News

Les Mellor Achievement Award Trophy

The Les Mellor Achievement Award Trophy has been found!

By Daryl Wilson

Over the years there have been many people come and go who have contributed to making our Club the success it is today. Many years ago a member by the name of Les Mellor donated a trophy consisting of various engine parts I believe from one of his engine failures. The trophy was called the Achievement Award to be presented to a club member “In recognition of an expensive or difficult re-build or restoration” during that year.

I believe Les’ idea was that the parts should be loose on the trophy backboard, so people could pick them up and speculate on their history and subsequent demise. Whilst this was a nice idea, in reality it meant that it was difficult to maintain all the parts and I suspect that some have been lost over time.

Well I am happy to report that in mid-2017 I received a phone call from a very embarrassed club member (who shall remain nameless) to say he had located Les’ original Achievement Award trophy in a box under a shelf in his office! It appears the trophy has been there for several years and gone completely unnoticed. Does not say a lot for how often he cleans his office! The said un-named member could not remember receiving the trophy and he is not that old, so alzheimers is out of the question!

The last time this Achievement Award trophy was officially presented was in December 2011, to Richard Harris for his beautifully restored Lotus 11. In 2012 we were unable to locate the trophy and it was lost to the Club. It was then decided by the Club Committee to replace Les’ trophy with a new plaque until we were able to locate the original trophy.

In November 2017 when preparing for the 2017 awards, it was difficult to arrange the remaining parts for Les’ Achievement Award trophy. After consulting with several committee members and club members it was decided that for the ease of future recipients, we would fix the engine parts to the backboard.

The main problem was to try to remember how the parts were originally intended to fit. It was also suspected that some parts have been lost over the years, so there was some guess work involved! To complete this task we removed all the existing name plates from the trophy backboard and fastened the remaining engine parts to it.

It was then off to the trophy shop with a list of names to get a new full set of name plates for all the Achievement Award recipients (from 1997 Patrick Mewing, until 2016 Joe Arico). By the time you read this the 2017 recipient will also be known and their name will be affixed to the updated trophy.

Les, if you are reading this or you have been advised by an LCQ member of the changes to the Achievement Award trophy, I hope you are not upset or disappointed with the changes. They are intended to ensure that the trophy will be well received by its new winner each year. The trophy will continue to be an important part of the Club’s history for years to come.

Happy Birthday Lotus Seven

Story and images supplied by John Watson, Lotus Seven Historian.

It was on this day 60 years ago that the world saw the Lotus Seven compete for the first time.

It was on 7th September 1957 at the Brighton Speed Trials on the Madeira Drive seafront at Brighton that Edward Lewis raced Lotus Seven chassis # Mk.7/400 in a time of 29.72 seconds to win the Sports Cars – 1501 to 2500cc. Class.

Since then Lotus Sevens have been seen competing on race circuits, sprints and hills all over the world and continue to do so today.

Happy Birthday Lotus Seven!

Wheel tracks across Mongolia

Peking to Paris in a 1954 Austin Healey 100/4

By Giles Cooper

The Peking to Paris Rally is one of the most iconic motoring events in the world. The first one, in 1907, came from a challenge by the French newspaper, Le Matin, which stated “What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?”

As a result, five cars started on the 10th June 1907, and the 14,994km event was won 60 days later by Italian Prince Scipione Borghese driving a 7 litre Italia. This amazing event is usually considered the first true international motor rally, even though the winner’s prize was only a magnum of champagne.

Resurrected in 1997, the 2019 event will officially be the 7th Peking to Paris, and two Australians, Ashton Roskill and myself, have been fortunate enough to secure an entry, despite it being oversubscribed 2 years before the start. This is the first part of the story of their preparation, and eventual participation in this amazing rally.

First of all, who are Ashton and Giles?

Ashton is a 52-year-old Sydney resident who works full time as a Management Consultant, and has a passion for cars, most of which are Lotus. He has competed in GOME rallies in Europe, raced motorcycles and rallied a Ford Escort. He also has a love for S1 Land Rovers and recently acquired a 1954 Austin-Healey 100/4 with a view to competing in a rally such as the Peking to Paris.

