“GT22 – It’s more like a sheep in wolf’s clothing in this company!”
by Fraser & Natasha Smith.
Why would some idiot bring a 2021 Ford Mustang GT Coupe on a Lotus Grand Tour? Apart from the fact that GT stands for ‘Grand Tourer’, it’s an offensive 5 litre V8 American muscle car which is almost as far in spirit as you can get from a Lotus.
Well, for those of you who haven’t yet heard, our 2012 Lotus Evora S is off the road after an altercation with a dirt bank, so we had to find an alternative vehicle. Our daily drivers weren’t ideal so we set off to see what we could potentially hire.
There isn’t a lot in the way of reasonably priced sports car rentals, and even less when you add the need for a back seat for a budding Lotus driver, our 7-year-old (or ‘nearly 8’ as he prefers to say) son Arthur. Cue the Ford Mustang GT which, if I’m honest, has always been a bit of a curiosity because they’re quite good looking for their price point, perhaps leading to them being all a bit too common these days.
I’ll refrain from writing a review but summarise in saying that it was comfortable, surprisingly not too bad on the fuel (under 10L/100km over the ~1100km trip), and overall better than (admittedly not particularly high) expectations. Would I hire a Mustang for an event such as this again? Without a Lotus to drive, sure. With a Lotus to drive, no chance. Hopefully it’s only the latter situation I’ll have to contend with in the future!
There were a couple of issues driving a Mustang GT (or a ‘Ford Evora-Mustang’ as Clive put it) on a Lotus Trip. Firstly, it was huge in comparison – to the extent we felt like we were driving an SUV at times! We made a point to let any Lotus pass when we could. Wade Greensill treated us to a Lotus Esprit V8 fly-by at one stage which was pretty cool.
Another issue was that its odometer appears to have been measuring kilometres, rather than the ‘Kenometers’ that Ken’s odometer produced for the quiz! This didn’t stop Arthur from claiming a prize though – a very special memory for him and a car ride of being asked about every single store on the gift card and what they sell for us parents on the way back!
Finally, there were a few puzzled faces as to why a Mustang would be on a Lotus trip, but this was usually remedied by explaining the situation and then having a conversation about some of the other disagreements with scenery that Lotus cars and their owners seem to get into from time to time.
All in all, it was a fantastic and much enjoyed trip. A huge thanks goes to everyone involved in its organisation – the event is truly one of the highlights of our year.
Arthur drawing the raffle. I felt happy to be asked by Ken to draw the raffle – see photo attached. I was standing on a chair and took a piece of paper out of the hat. Everyone was watching me and I really didn’t mind.
One night someone made a bonfire and Steve gave me some raffle tickets to throw in the fire. I threw them in one by one and at the end threw the rest of them in and the fire got bigger. It was nice to stay up late.
At the cottage at the station my bed was right in front of the fire which was nice. Steve convinced my mummy to get me a Fanta. It was a little fizzier than I expected.
I was sad that we didn’t have our Lotus but really enjoyed the Grand Tour and I am hoping to come next year.
Thought it was time to do a follow up after the fire article a few months back. It’s hard to believe it is only two months since the donor bike arrived, and the rebuild began in earnest.
Feels like years of work as I write this with matchsticks propping my eyes open. The donor bike seems to have been a good gamble from the online auction. Was certainly someone’s pride and joy before it took a slide down the bitumen. We have such a wasteful society when you think an 8000km old rideable scratched bike is a write-off, never to be registered again. Felt a bit criminal to wreck it for parts.
The donor bike seems to have been a good gamble from the online auction.
Having loaded the majority of the car into the trailer to be dumped, there was a never ending list of parts to be ordered. Was like Christmas with parcels arriving daily. The local postie and couriers got so familiar they happily wandered through the office to drop things on my desk at work.
Assessing the burnt mess revealed that the fire was hot enough to melt aluminium in places, but not hot enough to melt copper. This should mean no concern for normal steel components, but anything high tensile or heat treated had to go. The three page bolt list kept the man at the bolt shop busy for an hour to pick and pack them all. Being all Ford Sierra bits led to an order from the UK for all the ball joints, tie rod ends, bearings etc after just receiving blank looks from the local parts guys when mentioning Ford Sierra. Cheaper from the UK anyway, along with steering wheel, harness, master cylinders etc all at half what they could be bought for here.
Loading most things in the trailer to be dumped.
Stripping every part of the suspension and driveline is a long and demoralising task when it’s all burnt and corroded. Fire extinguisher powder is amazingly corrosive. Fortunately Bride is a wiz with degreaser and steel wool, and could return nasty looking parts looking like new as quickly as I could strip them. Got through a few wire brushes on the grinder as well. Bit of team work to keep moral up. Surprising some of the parts that were salvageable. The engine bay floor and diffuser was fine with a good clean, well after we straightened out the bent fins after yours truly spun it trying to go full throttle under the bridge the run before. Apparently that isn’t possible without the rear wing, but that’s another story.
The bright side of the rebuild is the chance to upgrade things that were never great. Car had a Sierra steering rack that was far from ideal length and gave absurd bump steer. Although the old rack was 2.8 turns lock to lock, it always seemed slow to steer. After the fire burnt the boots off it revealed that someone made it a “quick” rack by putting lock stops on it to get the right turns lock to lock. The brand new 2.4 Escort rack will make a massive improvement to steering response, steering lock, and bump steer.
Engine mount adjustments for the new engine.
The idea of buying the complete doner bike was to steal as many parts as possible and remove the need for custom tunes etc – being a budget track toy. The bike runs a self-regulating fuel pump with no return lines etc. So to allow the bike pump to be kept a custom fuel tank was knocked up from steel sheet in the workshop after silly prices and lead times were received for farming the job out.
All the exhaust headers and airbox were kept so the tune would be good. The airbox is huge and tall, but it contains four of the eight fuel injectors, so was easier to build the body around it than work out how to revise it. It took a lot of hours staring at the wiring diagram before I took the leap of faith to cut out all the unused sections and override all the tip sensors and side stand switches etc. Turns out only cut one wire too many. The instrument illumination wire from the light circuit actually turns the dash on, not just the back lighting. Quick fix and it fired up and so sweetly.
The top half a bunch of unnecessary bits removed from the sub loom.
Have made good friends with our local waterjet cutter, with all manner of parts being cut and folded as required. Fortunately still had a bunch of the aluminium chassis panel cut files from the first build, so they were easy wins.
