got the expertise of club members and a professional set up of the suspension geometry. This made a massive difference to the ‘road manners’ of the Europa. Further I spent a day before the event bleeding out brake fluid and thoroughly checking over the car.

Friday 24th July rolls around and it’s WET, I’m feeling nervous about the day. Anyway, get to the track do the paperwork, grab a great complimentary coffee and sit in on the drivers briefing. Paul (Stokell) is the absolute professional and runs us through the days event, he is very reassuring about driving in the wet and lets us loose.

I head onto the track quite nervous and in the green group (this is for the old and slow, if it were a wildlife documentary, we would be the most likely to be eaten group). Get a couple of laps under the belt and start pushing the Europa along, going fine until I have a spin on one of the tight corners, just let go mid-corner and before I knew it I got an up close look at the rest of the group driving past. Not a problem, get started and push on again, several laps later same thing happens again.

Our session is over I head in and talk to Paul, he suggests that I get one of the driver trainers in the passenger seat, I reply “probably be better if someone skilled actually drove the car”, Paul responded “I’ve never driven one of these let me get my helmet.” Well ….. how fast is the Europa, a lot faster than I ever thought, we just shot by all manner of cars and we were out with the red fast-group. Finally got onto the tail of Michael Blessas in his very well set up Elise for a couple of laps. We pull in and Paul liked the car and the handling plus he made special comment on how he did enjoy the turbo boost.

So, I ask what about the spins, Paul says too much pressure in the rear tyres, thanks Paul but according to the experts at Yokohama they advise ‘blah blah blah’ on their website. Paul shows me the tyres and says you aren’t using the outside of the tyre so too much pressure. So, I drop a couple of PSI out of the rears and head out on the second session, a completely different car!! Handling and behaving very predicably, and therein is the reason why these days are so worthwhile and FUN. No more spins all day.

I had many more runs through the day getting faster and more confident as the day went on, mainly because the rain stopped, and the track dried out. I know I was braking a long way before I should and not pushing the car as much as it could take, but I enjoy the car and don’t want to break anything, as parts for these Europas are impossible to source …

Paul through his business Driving Events runs a great day, worth every cent. The day went without a hitch and was well catered with lunch, drinks and coffees all included. He has great clientele with some of the worlds best cars running. We had an array of Porsches including the very new and exclusive GT2 RS, plus McLarens, American Muscle, BMWs etc. and of course Lotus. Walking up and down the pit bays was part of the attraction, then to see these cars at full noise on the track just made it so much better than the static cars and coffee events.

Paul also has Lotus Cars Queensland attending these events with a couple of their mechanics/technicians and all their tools to support the Lotus enthusiast on these days.

There are a lot of businesses running driver training and track days at present. Based on my experience, all I can say is “Club members, spend the money come along to one of the best track days”. It really is worthwhile and the support for the Lotus brand is First Class, plus we support one of our club member’s business.
I will finish by saying “Win win, no more spins”

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Lakeside DTC – Sunday 21 June 2020

Story and photos by Andrew Row.

Morning Session – Molloy Beats Stokell

Well the title says it all really. Evan Molloy managed to take the DTC track lap record off Paul Stokell. There is nothing that brings more joy to a Lotus owner than beating Paul, we don’t even care if it wasn’t a fair fight.

Plenty of excitement in getting the first post Covid track day underway. Even the weather gods were happy to oblige, with a perfect day after the previous day’s rain. A little help from the ever enthusiastic Ken and Pauline Graham soon had the donut clear of puddles for the start of a great day.

With Covid rules only allowing for 20 at the track for each of the morning and afternoon sessions, we were all in for plenty of runs – the morning session managing thirteen before lunch. Made for little wait times between runs, but somewhat less social as a consequence. Also missing the competitive banter of the 7 lads, with them all choosing the afternoon session.

Evan led the way all morning, edging closer to the lap record, and then lowering it a couple of times. Gideon and Lindsay chasing hard behind. Lindsay having his share of spins whilst pushing strongly in pursuit. Ken and Pauline were ever competitive between themselves, Pauline taking the day by a hundredth of a second. She certainly peddles the Datsun hard, with a bit of a hair-raising spin through Turn 1. I shared the Graham’s pain of tyres well past their use-by-date – time for a new set now track days are back on.