Although he was born in Australia, he grew up in England, only returning to live in Australia in 2003. Since then he has pursued his passion for cars, sprinting his Elise in the Combined Sports Cars Association Series since 2006, and more recently campaigning his Lotus Eleven in Targa High Country and Historic Regularity; he is also the current President of Club Lotus Australia.

I am a 69-year-old retiree, and recent survivor of throat cancer. I was born and educated in England, and emigrated to Melbourne in 1968, where I worked as a teacher. Shortly afterwards I started to work in the oilfields, and spent the next 40 years working and living all over the world, looking for oil. Motor racing has always been in my blood, and wherever possible I’ve competed in everything from karts to radio-controlled cars to Formula Ford. While living in Scotland I purchased my first Lotus in 2002 and attended a Lotus track day at Knockhill. There I met Ashton, who was also looking at shipping his Lotus Elise back to Australia. Since then we have remained friends and are active founding members of Aussie Elises, which caters to most modern Lotus.

Giles at the Alaskan Arctic Circle, 2012

In 2012 I became the first (and so far, only) person ever to drive an Elise to the Alaskan Arctic Circle up the Ice Truckers Highway. I then spent the next 2½ years driving around the world in a Toyota Landcruiser. In late 2016, I was wondering what to do next when Ashton called and invited me to co-drive his Healey in the 2019 P2P. Milliseconds later, Team Healey was agreed, and we set to work. First thing settled was the delegation of work – since Ashton works full time. It was agreed that I would oversee the rebuild, while Ashton would largely finance it – at least until some sponsorship was obtained. This meant moving the car to Queensland.

The car, chassis No. BN1-L/150638, was originally a LHD vehicle that lived some 40 years in California, so it was fortunately never exposed to the evils of English winter salted roads. It then lived in Western Australia where it was converted to RHD, until it was purchased in 2015 by Ashton, and brought to Sydney.

A lot of discussion has been held on how to prepare both ourselves and the car for such an event, but it was not until our entry for the P2P was officially accepted by the ERA in March 2017 that work began in earnest. I trailered the car home to Queensland and then spent April in the UK, making time to visit Austin Healey parts suppliers like AH Spares, Northern Healey Centre and Moss to work out what would be required. After returning home in early May, work started on the car and while I’ll do a lot of the parts sourcing and minor fettling of the car, it was decided to farm out some of major chassis work to Classic Car Centre on the Gold Coast, where Mark Boldry has extensive experience with classic car restoration, especially on Austin Healeys.

New chassis fabrication at Northern Healey Centre

At the moment (May 2017), work is mostly focused on stripping the car down and working out what needs to be replaced or beefed up. The P2P rally is initially across Mongolia and Kazakhstan where there are few if any roads, – rough, rocky and sandy tracks and river crossings are every day occurrences and cars are stressed to the maximum. After that it is north to Moscow on poor quality roads, before dropping back down through Europe where conditions hopefully improve slightly. While the later 3000 Big Healey models had an excellent rallying record in the hands of people like Pat Moss and Rauno Aaltonen in the 1960s, the biggest issue is ground clearance, especially of the exhaust.

We will therefore be copying the factory cars and re-routing the exhaust down the side of the vehicle, instead of underneath it. This entails cutting into the passenger side of the car, shortening the door by some 10 inches, and locating the exhaust along the sill of the car, exiting behind the door. We will also be running high profile light truck tyres to increase ground clearance further – rally tyres are too soft a compound to survive the 14,000km.

Finally, everything on the car, from suspension to bodywork to electrics, must be capable of withstanding incessant pounding from poor roads, as well as water from river crossings and dust from Gobi Desert roads, so all of the suspension is to be rebuilt.

We also have to carry all our own spare parts, be prepared to camp for the first couple of weeks, and carry enough fuel to cover a full day of up to 650km – a challenge indeed. It is going to be an amazing adventure and we hope that you will share it with us as we prepare both the car and ourselves over the next 18 months. Then we tackle the event itself, starting in June 2019.