Bike engines aren’t normally built for cornering forces in the oil pickup. A quick google of what the pommy lads use for sump baffle plates on a Fireblade, along with some tracing paper and a scan on the work photocopier soon had a cut file for a baffle plate.
Sump baffle plate.
Next challenge was a lack of available front sprocket sizes, so a custom rear chain sprocket was drawn up from a long list of formulas, with tiny arcs and tangent lines that are all a bit irrelevant when drawn out to scale, but should do the job for the revised gearing on the new motor with its 13000 rpm redline. The aluminium body sidepods and radiator ducting were a challenge to my level of 3D drafting skills, but all fitted nicely with the idea of having a bit more side impact protection than the previous glass panels.
Almost ready to drive.
Speaking of panels, it has been the most asked question. Where will you get a new body from? To which I casually replied I would make one. Receiving the quizzical looks that one would expect, but we pressed on with the plan none the less. A couple of weekends and a bunch of mdf has made the beginnings of some one off molds. Have avoided the temptation to go down the road of full blown plugs and glass molds as it just doesn’t seem worth the time. Should get panels from these that are at least as good as the previous set. Will keep you posted in Part 2 how that turns out.
Plastering radius corners into the mdf molds.MDF body molds being built over the car.
Off to the DTC this weekend as an open wheeler for a test run. Then a month to get a body on for Morgan Park. All easy if we just avoid sleeping.
Grand Tour – Friday 17 June to Monday 20 June 2022.
GT22 President’s view – by Steve Lennox
The Grand Tours are more than just a drive through the country, they are a great motoring and social event for our club and importantly we as a group are helping our “Country Cousins” with our tourism dollars, plus we always choose a very local charity and raise funds to assist the local communities to help themselves with their charity programs and projects.
This year the GT22 was no different, we spent our money with local businesses, and we supported the local Charity Glenn Innes Family Youth Support Services. Elena one of the support officers shared with us the work they do to encourage young underprivileged and indigenous children to participate in their projects which are targeted at families and youths providing support by early intervention and prevention services.
This year with the generous support of Automotion, who provided a service as a raffle prize, plus my arm-twisting collection techniques, we managed to raise $2,075.00. We met Elena on Sunday morning to present her with the money raised. She was very gracious and happy for our support, so once again what a great group we have at LCQ and thank you for your support.
Another excellent Lotus Club Queensland Grand Tour is done and dusted, with 65 enthusiastic Lotus members attending – By Daryl & Moira Wilson.
As our Caterham is not ideal for a 4-day country drive we opted to take our Jaguar E-Pace daily driver. It is red and you know what they say about red cars!
Special thanks to Ken and Margaret Philp for the mountain of work they did to plan the route on Lotus friendly roads. Identify and negotiate the motels and Waterloo Station accommodation and the great meals along the way.
Also, thanks to El Presidente Steve Lennox for his supporting Ken and especially his skill in extracting money from everyone. Through Steve’s efforts he raised $2075.00 in fines and raffle proceeds, that we donated to the Glen Innes Family Support Services. A great effort Steve and thanks to everyone for their support.
This year was a stark contrast to previous Grand Tours when we drove through areas in the grip of severe drought.
The landscape this year was green and lush and well stocked with cattle and sheep. Hopefully it will be a bumper year for farmers and their good fortune will flow through to the town businesses and people in the area. On a more disappointing note, was to see the extent of the flood damage around Lismore and the damage to the roads in the area.
Day One was an early start, meeting at Beaudesert approx. 1 hour SW of Brisbane for Driver Briefing.
Then we were all off to Evans Head for lunch. A couple of incidents today with Vyvyan and Helga in the Lotus Elan Plus 2 running out of brakes and unfortunately having to abort and head home on a flatbed tow truck. After a leisurely lunch we were off to Grafton. On this leg into Grafton Eddie and Tess Huffam lost the rear passenger side wheel on the Lotus Europa. Luckily, they were able to make suitable repairs and limped into Grafton.
After lots of discussion and suggestions about how to fix Eddie’s Europa, it was time to clean up and head to the adjoining Crown Hotel restaurant for dinner. We had the whole back deck overlooking the river and it was a noisy crowd with everyone relaxing after a great first day and anticipation of more great driving roads to come in the next 3 days. Vyvyan and Helga picked up Helga’s car and made it into Grafton later that night.
Day Two dawned cool, sunny and clear, after breakfast at the Crown Hotel it was off to Glen Innes.
Moira took over driving our Jaguar E-Pace with Margaret Philp as her co-pilot while Daryl hopped in with Ken and lead the pack out of Grafton. This morning run was on the Gwydir Highway, a great piece of up and down, twisty ideal Lotus road, a great fun drive. Thanks Ken this was the best part of the tour for me…
A short break in Glen Innes for dinner, supplies and petrol, then it was out to Waterloo Station; our overnight stop and venue for our long lunch today. A quick tidy up then we all met at The Shearers Quarters for lunch and a discussion on the trip so far. The long lunch was excellent with great food and lots of people socialising moving from table to table to swap tales about the roads and their experiences so far. A great end to the day sitting around a camp fire with a drink and some nibbles.
Day Three started with a leisurely breakfast at Waterloo Station a car photo shoot at the homestead then time to leave and head on to Stanthorpe. Only a short run today with time to relax in the afternoon followed by dinner tonight at the Stanthorpe Brewery.
Day Four and we all headed home to Brisbane with several route options depending on your time and enthusiasm. The great end to a fabulous four days with great company of like-minded people.
This is the fourth year Ken and Margaret Philp have researched and designed the Grand Tour. There is an enormous amount of work involved in planning these trips. Maybe time for someone else to step up in 2023, so Ken and Margaret can relax and enjoy the fun like everyone else!
Winner winner Port for dinner… – by Des Hill
Many thanks goes to Daryl for donating some of our tour prizes and an extra big thank you to Ken our grand tour Poobah for picking my V6 Blue Exige as the best sounding car of the tour.
From the moment I had the new exhaust fitted I have had nothing but a continual grin on my face, this with the chance to really drive some epic back roads with nearly 40 other lotus confirmed it was the right choice. Not only was GT2022 exhilarating but a great reminder to why we own some of the best drivers cars you can buy.
Topping that it’s now also one of the best sounding cars.