Cam Anderson had his first run at the DTC in his Exige. After building pace all morning he left with the appropriate grin. I’m sure he will now be another regular.

Thanks to Bridie for coming out and running the timing all morning. Much appreciated by all. Evan kindly took her for a lap in his S1 Exige after the competitive runs were done. She has been hunting for something quicker than her automatic Corolla ever since.

Car No.	Driver	Make	Best
8	Evan Molloy	Lotus S1 Exige	44.672
10	Gideon Street	2013 Lotus Exige	46.203
7	Lindsay Close	Porsche Cayman S	46.254
9	Michael Blessas	Lotus Elise	46.341
15	Jason McGarry	2017 Lotus Exige	46.569
5	Pauline Graham	Datsun 1600 SSS	46.704
14	Ken Graham	Datsun 1600 SSS	46.719
6	Euan McGarry	2017 Lotus Exige	47.312
4	Jeff Graham	Mazda MX5	48.079
1	Andrew Row	2005 Lotus Exige	48.110
11	Pat Richards	Lotus Elise	48.474
17	David Yule	Lotus Elise S	50.369
12	Cam Anderson	2005 Lotus Exige	50.533
13	Peter Quinn	2002 Lotus Elise	50.654
16	Antony van der Drift	1971 Porchse 914	51.936
3	George Row	Lotus Elise	52.166

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Afternoon Session

By Daryl Wilson. Photos Shane Murphy and Steve Lennox.

After the Covid-19 lockdown it was good to finally get back to doing what we do and run again at Lakeside on the Driver Training Centre.

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions we had to split our usual all day event into two half day sessions. As luck would have it; it was a perfect Queensland day with no sign of the rain that had been predicted and going by the morning session the track was clean, dry and fast.

The “A” team of Gideon Street, Andrew Row, Jason McGarry and Bridie Moran set up for the day and ran the morning session which saw Evan Molloy better Paul Stokell’s track record of 44.856 sec with an impressive 44.672 sec run.

In the afternoon it was the turn for the “B” team of Steve Lennox, Shane Murphy and Daryl Wilson to take over and marshal the entrants. After the usual formalities, driver sign on, scrutineering and driver briefing it was time for the afternoon group to hit the track and see who was the fastest of the group.

Jon Young (aka Smokin’ Jon) got off to a flyer immediately doing a 48.624 sec run. Jon was closely followed by Mike Jones in his Toyota 86 with a 49.658. Jon and Shane Murphy both in Sevens battled all day as they usually do with Jon being fastest overall of the afternoon group.

Another notable performer on the day was Eckhard Schwarting in his Porsche Cayman S which I believe may have been his first outing in the car. Eckhard slowly whittled his times down over the day from 50.163 sec to his best of 48.926 secs.

The Jones family, all four Holden Sporting Car Club members were there with their 1968 Lotus Europa and 2008 Locost Special. Gwyneth and Cordelia shared the Locost with Gwyneth taking the honours with a best time of 51.214 sec against Cordelia best time of 51.816 sec.

Michael and Lloyd shared the Europa with Lloyd’s best run of 55.411 sec to pip Michael‘s best of 58.486 sec.

Overall most drivers had 12 runs and a good time appeared to be had by all – see best time results below.

Car No.	Driver	Make	Best
26	Jon Young	Caterham S3	48.083
30	Mike Jones	Toyota 86	48.333
24	Eckhard Schwarting	Porsche Cayman S	48.926
33	Shane Murphy	Lotus Seven	49.131
31	Mal Gray	Lotus Elise	49.244
29	Daryl Wilson	1998 Caterham Super 7	50.259
28	Joshua Luckel	Mazda 2	50.437
23	Gwyneth Jones	Locost Special	51.214
35	Tom Overland	BMW 323	51.717
32	Cordelia Jones	Locost Special	51.816
21	Graham Sorenson	Lotus Cooper Special	52.019
36	Adam Kudra	Renault Megane	52.130
27	Steve Lennox	Lotus Europa S	53.088
22	Jonathon Jones	Lotus Europa	54.548
25	Lloyd Jones	Lotus Europa	55.411
34	Michael Jones	Lotus Europa	58.486

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Lotus Club Drive In a Covid 19 Environment

By John Barram, photos by Steve Lennox.