We have chosen two charities to support while we are doing this – Cancer Research and Beyond Blue, dedicated to helping people with depression, both for very personal reasons. Half of all funds we raise initially will go to these charities and once our costs are partially covered, 100% of any remaining amount raised will go to them.

We can be found on our blog here.

We will shortly have a Facebook site for day to day coverage and support. Welcome aboard Team Healey, for the adventure of a lifetime!

2017 Caterham Seven Sprint

Something Colin Chapman would recognise – and appreciate.

Handling: ★★★★★ Performance: ★★★★☆ Usability: ★★☆☆☆ Feelgood Factor: ★★★★★

By Ben Whitworth – Contributing CAR Magazine UK editor.

In 2017, the venerable Caterham – née Lotus – Seven will turn 60. Always keen to exploit a marketing opportunity, Caterham is marking the anniversary with this, the Seven Sprint. Chiming in with the anniversary, only 60 will be made.

Caterham has successfully recaptured the mood of the Swinging Sixties with the Sprint. The front wings, grey powder-coated chassis, chromed wheelcaps and bubbled rear lamps, wrapped up in a choice of yesteryear hues all sit comfortably together without the slightest whiff of retro cheesiness.

Ditto the cabin. Flip back the cream-trimmed vinyl roof and the delightfully thin Moto-Lita wooden steering wheel, red Muirhead leather dash and seats and chrome braceleted Smiths dials complete with coloured bands, all convincingly transport you back to those good old bad old days.

Does it come with a crank arm for hand starts?

Oh, you’re a card. No, don’t be fooled by the Sprint’s yesteryear camouflage – that heritage styling, chrome-and-leather detailing and bespoke paintwork is underpinned by Caterham’s nifty 160. So, no asthmatic 40bhp 1.2-litre Ford lump under that louvred bonnet, but rather a dinky turbocharged 660cc triple from Suzuki, a five-speed manual gearbox, wishbones up front and a live rear axle.

We’re very familiar with the 160 – we ran one a while back as a long-termer for a year – and dropping down into the Sprint’s plump seat and firing the thrummy three-pot into life brought back a flood of warm memories.

A 660cc engine? Surely it would be quicker to jog?

Suzuki’s K6A may only develop a modest 80bhp at 7000rpm and 79lb ft at 3400rpm but with just 490kg to push around, performance within its 100mph envelope is brisk and perky enough to instantly plaster a grin across your face.

The engine’s eagerness and mid-range zing is complemented by the snickety gearbox – you measure the throw of the chrome-topped gear lever in millimetres – while the wooden rim of the large-diameter wheel overloads your palms with front-wheel chatter.

What’s it like to drive then?

Despite those spacesaver-thin 155/65 R14 Avons, grip and traction levels are excellent. You can slingshot the Sprint through a string of bends at speeds and angles completely at odds with the diminutive deeply-treaded rubber at each corner. Like the 160, the Sprint encourages you to wring it all the time everywhere, and rewards you with an intensely visceral and engaging driving experience.

Despite that live rear axle and firm suspension set-up, the Sprint rides with an impressive compliancy – it’s only over really intrusive and abrupt bumps and lumps that the chassis bucks and moves about. Distilled automotive joy? We wouldn’t disagree.

Verdict

So, the Sprint is a great car to look at, and an even better one to drive – but you pay for the privilege. Even when viewed through the prism of the Sprint’s limited-edition collectability, nigh on £28k is a big chunk of money for a second car/toy/indulgence.

That hasn’t stopped all sixty models being snapped up, though, and there’s a waiting list for cancelled orders. But the news is not all bad if the Sprint features large on your radar – a ready-to-drive Caterham-built 160 is around £8500 cheaper than a Sprint. Using your imagination could save you a lot of money.