Bring on GT23!! – by Anne Blackwood
“How often do you get to sit in a very stylish, restored shearer’s quarters to while away the afternoon at a sumptuous long lunch? Copulate-all if left to my own devices!
If not for the love of Lotus my life would be a lot tamer and boring. Throughout my 40+ years of Lotus club membership I have had the opportunity to visit wonderful places in the company of great groups of people. My family and I often joke about the “Lotus connection” that has provided these beaut experiences and network of people. My photo collection bears testament to this.
Thank you Ken, Carol, Daryl and Steve.
Only three-hundred and something more sleeps to GT23… Can’t wait already. – by Kevin Acworth
Quite apart from the amazing rural scenery, abundant array of great good, free flowing drinks, amazing cars and the sweet smell of premium unleaded mixed with burning rubber, the real highlight of GT22 for me was meeting new friends, eccentric characters and the camaraderie of being part of something bigger than the sum of its parts.
Huge thank you to Ken, Steve, Carol and Daryl for creating an event to which the rest of us just had to turn up and enjoy.
First-timer GT Review – by Louise Vant
Having lived with a petrol head for over 25 years, I am no stranger to standing trackside watching him go round in circles. Now we have a little more spare time, it is becoming obvious his subtle plan to eek out these one day events, into multi day trips. Fortunately for him, he just has to mention wineries or good food, and my decision to join him has been made.
Prior to the Grand Tour, we were lucky enough to have done similar type trips in Europe with Lotus On Track UK, so I had a fair idea of what to expect. But I was particularly interested to meet Queenslanders who has such a passion for a little UK sports car company, and the tour was the perfect opportunity to do so.
Despite Ian joining the club about a year ago, this would be the first time we had been on an official “club” event. So, it was with a little apprehension that we got to meet “everyone” at the starting point in Beaudesert. Within a few minutes, I could tell this was going to be a fun trip, with all the hollering, cajoling, and clapping at the start!
It was interesting to see the diverse ages who had joined in, from young Arthur all the way to those a little greyer around the edges! It was even nicer to see the range of Lotus, some quite new, others older, but all loved by their owners.
Being a (little) bit of a control freak, I do love a good itinerary and organisation, so I was very happy to be clutching my GT 22 booklet organised by Ken. I had not realised until a few days before that there would be questions to answer en route. Being also a little competitive, I did want to do well with the answers, though I quickly realised that this would not be quite so easy, given the speedo reading error with our car, understanding of Ken’s sense of humour and needing a little bit of Aussie insight 😉!
Each time we stopped for driver breaks or at the meals, we ended up sitting with different people and it was great to hear about their history with the club and the passion for their car. Everyone made us feel really welcomed and the enthusiasm for the trip was infectious.
The evenings were a great time to relax and chat about all things “car” and I think maybe after some extra glasses of wine, we committed to some upcoming club races as well!
What I loved about the trip, was that everyone was just there to have fun, re-connect with old friends or make new ones. The opportunity to drive your car on stunning country roads, in the style that suited you best, is not one to be missed.
Thank you to everyone involved with organising the Grand Tour. I know Ken did a huge amount of work, but also to Steve, Daryl, Carol and Margie for supporting this event.
In the end, I didn’t need to worry about getting all the answers correct, I just had to let my husband go rogue and drive his Lotus across a field to win a prize!
GT22: Great roads and long lunch – by Alex and Carol Molocznyk
The successes of past Grand Tours generated expectation that the high bars set previously would be further raised and again expectations were met and exceeded.
The great roads were indeed great through magnificent scenery with straights, curves and corners at pick your own enjoyable pace, with the exceptions of jarring potholes and damaged surfaces remaining from the recent floods, some of which resulted in extreme anatomical clenching and bookings for wheel alignment checks.
Food was generous sized country portions and the long lunch rekindled memories of those days when a long lunch meant an afternoon written off to networking conducted over a tax deductable leisurely lunch often continuing into the night – something incomprehensible to millennials in this age of fast food and working from home 24/7.
Highlights as always were the spirit of the whole event enjoyed by all who attended and the irrational rulings that would make the FIA proud for the fines and quiz results.
GT 22: The Wade’s Perspective – by Clive Wade
A BIG thank you to Ken, Steve, Daryl, Carol and all their supportive spouses, what a fantastic weekend! The organisation, the choice of route and the venues were absolutely excellent, not to mention your choice of weather, breaking away from La Nina to just outstandingly perfect… Great job guys ‘n gal. Though, just one little point; the questions… how did you get them so wrong? Gloria & I checked them, some subjects didn’t even exist, never mind so many being so wrong…
Our Friday started at 4:30am, absolutely necessary so as to ensure the car was not only packed, but to ensure the suitcase was not only properly tied down, but suckered down too. After all we were in for some windy roads over the next few days, and I didn’t want Ken to award me “the most unusual catastrophe award”, or something equally inventive from Ken.
Arriving within the nominated time at Beaudesert the briefing was quickly over and we were on our way. Enthusiasm soon had me in 2nd position behind Ken (guiding the 1st Group) for a leisurely blast to Woodenbong along one of Qld’s best driver’s roads. Three quarter’s into the first interesting bits I was becoming concerned about my suitcase’s chance of staying between the Elise’s buttresses, so at the earliest opportunity I pulled over to let the “testers of side G’s” to not be hindered from a good drive… and the navigator’s stress levels diminished a tad too. And so the day and weekend was set…
Until the following morning; departing Grafton through a series of slow roundabouts, a new drivetrain/suspension noise left me concerned about tackling another 160km of country/winding/bumpy roads. The NRMA were soon on the case, advising to get the car up for a squiz underneath Lotus’/Honda’s finest. They put me in touch with Gary at Cropper’s Mechanical (111 Ryan St, South Grafton) who soon had the car off the ground for a thorough inspection… the bill?… Nothing! Nothing… why? Quote… “I didn’t have to do anything”… what about your time? “Don’t worry about it”… now that has to be country hospitality at its best! Thank you Gary Cropper!
Nothing amiss, just a new noise, the Wades were soon on their way enjoying another fabulous stretch of Lotus road… the Gwydir Highway… a little lonely I might add, nobody waited for me…
And so to the second day’s venue, Waterloo Station, for an extended and enjoyable lunch, a comfortable room, and a really tasty breakfast… Great find Ken and Margie!