The world has changed. It will never be the same again. How many times have we heard that lately? No doubt it is true but I still want to drive my Lotus.

Like many others, when Queenslanders were allowed to drive recreationally in a 50km radius from home I studied the maps, got out the Lotus, and away we went with just a few friends. When it was 100km we went that far. But the limits on social contact remain so the challenge became to run a club drive while keeping safe and staying within the rules. This was mulled over by the club executive for a few weeks and the club drive on 28 June was the result.

Travelling with all cars in a line has its problems at the best of times so we decided to give drivers a written description of our start and finish points, towns, distances and major intersections in between so that everyone could find their own way to the end. There would be no kneed to group together at the start and no need to stop and re-group the cars during the drive.

While the blue sky and sunshine of the previous week was replaced by drizzly rain on the day, we had 16 Cars at the start including a friend of a friend with his son in a DAX clubman. The start was at Fernvale where there is plenty of room in the park and coffee was available across the road. While some people stayed in their cars, there were plenty of elbow bumps and greetings between club members who had not seen each other for many months.

I saw no kissing or hugging or otherwise naughty behaviour. So far so good. All drivers already had the navigation information which had been provided electronically so there was no need for the usual coming together for a “drivers briefing”. We simply sent the cars off in two loose groups with a ten minute gap in the middle.

After a quick tour of the Rosewood area and Mount Walker we headed up the Warrego Highway to Aratula for our first stop. Now this had been carefully selected as a place with three service stations and two cafes all within sight in the main street, to enable people to find refreshments without crowding together. The Lotus cars were well spread out as planned.

We had intended to gather the cars before setting off for the second leg of the drive, but as people already knew where we were going and how to get there, the drivers were taking the initiative and setting off in twos and threes for the drive to the picnic area at Moogerah Dam.

The light showers on the day meant that a short section of unsealed roadwork which was not there when I surveyed the route was a bit muddy but this section of the drive was otherwise uneventful.

As far as I know nobody got lost on that trip and in fact a couple of extra people turned up at the lunch point. Club members had been advised to bring their own lunch and seating. We were at a rather popular picnic spot with great views of the border ranges and we were by no means alone. But there was plenty of room for us all to spread out although most ended up in the area around a covered picnic table which we were able to snag. People enjoyed their lunches while socialising at respectable distances.

By this stage the showers had ceased and people seemed in no hurry to leave with many taking the option of a walk across the Dam wall before the trip home. A number of people said they had enjoyed the way this drive had been organised so I think there are a few lessons here in how to run a social drive whether under Covid 19 limitations or not.

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Random Glorious Two Wheeled Run

Story and pics by Vyvyan Black.

So the pandemic’s on, I have my Lotus in lockdown at the shop and Steve Lennox suggests a run up the mountain at a respectable hour on a Friday morning.

So I think “Get on yer bike, mate,” which is exactly what I do.

You see, just before Covid hit I was in need of a bit of transportation as the Plus 2 was waylaid. I’ve always wanted to get on a motorbike again but the missus wouldn’t allow it. A motorbike, I thought, would be a great solution and take the pressure off the Lotus as an everyday driver – which it had been for the last year or so, and would solve the issue of what car to get as a backup. Money being an issue, I just didn’t fancy a clone s***tbox, and I could just as easily end up with an unreliable one at that.

But two things happened since the first thoughts of getting a bike implanted themselves in my consciousness:

Number 1: No more missus around to hound me!

Number 2: I would soon be moving into an apartment close to town – no double garage there, a bike would be ideal. And so it was.

Okay, I say yes to the drive and hop on the Honda.

Oh what fun! Yes the Glorious run is just that, glorious in the Lotus. So, I hear you thinking to yourself, “What’s it like to ride the ridge on two wheels?”

And the answer is that it’s great, but you know what? As much as I love getting around on my Rebel it’s just not the same as in a Lotus. So I like to think I’m getting the best of both worlds – the Lotus for handling, agility and comfort, and the bike for visceral immersion and thrilling acceleration.

You’ll see from the pics that there were only a few of us: Steve in his oh so pretty Europa, Daryl Wilson in his lovely Caterham, Shane Murphy in his stunning Seven, and a couple of non-Club members in some old red thing … now what was it called again? Yes, a Ferrari Testarossa owned by Todd Maunder.