Specs

Price when new:	£27,995
On sale in the UK:	Sold out
Engine:	660cc 16v turbocharged 4-cyl petrol, 80bhp @ 7000rpm, 79lb ft @ 3400rpm
Transmission:	Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Performance:	6.5sec 0-62mph, 100mph, 57.6 mpg, 114g/km CO2
Weight / material:	490kg/steel
Dimensions (mm):	3100 length, 1575 width, 1140 height

Where to for Lotus in 2017?

By James Taylor – CAR Magazine UK.

Lotus boss Jean-Marc Gales has shed more light on the Norfolk sports car maker’s future product plans, including the upcoming open-topped Evora Roadster and the crucial new Elise for 2020.

An open-top Evora?

As revealed by CAR Magazine UK in 2014, Lotus plans to make the most of the Evora’s wobble-free structure and make a roadster variant, scheduled for reveal in 2017.

Talking at the launch of the Evora Sport 410 in late October 2016, Gales said: “An Evora Roadster – we will do that. It is so solid structurally. An open version will not add weight. The engineers have a clear target – don’t add weight.”

“How it will look I will leave to your imagination, but it’s a bit more than just opening the roof.”

What else is in store for the Evora?

The Evora Sport 410 has wrung almost every drop of dynamic potential from the Evora coupe for now. That variant goes on sale in the USA in July 2017, with slightly heavier doors and seats than the UK cars, to meet side airbag regulations.

As for further down the performance scale: “We thought about a lower-power version, but people don’t want that,” Gales said. “Customers never say no to extra power. Even if people won’t use it, they want it.”

That said, Lotus says it will continue to pursue gains from reducing weight and aerodynamic lift rather than prioritising power outputs. The raised-up, Stratos-style Evora Crossover previously mooted was canned in 2015.

Lotus 4-Eleven – a less hardcore sibling to the 3-Eleven in 2017?

While this project is yet to be confirmed officially, Gales says: “We’re thinking about a 4-Eleven – it might be a little bit less raw [than the 3-Eleven].”

For ‘thinking’, read ‘working on’, and expect it to surface in the latter part of 2017.

What’s the story on the next Elise for 2020?

Much of Lotus’s development muscle is currently hard at work on the next-generation Elise, scheduled for launch early in 2020.

It will have a new chassis built to meet USA homologation regulations – crucial for future profitability – and will share that structure with the next-generation Exige. While it will move on stylistically from the current car, Gales says it will still be unmistakable as anything other than a Lotus: “You can recognise it at 20m.”

What about the SUV project?

“Work in progress,” Gales says. “We need technical partners, which we are currently looking for. We are building a prototype, for testing at the end of this year [2016]. But for now we are working flat out on the sports cars.”

And what about the current-gen Exige?

Following the recent launch of the lighter, faster Sport 380 variant, “there is nothing more to come from the Exige”, Gales says, although he allows there are still ideas for an increased downforce bodywork package, which may find its way onto a track-only version in the near future.

As late as July 2016, Lotus engineers were still working on aero development ideas ahead of the Sport 380’s November press launch.

“This is the advantage of a small company – it can be agile, and take a decision instantly,” says Gales. And cost effectively too, it seems: “We did this car [the Exige Sport 380] for £1m.”

A new-generation Exige will be developed together with the new Elise.

Is the lukewarm press reception to the Porsche 718’s new four-cylinder boxer engine music to Lotus’s ears?

“We are working very hard on our sound,” Gales says. “We basically sound-engineered the Evora 400 from the start. It is the same with the Exige 380 [which features a new optional titanium exhaust system].”

“We are working on making the Elise 250 sound throatier too. It will get a titanium exhaust in around six months time”, he said, speaking in late October 2016. Without naming any car makers specifically, and perhaps with tongue slightly in cheek, Gales says: “Sound is so important. I don’t know why companies say they prioritise CO2 over sound. None of our customers ask for lower CO2.”

More specifically, he adds: “Some of the new German offerings are missing the steering feel [of hydraulic power steering, which Lotus continues to fit to its cars rather than electrically assisted systems] – some customers say they miss the steering feel, and connection with inputs, and return to Lotus from Porsche.