Aprés breakkie had us on our way guessing more non existent/wrong answers to Ken’s quiz all the way to Stanthorpe, The Vines, and The Brewery, where we learnt of our collective fates/accolades/etc for not taking any notice of clues at various Mitsubishi kilometre readings which totally disagreed with my quality Lotus trip meter.
BIG accolades here to Arthur, travelling with Mum and Dad in the Ford Evora-Mustang, for winning one of the major awards.
Great weekend team.
Alex and Carol
Decadent accomodation for the lucky few
Eddie reinstating his misplaced wheel
Eddie’s offending hub nut
A few drinks around the campfire
Grafton Hotel
All the Lotus flowers Phot: Gloria Wade
Having a great time Photo: Gloria Wade
Lotus wannabes Photo: Gloria Wade
Original Waterloo Best before 1901s Photo: Gloria Wade
Lotus Elan, 1968, S4, Drop Head Coupe (convertible). Standard specification: bolt on wheels, 105bhp, unboosted brakes, unperforated seating vinyl, no fancy chrome strips.
I purchased my Elan in Hong Kong, in 1987. The vendor would not let me test drive it, which I thought, at the time, unusual. However, there weren’t too many Elans in Hong Kong – I wanted it, so not a biggie. At least it wasn’t until I started driving it. The front right hand wheel kept rubbing the top of the wheel well. Further investigating revealed a badly repaired chassis that had split almost completely through on the offending side.
Thinking a quick chassis change would see me back on the road again turned into a 23 year labour of love. What was revealed was a pretty well neglected car that was 19 years old with only 34,000 miles on the clock.
Some of the major defects: split chassis, inoperative lights, metal stitching of a crack in the head, bog inches thick on the front right hand side etc.
I started the restoration in Hong Kong. The engine was pulled apart, head taken to QED in the UK, new chassis and numerous other parts ordered from Chris Neil’s in the UK.
The chassis change part of the restoration was fairly straight forward. The engine was reassembled with new rings and bearings and the overhauled head refitted. However, the body was proving to be a big job. Scraping various layers of paint (at least three in it’s relatively short life) with anything sharp I could lay my hands on, proved tedious. It also revealed a lot of damage to the front right hand side that would need fibreglass work beyond my ability.
So from 1987 to 1996 either the chassis or body was hanging from the roof of our garage whilst work was carried out on the other.
In 1996, we packed up our house, Robyn and our two daughters moved back to the Gold Coast to continue their schooling. The 40′ container also had the Elan in it for its journey to its new home.
Work restarted in about 2003 when I also returned, permanently, from Hong Kong.
The body was sent to John Woodlands who had done several Elan bodies for club owners. The paint job was carried out by apprentices at a tech college. This has proven to be a good job, as it is still in fairly good condition.
Not wanting to install the engine, after all the years in storage, as is, I asked Greg Bray to disassemble it, check everything, and reassemble a leak free engine. It has run faultlessly for the past 12 years.
In 2009 a friend invited me to take the Elan to his factory for final assembly. This pleased Robyn, as finally doors, bonnet, boot disappeared from the guest room, and the instrument panel finally left the table in my study.
The next year saw the engine and gearbox mated to the new (23 year old) chassis and the body lowered, from a two post hoist, to complete the car.
2010 the engine was started for the first time in 23 years and the first drive was a long looked-forward-to event.
In the ensuing years I have made some improvements to make the car more reliable and safer; mainly cooling, braking and lighting.
At the moment, the Elan is awaiting a new water pump. This is a major job on the twincam, and needs some thought and expert opinion.
Over the years, Robyn and I have had some great driving holidays in the Elan. Generally after the Biennial Lotus gatherings, and on the excellent Grand Tours organised by Ken Philp.
Since owning the Elan, I have had occasion to call on friends for advice, namely Craig Wilson and Greg Bray. Great to have knowledgeable friends.
I look forward to being back on the road, as the Elan always elicits a big grin, from me, and admiring toots, thumbs up etc from other drivers.
Well, the two weeks before the DTC were severely cold, apparently a result of global warming, which led me to believe donning a thick lumberjack shirt (without the accompanying Phythonesque apparel, I hasten to add) would be required for the early morning start.
On arrival at the track, it was evident from the presence of some very serious looking machines that I had forgotten that it was also the Interclub Challenge event.
Clearly, I was not the only one who had overlooked this, as subsequently I was unable to discover which teams were represented, so apologies for not being able to report the current standing of the Lotus Club in the challenge.
It did resolve why the day was bright and sunny, if a little chilly to start. We were graced with the presence of two Tesla’s, which had reduced our collective emissions to the extent the cold snap had been reversed! Clever stuff this technology.
Back to the day’s event. The circuit was, as is now expected, split between the short track (very technical and no long straights) being run in the morning, and the long track (having two longer straights more suited to grunty things) being run in the afternoon.
Driver’s briefing was conducted once again by our own Daryl Wilson, who has been resting while Gideon has been running the events of late. Thank you, Daryl, for stepping into the breach and doing a sterling job of timekeeper and event organiser. Thanks also to Steve Lennox operating as 2IC.
We discovered that of the 34 runners, there was a high proportion of drivers new to the track. This, however, did not deter the fiercely competitive drivers who were soon engaged in displaying their skills. It was great to see that across the field the equivalent of side bets and personal rivalries were being played out irrespective of the overall event. It all goes towards a very satisfying day at the track.
Line honours went to Byron Maxwell, who was untouchable in his red Elise both in the morning and afternoon sessions, closely followed by Graham – father and son teams seem to have something special, maybe it’s in the genes.
Graham Sorensen was a very close third in the morning, in his 78 Cooper special open wheeler, but sadly had to pull out of the afternoon session. He was quickly replaced by the Datsun driven by Ken and Pauline Graham. It’s always a pleasure to watch Ken and Pauline, one can never be sure who is driving, they are always so close on times!
Phil Hart was well up there, pushing the front runners in both sessions, and I understand getting bragging rights over his red car driving golf partner (Dick Reynolds) – though the times were to-ing and fro-ing through the day (mostly to-ing).
Of the rest of us, well we had a great time, no serious mishaps, lots of PB’s for the newcomers, wonderful to see a few more lady drivers, and I think the Lotus club picked up quite a few interclub challenge points.
By the way, I did have to intervene and separate the golfers in the morning session. Very satisfying.
Keep it on the black stuff – see you all at Lakeside for the next DTC.
By Joe Arico, Photos by Gloria Wade and Trapnell Creations.
It was a pleasant change driving to Warwick for Round 3 of the QLD Super Sprints in dry weather. To be fair it’s been steadily improving throughout the year.
Round 1 was WET, round 2 less wet with some dry weather running, and finally round 3 was dry if a “tad cold”. We were greeted by some decent frosts on Saturday and Sunday morning, but it warmed up nicely on both days making for a surprisingly grippy track.
It was a hectic start for yours truly on Saturday morning. While casually talking to Clive I noticed fluid dripping off my diffuser. I had a small leak coming from one of my coolant hoses. No problem other than the fact that I had about 5 minutes to fix it before the start of my run! I quickly jacked the car up, whipped the wheel off and fumbled around trying to find the right tools. It wasn’t long before Dave Mackie and John Flynn were on the scene and thanks to them I made it out (just!). The added stress must have done some good because I did my fastest single lap time of the entire weekend on that first run!
The trophy for worst luck of the weekend goes to Garry Pitt. A broken drive shaft on Saturday nearly ended his round but thanks to Geoff who had a spare he was able to get going again. Lady luck hadn’t finished with Garry yet though. On Sunday while warming his slicks on the formation lap, he had a minor spin which resulted in an excursion off track. Unfortunately, on his way back onto the track his front splitter caught some badly exposed concrete edging off the back of a curb which completely ripped it off and destroyed his clam ending his weekend.
The last run of the day saw Clive have an adventure between turns one and two. Word on the street is he performed multiple 360’s before continuing on his merry way. I did not witness it personally, but I did catch a glimpse of him later in the sprint seemingly lost at the other end of the track driving across the grass. Not to worry he did eventually find his way home! .
And finally, Geoff blew us all away on his last run with a lap that dipped into the 1:01’s! The older he gets the faster he goes!
Aside from Garry’s terrible luck there were only relatively minor issues with everyone finishing the weekend with working cars and no damage. Lotus filled the top 3 spots in both sports car classes as well as having good representation in the overall standings occupying 5 of the top 10 positions.
As usual the social aspect of these weekends is as much fun as the racing itself. It was great to have Maree back on deck after being away for a round and huge thanks to her for all the effort she puts into feeding us all! Thanks Maree!
Summary of the results follows:
Sports Cars 3001 and over
Driver
Total Time
Fastest Lap
Geoff Noble
5:14.65
1:01.886
Matt Plowman
5:49.327
1:07.373
Darryl Ringuet
5:53.526
1:08.769
Sports Cars 1601 – 2000
Garry Pitt
5:42.411
1:07.357
Barry Mather
5:45.996
1:07.902
Joe Arico
5:51.176
1:09.484
Anthony & Gideon
Des
End of the day
Gideon in the Flip Flops. Photo: Trapnell Creations.jpg
Joe turning into Gumtree. Photo: Trapnell Creations
The first run of the year drew a strong 11 car field for a drive on the outskirts of the north side of Brisbane.
Previously known as the Fish ‘n’ Chip run it took place in the late afternoon. It was going to be interesting what the Sunday morning traffic may be like. Given the route is already laid out and documented apparently with some rather dodgy distances – thanks Peter (bloody retirees have way too much time on their hands) it made sense to use it.
After we got past the small hiccup of the starting point being in the underground car park and not outside the entrance – the organiser reserves the right to change his mind at the last minute and who knew there were two entrances – where the beautiful morning could be enjoyed, we were off almost on time at 8:30am. Did have to wait for Aston of course, who was woken at 7am. Bloody uni students. God help us if he completes becoming a commercial pilot. At least no one will be late for their plane if that’s the case.
It was a good start, losing no-one, even as we came across some push bike race five minutes in. Some good windy stuff culminating in magic views from the top of Clear Mountain (team photo at this spot next time).
Only one delay when Aston’s Elan (yes apparently it is his now) decided to die on the side of the road. I got the call and Andrew and I decided to head back to assist. (with my knowledge it is more moral support). There was nothing. Stone dead. When in doubt hit reset (disconnect the battery and reconnect). Started first time and after a poll of all that were staring at the marvel that is a self-healing Lotus, 2 out of 10 decided he should continue. Luckily one was Aston and I can report it has not missed a beat since. Well not electrically anyway, it is an almost 30-year-old Lotus after all.
A quick toilet stop (bloody retirees) and onto Redcliffe through some deserted industrial estates and my favourite off-camber corner.
Well, after a photo opportunity – who knew about the Redcliffe markets and failed to notify the run organiser – no big deal as no-one was lost despite the detour. The don’t leave anyone behind rule (well don’t leave the corner without the follower indicating) was working perfectly and after the markets it was a quick run down the foreshore, onto the Hornibrook Bridge Road and into the Valley to Buzz Bistro where I still maintain it is the best eggs bennie in town (part of the reason I don’t drive an Elise)!
I have a theory that unrequited competition sets up anxiety. That is, we all compete, but it is only when there is a clear, irrefutable placing that our anxieties can abate.
Well, there is no anxiety at the Summer 2022 Noosa Hill Climb. You drive the 14 scary corners, flat out, on the absolute limit with scarce regard for care or caution and Natsoft tells you where you placed. Done, complete, finished – and no anxiety.
Actually, not quite. With the usual array of unknowns in this game we play, sometimes it’s just “did I complete the run” and that’s a win. Or did I beat last year’s result on a wet track, eke out every last of your new horsepowers and use every bit of the grip with the new “soft” tyres?
This year all the scenarios played out in full.
The event itself provided a degree of anxiety with cars throwing mud onto the corners, snakes biting onlookers and the usual timing / grid / prang issues. No serious injuries if any, and a bit of generally repairable car damage.
Shane cleaned us all up with a brilliant display of new engine, new tyres, new attitude and a spray of talent. Jon hounded his “Personal Best” with a car identical to last year, but suffered with the dirty track. I proved last years’ time was a bit of a fluke. Jason brought the wrong car. Pat still carrying an injury gave it heaps. Sam flogged the Exige to catch Jason (not far off!) and David just had a big old go at it.
Driver
Vehicle
Best Time
Position
Shane Murphy
Lotus 7
1.04.95
45
Dick Reynolds
Caterham 7
1.05.04
47
Jason McGary
Lotus Exige
1.06.19
53
Pat Richards
Lotus Elise
1.06.56
57
Sam Murphy
Lotus Exige
1.07.12
66
Jon Young
Caterham 7
1.07.92
79
David Yule
Lotus Elise
1.10.85
97
Along with the above crew, the usual gaggle of competitors were there to hound us: Robin Manning, Mini, Ryan Campbell, Westfield and Randall Spice, Westfield and Matthew Ingram, Lotus Elise.