“Our unique product difference is connection, response – immediacy between input and what you feel on the road is unique to Lotus.”

Gales cites three further specific attributes as being unique and important to the Lotus ethos: lightweight design, its treatment of aerodynamics, and communicative handling.

“We absolutely refuse to make our cars bigger. In fact, we make them lighter.”

Lotus in 2016: in profit at last!

Speaking to CAR Magazine UK at the closely spaced launches of the Evora Sport 410 and Exige Sport 380 in winter 2016, Gales stated that Lotus has been “cashflow positive” from August to the end of November 2016. (Figures for December were unavailable at the time of writing.)

Its entry to the USA with the Lotus Evora 400 in August 2016 has played a key role in making the company operationally profitable.

The Evora 400 is currently the car with the highest profit margin in Lotus’s range, and gaining federal approval for the US is considered ‘the biggest breakthrough’ on that front.

Since the car’s August US launch, Lotus had taken 300 orders as of October 2016, and has been exporting cars at a rate of 50 a month.

That compares with a less rosy 200 orders across the Lotus range as a whole in 2014, and 250 in 2015. By the end of 2016, Lotus has forecast around 700 orders. In 2018 it ideally aims to hit 2400-2500 cars, and in 2020 4000 cars a year is the goal – “the new Elise in the US can do that for us,” Gales says. “We are here to stay. We can afford the development.”

Becoming operationally profitable hasn’t come without hardship, however, with staff redundancies made shortly after Gales took over as CEO. It was a process he describes as “painful”. “We had to sacrifice jobs in order to save 850 jobs [overall, in Lotus’s core workforce]”, he says.

For the first time in some years, Lotus does not plan to attend the Geneva Motor Show in 2017. “We will put the money into the cars,” Gales says.

LCQ member helps Porsche to 2nd title

It’s not often we have an LCQ member in Porsche’s Race Division winning Le Mans and playing “a valuable role in helping Porsche to their second consecutive Manufacturers’ title”.

From an original article by: Speedcafe.com© on Sunday 20th November, 2016.

Audi left the pinnacle of sports car racing with a quinella while Mark Webber retired from racing with a podium finish in the final round of the World Endurance Championship in Bahrain.

Amid a tumultuous finish and an emotion-drenched day, the #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani collected the Driver’s Championship after finishing three laps down in sixth place.

Audi ended its dominant 18-year run in the sport in a manner fitting of their thirteen Le Mans 24-hour wins and two WEC manufacturer crowns. The Six Hour race saw respected Audi team boss Wolfgang Ullrich tearful before and after the chequered flag.

Webber jumped into the #1 919 Hybrid Porsche at the one-hour mark and soon drove it from fourth to third position, where it stayed for the majority of the race.

Porsche set up a fitting farewell for Webber, who now becomes an international ambassador for the German marque, by putting him behind the wheel for the final stint.

The #2 919 Porsche went into the event knowing it had to finish fifth or better to guarantee the drivers’ title, but things came unstuck early when a collision with a slower car punctured the left rear tyre and badly damaged the surrounding bodywork, forcing it into the pits.

Despite the misfortune, the car went on to finish sixth and that was enough to grab Porsche a second consecutive Drivers’ championship and bookend their manufacturers’ title which they clinched in China two weeks ago.

“It has been a fantastic team effort,” said Lieb of the driver’s title.

“It has been up and down, but the reliability has been the key with the hard work in the garage.”

The win was another milestone for Australian engineer Jeromy Moore, who helped Webber’s team to the driver’s championship last year and the #2 Porsche to a Le Mans 24-hour victory in June.

Moore, who learnt his craft through more 10 years with Triple Eight Race Engineering’s V8 Supercar team in Brisbane, also played a valuable role in helping Porsche to their second consecutive Manufacturers’ title.

The #6 Toyota of Mike Conway, Stephane Sarrazin and Kamui Kobayashi needed to win the race to give themselves a shot at the drivers’ title, but they were never in the hunt and came in fifth.