And thank you all the competitors for another great Hillclimb.
The usual pit chat and pre-event drinks were carried out with the inevitable disregard for sensitivity or tact.
Not much alcohol consumed as the breathalyser was put to much use.
Special thanks go to Peter Quinn for supplying a very convenient WC, and Jason for organising a great pit area.
Also, a special mention to Jen Murphy and Robyn Richards for their moral and dietary support during the event.
By Shane Murphy. Photos: Shane Murphy, John Carson, Damion Tiernan.
The Driver Training Centre at Lakeside had recently been upgraded with a brand new super smooth asphalt surface, creating an extra level of intrigue and the promise of faster elapsed times.
Twenty-nine entrants rocked up to a chilly but fine winter’s morning. The driver briefing included a warning about the drop-off between the new and ground surface on a number of corners. “Keep it on the island,” was the warning. The first timers were in for a treat.
The morning schedule was run over the short course and after lunch the longer course was utilised.
The finish line for the morning short course and the afternoon long course were normalised, resulting in the short course being about 10 metres longer than previous events.
Once again Gideon and Paul had done a great job and the event kicked off smartly on time. The new surface was tricky in parts but seemed to offer lots of grip in the main.
Seven Sevens were entered, that’s nearly one quarter of the field – power to the clubbies – a great spectacle, almost a takeover.
As expected, the morning session was dominated by Ken and Pauline Graham in their yellow Datsun, followed closely by Gideon and Dick.
I can’t emphasis enough how well Dick drove – on the rev limiter at every opportunity, slick gear changes, hitting his breaking points to pin point accuracy – a joy to behold. And those AO48s hung onto the new surface like “you know what” to a baby’s nappy.
A curiosity, which could only be described as a cosmic intervention, resulted in all Sevens getting incrementally faster over the morning. Then at about mid-morning and with almost military precision, we all got incrementally slower, maintaining almost exactly the same margin across the rising and falling tide.
A couple of minor mechanical troubles, Ken and Pauline suffered an engine misfire. Dick had a throttle issue. Evan had a niggling smoking turbo and Damion was blowing a little oil into his breather.
Seven runs in the morning and we were ready for a lunch break. The sun was shining, the breeze had dropped in intensity – a great way to spend a Sunday morning.
After the lunch break, we set off to tear up the longer track, the layout suiting the more adventurous and more powerful cars.
The club rivalry started to bubble to the surface with Gideon, Jason and Dick all trading faster times in order to emerge on the top of the tables and claim the title “Lotus Club King of the DTC”.
In the end, as everyone tired out, and after seven more runs, Gideon emerged on top of the whole group pipping Ken Graham by 0.125 seconds.
A very sated group packed up the equipment and tootled off home. I am sure a couple of beers were enjoyed once everyone’s respective domiciles were reached.
For those that didn’t know Tony was tragically killed in an accident on the Mt Roland stage of Targa Tasmania this year. My son Mitchell and I met Tony and Sandra in 2017 on a Paul Stokell Targa Tasmania Tour. As was the case with everyone who met him it was hard not to like him. He had a quiet nature with a cutting wit. He could size you up in a very short time then make you laugh at your own shortcomings without offending you.
Over the last 5 years we all continued our Targa Journey together, I drove thousands and thousands of kilometers in convoy with them towing our cars to events. Some of my most cherished memories of Tony were the hours we spent talking on handsfree.
First I will list his Targa participation and results over that period of time.
2017
Targa Tasmania tour
Targa High Country tour
2018
Targa Tasmania Tour
Targa High Country Tour
Targa Great Barrier Reef 4th in GT Sports Trophy
2019
Targa North West 1st in GT Sports Trophy
Targa Tasmania 3rd in GT Sports Trophy
Targa Great Barrier Reef 2nd in GTST
Targa High Country 2nd in GT Sports Trophy
Targa GT Sports Trophy National
Championship 2nd
2020
Targa Great Barrier Reef GT Outright DNF
Adelaide Rally Modern Competition 8th
Targa High Country GT Outright 7th
I have to say his favorite stage in every Targa was the street stage.
He was always at the pointy end of the field in street stages winning all of the GT Sports Trophy class ones he ran. He was often in the top five of outright in street stages, even when he was in the speed restricted class.
I would always joke it showed a history of a mis-spent youth, Tony would just give me a wry smile. At his funeral his brother told a story of when Tony was 14 in South Africa he convinced David, and one of his mates to take their stepdad’s car for a spin around the block. Apparently they got into a lot of trouble with this escapade. I knew it.
Another story was when he and his brother, and friends would ride their motorbikes down a huge hill lying flat on the seat to reduce drag to see who could get the highest speed.
He was ultra competitive in that he always wanted to improve how he performed in a sport, and never to the detriment of his fellow competitors. He played off 1 at Brookwater, one of the hardest golf courses in Australia.
I can tell you all that I have never seen him happier than when he was at a Targa. He loved them with a passion.
Here is a link to a video that was put together by Ben at Otherside Productions of Tony at Targa Events. My words can’t do justice to how much joy they brought him, but his can.
Not only did he love Targa, he also loved track work. He went to almost all of Paul Stokell’s track days, Never missed an “All Lotus Track day”, and was a regular fixture at every Qld Supersprint event at Morgan Park.
He particularly loved the Bathurst track days and I would like to thank all of the Simply Sports Cars people who made the Parade lap of Bathurst for Tony a reality, he would have been bemused, but honored. It was humbling to be part of such a great tribute.
I can honestly say he was one of a kind and I don’t know of anyone that got to know him that didn’t like him.
Hope you are up there driving perfect laps, and playing perfect rounds of golf. I will always miss him, and every time I get on a race track I know he will be looking down saying “Come on Bugalugs, you can do better than that”
💔
Love you buddy, we will all miss you. You may be gone, but will never be forgotten.
RIP mate
By Paul Stokell.
Eight years ago Tony approached me about doing some 1 to 1 coaching with him. Tony’s driving skills progressed quickly and our ongoing connection resulted in him joining our Targa Tasmania Tour.
That was it, he and Sandra were hooked and fell in love with Tarmac Rallying. The progression to competition was inevitable and from novice beginnings they became a “team” with Sandra in the navigators seat.