Speedcafe interviews with Jeromy Moore:

Sky is the limit for engineer Jeromy Moore

Q&A: Porsche LMP1 engineer Jeromy Moore

RESULT: Bahrain 6 Hour

Run

Audi Sport Team Joest

DI GRASSI Lucas

Audi R18

201

1:47.413

1:41.511

191.9

Run

Audi Sport Team Joest

FÄSSLER Marcel

Audi R18

201

16.419

1:44.550

1:42.634

189.8

Run

Porsche Team

WEBBER Mark

Porsche 919 Hybrid

201

1:17.001

1:45.120

1:42.401

190.3

DTC Lakeside – Sat 27 August

Entry Details – LCQ Lakeside Driver Training Centre Timed Laps.

The Lotus Club Queensland Lakeside Driver Training Centre Timed Laps event is on again on Saturday 27th August 2016 at Lakeside Raceway Driver Training Centre Lakeside Road, Kurwongbah Qld.

This event will be run under Recreation and Competitive Events Resources and Services RACERS Licence arrangements and is open to all LCQ Members, their family and friends. The format is a single car run for a timed lap, and the aim is to have a great day in a safe, controlled environment. The Lakeside Driver Training Centre is at the rear of Lakeside Raceway main track and has a combination of layouts. It is a bitumen track with fairly flat, open grass, safe run-off areas in most parts. See the course map below.

Entries close Thursday 25th August 2016. Total entries will be restricted to 60.

This will be an all-day event starting at 7.00am for registration and scrutineering. Please arrive early as scrutineering can take time. Please click here for QR Entry Form and here for a RACERS Licence Application Form for more details. Please email the “FRONT PAGE ONLY” of your Entry Form to Daryl Wilson at wilmac@bigpond.com by Friday 26th August 2016, so we can record your entry.

Entry Fee & Payment Details

$75.00 Entry fee per driver – if you have a RACERS Annual Clubman Licence.
or
$95.00 Entry Fee per driver – if you need to purchase a RACERS Day Licence ($20.00).

Please forward your payment by bank transfer to:
LCQ Bank Account BSB 633-000
Account No: 119108751
and include the reference “DTC and your name”.

Note: You must register and pay beforehand, as NO entries will be accepted on the day. Payment must be made by Thursday 25th August 2016 to the Lotus Club Qld bank account. No Credit Card payments or money is to be paid to Queensland Raceways.

If your vehicle is Queensland registered you will be required to obtain a Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance Rally Extension letter from you CTP Insurer. The CTP letter is to state the name and date of the event and be produced at registration on the day. Here is a sample letter. If your Third Party (CTP) insurer is Suncorp Ltd, Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd or AAMI Ltd you can apply on-line using this email address.

Please ensure you bring the following signed original forms on the day:

Your signed original Entry Form
Your RACERS Annual Clubman Licence – if applicable
A signed RACERS Day Licence Application Form – if applicable
Your CTP Rally Extension Letter
Your Civil Drivers Licence
Your Car Club Membership Card – if applicable

These forms will be required by Lakeside staff when you register. Please register early to assist us get off to a good start on the day. Electronic copy letters are not accepted. No hard copy forms/letter, no start.

Event Requirements

CAMS/AS approved helmet in good condition must be presented at scrutineering and must be worn while competing. A full face helmet visor is required if you are driving an open car.
Neck to ankles and wrists clothes and closed footwear is required. Fire suits are not required but their use is encouraged.
Seat belts must be in good order. Standard fitted lap-sash belts are accepted. Noise restrictions apply at Lakeside – 95db.
Dorian transmitters are not needed for this event.
Fire extinguishers are not required but fitting of them is encouraged.
Entry closing, credits/refunds, and vehicle retrieval/transfer details on the QR “Conditions of Entry” forms are NOT APPLICABLE to this event.

Any queries please contact Daryl Wilson
Mobile: 0418 711 227 | Email

Is this coachbuilt Caterham the ultimate reborn classic?

Swedish consultancy reveals its vision for a 21st Century version of the Caterham Seven.

Story: Classic Driver Photos: Bo Zolland Design AG.

Since Caterham bought the rights and tooling to produce its own version of the Lotus Seven in the early 1970s, it has created numerous versions of the back-to-basics roadster – from the entry-level 160 up to the outrageous 620 R.

However, despite these updates, the basic bodywork has remained largely unchanged since Colin Chapman sired the original lightweight roadster almost 50 years ago. It seems the Swedish stylists at Bo Zolland Design AG have taken exception to this, releasing renderings of their vision of an aesthetically updated model: the Indy Seven Roadster, which employs its own classic theme by taking inspiration from 1960s Indy cars. The final design has then been rendered in a variety of liveries, each of which is augmented by an appropriate design for the wheels.

Style over safety

The concept remains a theoretical 3D digital model for now – but on visual merit alone, we think it’s right up there with other reborn classics such as the Eagle E-type and Touring Disco Volante. The spaceframe composition of the Seven’s chassis would surely tempt an experienced coachbuilder to re-clothe one in Zolland’s striking style – possibly in time for the original Seven’s 50th anniversary, too. Just watch where you rest your left elbow.

Mt Cotton Hillclimb – Jan 2016

By Shane Murphy, pictures by Dick Reynolds, Shane & Jenny Murphy.

With the Christmas New year period behind us and all the family duties out of the way it was time to turn our attention back to the “Main Game”.

This year promises to be a full of social and competition events and the Mt Cotton Tune and Test day seemed like a logical move to get some track time in before the season proper starts.

The last weekend of January loomed and so did Brisbane’s sometimes crazy weather, and despite the now standard prediction that the we are about to be blown and washed away, over 40 cars of all makes and sizes lined up for the afternoon.

Lotus Club Queensland was well represented by Dick Reynolds, Shane Murphy, Zaid Latif, Jon Young and Daryl Wilson. It was good to see new club member Zaid take the start line in his 2005 Exige S2.

Mal Kelson and Jason McGarry were last minute non-starters; citing heat, humidity and rain as potential problems.

The whole pits sweltered under the sun awaiting the drivers briefing and kick off, whilst the humidity grew and the storm clouds intensified, all eyes were on the sky.

Jenny Murphy was charged with recording our times, and apart from one of two lapses of concentration diligently sat in the shade taking notes and offering a range of advice on split times and general driving standards.

The whole field got in a run, then the rain arrived, luckily we all survived run two in wet, apart from Jon who, most sensibility sat the storm out, times were about 5 seconds a lap slower.

Pretty quickly the rain passed, however the heat started to take a toll on the drivers, except of course for the Exige drivers amongst us (no names no pack drill) who just cranked up the air conditioning and powered through it, a pretty normal affair for those with roofs.

By mid-afternoon the heat had taken its toll on Daryl, who retired gracefully, however overall we managed six runs and lost 4 litres each of sweat.

For reasons of complete discretion we will not discuss in detail the amenities block incident, it was quickly put behind us in the spirit of team camaraderie.

Times tumbled; in between runs Jon and Dick experimented with tyre pressures and shock settings seeking a tenth here and a tenth there.

In the final wash-up the whole team was happy with their times.

As usual we had a great day with plenty of laughs, a cold beer at home that night finished of the weekend nicely.

Christmas Barefoot Bowls

This year our Christmas bash will be another Barefoot Bowls Free-for-all!

Sunday 29th November 2015

Christmas BBQ and Barefoot Bowls – book your spot now!

Following last year’s very successful Christmas BBQ and Barefoot Bowls at this venue it has been decided to repeat this child friendly event where all members can participate.

The event will be partially funded by the club thanks to the financial success of the DTC’s, we will be barefoot bowling from 4.00pm in the afternoon and evening.

We’ll have access to the bar and greens from 4:00pm with the BBQ commencing around 6:00pm. Members will be welcome to stay on ’til as late as their driver’s licence allows.

Toowong Bowls Club is only 4km out of the city and has plenty of Lotus-friendly parking.