Tony for me was much more than a customer. He supported my efforts to win the ultimate prize and we spent quite a few hours on the phone discussing his progression. Our cars were almost identical, so modifications I did eventually found their way onto his car.
His payback was to share his love of golf. He regularly invited me out to Brookwater where his skills way outshone mine… revenge I think! On the golf course he was bloody talented, but he always came packed with a huge bag of golf balls which at first fascinated me. When I asked him about it he said they were for me because he made it clear he wasn’t wasting time looking off the fairway for any of my wayward shots.
His death has been devastating and hard to accept but I rest easy knowing he died doing something he truly loved, rallying.
A South African gentleman called Tony
By Chris Jordan.
In 2014 we fitted our first SSC supercharger upgrade on a four cylinder Lotus Exige for an English doctor. In 2015 the doctor had to move back to the UK for work. He sold the little yellow rocket ship to a South African gentleman called Tony. That was the start of a relationship between Automotion and Tony Seymour that took us to Tasmania, Bathurst, Cairns and a lot of other fun places and times in between.
Tony was easy to get along with and was enthusiastic to do what he could to get the most out of the car from word go. The little Exige got pretty much every upgrade known to man! He would see something online or hear about it, chat to me to understand what the benefits were and more often than not we would end up bolting it to the car.
When he ran out of upgrades to do to the car he would then start adding decals, wrapping sections of the car or powdercoating things. He loved upgrading the look of the car as well as how it went on the track. We must have stripped and rebuilt his brake calipers at least half a dozen times over the years so they could be powdercoated various colours!
For Tony and Automotion this work continued until there was pretty much nothing left to do on the four cylinder car. By this time Tony and Sandra had started entering Targa events, along with their good mates Darryl and Mitchel Ringuet (in a very similar four cylinder Exige). Tony and Sandra became a formidable force on the Targa scene.
I had the pleasure of service crewing for Tony a number of times. When Tony was behind the wheel he was 100% focused. As soon as he got out of the car he was the most chilled guy I knew! If you gave him a nudge he’d tip over backwards, he was so laid back.
Life for the four cylinder engine was hard with a fair amount of horsepower and lots of track and bitumen rally work. After the second engine rebuild Sandra gave Tony the ‘OK’ to step out of the four cylinder and into a V6 Exige.
In 2018 we started the upgrade and modification cycle again… shocks, brakes, LSD, roll cage, calipers (powdercoating of course), different springs, wheels… the list went on. If you could upgrade it, Tony would upgrade it, if you could powdercoat it, Tony would powdercoat it.
Tony’s good friend and general partner in crime, Darryl, also got a V6 at around the same time. If one did something to their car, the other would normally follow fairly quickly. Sometimes Tony would hear about something, we would discuss its merits, then he would say “don’t tell Buggerlugs” (aka Darryl), with a grin. A day later Darryl would call me and tell me he and Tony had ordered one each and we need to book the cars in before the next event. That’s how it went!
In 2020 at Targa Great Barrier Reef, Tony and Sandra stepped into the big league, the GT Outright category. Tony loved it and drove the wheels off the Lotus. Tony and Sandra were up there with the big boys and girls (big budget, big horsepower cars) until a nasty dip in the road sent them spearing into a large bush on the side of the road. I remember pulling huge piles of vegetation out of the front grill of the car as the tow truck slowly pulled the car out of the bushes, Tony looking on with a wry grin on his face “it’ll polish out”, Sandra shaking her head. Typical Tony.
The car went back to Brisbane, we repaired it and got it ready for the track again. That’s when Tony changed the colour to the ‘Acid Green’ everyone will have gotten used to over the past couple of years. He knew how to make a statement! Everyone loved the look of the car, it stood out in a crowd while Tony stood off to the side, sunnies on, cracking a dry joke with someone.
Even though we were regularly prepping and sorting things on the car, Tony never put any pressure to get the job done. He was easy going and kind and always quick to crack a joke with his super dry wit. Whenever we crewed for Tony he would always go out of his way to make sure everyone was included and felt welcome, a true gent. He was a great guy to work for.
Tony was funny, quiet, considerate, always calm and collected and he will be sorely missed by the Automotion family.
By Jason Patullo. Photos by Bride Moran and Hugh Goodfellow.
This year we have been experiencing some very unseasonal wet weather here in “Sunny Queensland” and this sprint weekend was no exception. We are becoming accustomed to sprinting in the wet. Even as I write this article its bloody raining. Despite this there was a great Lotus Club Qld turnout as we have come to expect with over 20 competitors, most driving Lotus, Mike’s Caterham, the Team Philip MX5 and the Row Racing Dominator.
Friday afternoon practice started off dry, this gave everyone the opportunity to test any changes they had made to their car after the last round, remembering the last round was wet, wet, wet, and resulted in the massive flood event of 2022. After 10 plus years of flogging his little K Series Elise around Morgan Park, Rob Stevens had his brand new, (only 1000km on the clock) FINAL EDITION Elise out on track for the first time. It definitely put a massive smile on his face. Practice was interrupted around 3:30pm by rain and most packed it up and went back to the Pit Stop Lodge for Friday arvo beverages and snacks.
As a result of the overnight rain the slicks stayed in their covers on Saturday morning. Thick cloud cover and no wind delayed the track drying out until around mid-morning. As the dry line started to form, we thought we were in for a chance to have some fun and set some quick times, but as luck would have it, after no rain for most of the morning the rain started to fall just as we were to pull out for our first run. It was a mixed bag for most of Saturday, you just had to be lucky to get a dry run in which, unfortunately for the Lotus crew, were few and far between.
The wet track proved difficult for some more than others, with one yellow Elise, (driven by yours truly) rotating onto the main straight and finding a home on the inside of the track for the remainder of the run. How fortunate we are that Mike and Maggie Goodfellow’s son Hugh was right there to capture the moment with a great sequence of photos.
Sunday rolled around and early on the track conditions were somewhat the same with heavy rain falling overnight. Fortunately, the wind started to pick up and on occasion we were blessed with the sun peeking through the thick cloud cover. For the first time all weekend the track started to dry out properly which gave everyone the opportunity to start posting some quick times. On the last couple of runs the two Lotus groups were consolidated which now had our group at eleven cars on track. This made it very exciting for some of the guys who took off last who were lapped by some of the quicker cars at the front making it great viewing for the spectators as well.
Sadly, on Sunday morning during one of the last runs of the event the Team Row Racing Dominator suffered a catastrophic engine failure and subsequently caught fire. The car was being driven at the time by the team’s number one driver Bride Moran. Her quick thinking prevented any injuries to herself and other competitors but unfortunately (or fortunately, depends which way you look at it), Andrew and Bride have a big restoration project ahead of them.
Despite the BBQ, a fantastic weekend was had by all. The results of the weekend saw 7 Lotus in the top ten with Geoff Noble again taking out P1. The class results were:
By Gideon Street. Photos by Gideon Street and Des Hill.
A few months ago a post went up: Bathurst 2022… some time in May.
“Hey babe,” I said to herself.
“You know my birthday’s in May right?”
“Yeah why?”
“I’ll sort out my own present out this year.” 😊
Get the car transported down, $2k you say, nah she’ll be right I’ll sort something. What’s that Des, there’s a trailer in Mackay for sale you say, well now there’s a bargain and quite serendipitous as I’ll only be 6 hours from there in a couple of weeks.
Drag that puppy down the highway, spend time with a wire wheel and a rattle can and all good, just don’t look too close.
Day before I leave, hey self, yes? put the trailer back together! Oh yeah right, that can’t be too hard, it’s just a trailer.
Sorted, easy as, only took 5 times longer because everything is wet and the shed floor just got painted and needs another couple of days to cure so this needs to be done outside in what feels like a monsoon. It’s always good to have at least 6 unfinished projects on the go I find.
Test fit the car? Nah the trailer was put together back to spec, even rang a couple people to find out what that spec was, including the rather nice man who built it, should be good.
Day of leaving, right so car doesn’t fit with the stone deflector in place, righto, hope the PPF holds up.
Change the schedule to a couple of 6-8 hour drive days and off we go. Few hours later, a quick call home, Hey babe. Yeah? Roads west of Toowoomba are closed due to flooding, can you jump on the gargler, jazz hand that sucker and see if you can get me through somewhere? Answer: You willing to drive through national forest? Mmm
Drive back to Brissie and down the M1 we go, 8 hours driving and I’m in Ballina, a few hours south of where I started. Time for a kip.
Midnight someone decides to reverse a truck in the carpark for what feels like an hour, then once parked, the world’s funniest joke was told which took about 2 six packs.
Half five, someone’s V8 was called in to provide a smokescreen for Ukraine artillery, so rather than risk getting caught in the cross fire I decided to get back on the road. Lets get to Coffs for a coffee, that should perk things up a bit.
What I was told should be a 9 hour drive, ye old GPS turned into 13 odd hours. By the way, Old Bells Line of Road in the Blue Mountains is magnificent. A great road that one should investigate, preferably when not towing said car that would be used to enjoy the aforementioned.
The welcome dinner (trust me I’m getting there). Lots of food, some beverages whilst we listen to some Lotus higher ups talk about Business tragedy and alignment with the 3 core values derived in 1980 or something. Old mate Darryl, stole from under my nose a rather lack lustre looking steak and replaced it with some lawn clippings on a coles chook. Apparently, the steak was horrible so I was all the better for never having tasted it.
Thanks to Google I missed scrutineering Monday, so up early to get that sorted and sign some forms about paying attention to something or other. Then another old mate telling us about not doing things and something about flags. He was quite insistent about flags, maybe he just had a semaphore class and wanted to pass on his knowledge, who knows, you have to admire people with a passion.
Roo’s, echidnas, some recipe with MSG and a bit more talking about 3 things that were repeated quite often and were very important. Dunno, cracking good coffee for a pit side coffee shop.
Then some people went out to drive fast, then some other people went out to drive faster, then I was supposed to go out and drive faster than some but not as fast as others. No problem, I haven’t been out on track with this green thing yet, I have zero desire to bend it, I’m a bit rusty, and still a bit tired. Start slow and build up was mentioned somewhere in between MSG and flags, so let’s do that.
Someone decided that the Redfern council way of life is the way things should be on this mountain. Half to 1 metre of grass, then solid concrete walls, routinely interspersed with going very sharply upwards or very sharply downwards, whilst also failing to continue in a straight line. There’s a storm drain in the middle which is apparently quite attractive but should be considered off limits. Oh, and there’s a very pretty view of some town that you’ll never have a chance to look at because there’s an awful lot of concrete walls about.
That was the top of the track, the bottom part consists of a few long straight bits, with a bit of a kink followed by a lot more of a kink. With the various kink bits being traversable at quite a rapid pace, if one were of some intestinal fortitude.
I started with not a lot of intestinal fortitude and built up a modicum of such across the day. Not as much as Des or Evan in their respective blue and yellow machinery but I ended the day having achieved my goal of learning more about how the green thing works and not bending anything. Big win in my book.
Changing pace from waxing lyrical, a lap to honour Tony was undertaken just after lunch. It consisted of 106 Lotus cars, led by Darryl, trying to stay in pairs for a slow lap, I hope it was seen as the lap of honour that it was intended to be! Watching some videos after the fact the emotion of the time was evident and everyone was proud to be involved, I know I was in my own small way. Being there this wasn’t a chore or something to do, everyone knew that what we do has its risks but we do it anyway, the highs are high, but the lows unfortunately in this instance are very low indeed. I won’t stop doing this because there’s nothing like it, and I’m fairly sure I’m not alone.
My greatest joy of the day was chasing, and being chased by, a near exact green thing (although one who decided carbon was a better roofing material than me, thanks Chris), listening to his exhaust note follow mine up or down in timber as we entered and exited the various straights and corners and laying waste to the egos of any who dared challenge us for precedence into and out of our corners, for those brief few moments we were in our prime. That may sound a bit over the top but this is truly a track that demands respect and conquering even a small part of it is worthy of celebration.
By my own admission I am not the greatest operator of combustion powered motor vehicles, but by golly gosh what an experience. It’s one I want to repeat because of and in spite of the problems that I encountered as at the end of the day we were all just there to have fun. 6.2 Kilometres of bitumen straddling a mountain provides an awful lot of opportunity to have fun, with a very sombre reminder that sometimes having fun has consequences but in my estimation worth it never the less. Would my no racing friends agree, I’m not sure, but I think you reading this probably do.
It’s the journey, it’s the learning, and more importantly it’s the people along the way. It’s my privilege to say that I value meeting all of you. Vale Tony.