The club will fund the venue hire and food for each member and their immediate family (partner & children).
Each member will be required to pay for their own drinks at the bar. Visitors will be welcome, however there will be a charge of $45.00 per head for each visitor.

Where:	Toowong Lawn Bowls Club, 59 Gailey Road, Toowong
Time:	4:00pm for a 4:30pm start
Date:	Sunday, 29th November 2015
Dress:	Smart Casual

Food:
• Finger Food (Vegetable Crudities, Turkish Crostini, Salt & Pepper Calamari) from 4:30pm
• BBQ & Salads (Steak, Sausages, Grilled Chicken, Potato Salad, Garden Salad, Pavlova) from 6:00pm.
All the BBQ’ing will be done by the Toowong Bowls Club Chef.

RSVP: 5:00pm Sunday 22nd November 2015

For more details contact:
Daryl Wilson: 0418 711 227

Noosa Hillclimb July 2015

Fourteen torturous corners

By Dick Reynolds

The word went out about 2 months ago. ‘The Hill’ awaits in July – 25th and 26th to be exact. Fourteen torturous corners winding their way up Gyandier Drive just out of Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast.

This place is legendary for providing exciting drives and eating cars. We never seem to get many takers for the event from Lotus – ‘pussies’ I suspect. Well, not Jon Young and yours truly – because we love it, and so does Jason McGarry when he’s available. This year we were joined by Pat Richards (Lotus Elise Type R) from Mackay and a couple of his mates, Peter Quinn (Austin Healey Sprite) and Rob Manning (Mini). I should also mention the rowdy turbo rabble from the Sunshine Coast Motorsport Club were there in abundance.

Put up the tents, checked the car over, did all the paperwork, got ‘scruted’, listened to the drivers’ briefing – no mention of the latest CPR or fire emergency practices – walked back to the cars and waited for our call.

Jon was Number 12 and I was 17. So we both wheeled down to the start together to line up. Get a green light, nudge nudge, wink wink from the starter and it’s clutch out, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd before the first right hander – about 90km/h – then left at 2, right at 3, left at 4 and mass panic for 5. Six is flat so about 120 and a bit, then the worst corner – 7. Tightens, off camber exit, and presents concrete blocks, a tree and a few all too tiny tyres just out of the exit. Left and right full throttle through 8 and 9 and on to the hairpin 10 to thrill the crowd with a bit of opposite lock or whatever takes your fancy.

11, 12 and 13 are almost full throttle esses, encased, enfolded or threatened by umpteen concrete blocks, followed by 14, which significantly has the finish line half way ‘round it. Significantly ‘cos that’s where you’ll come off second best – usually! Problem is if you come in too fast, you kiss the barriers and if you realise you are too fast and back off, you kiss the barriers. I’m talking crash, not pash type kissing! Think we had 3 or four hit the wall on Sunday.

Having driven all that; you get the biggest thrill in Queensland motorsport – in my opinion, of course. Back off, ‘U-turn’ in behind the other competitors waiting up the top and breathe that sigh of relief, feel the tingly fingers and cross yourself – safe at the top once again!

We did 8 runs for the weekend, with Jon sorting the car on Saturday, and punting it Sunday for a 71.56 – top 100 placing at number 99. I had the car sorted, so got straight into it, battling Antoinette Redhead for most of the weekend in her lovely MGB, and came out 28th with a 64.30.

The others mentioned earlier: Elise 52nd, with 67.16, Austin Healey 125th with 77.35 and the Mini 106th with a 72.87.

Just for the record, Michael von Rappard (I hope his mum knows he’s out) cleaned up with a 52.44 in the Dallara F392. Michael Heerings of DTC fame 13th with a 61.66, and Glen Hooper with the AWD Riot (seen lurking at the DTC) 7th with a 59.96.

All told, a great weekend of motorsport, with Jon taking 3rd place in Sports Cars 0 to 1600cc, Pat taking 3rd place in Sports Cars 1601 to 2000cc and myself bagging 1st in the same class.

Packed the cars, collected our trophies, filled up with fuel and convoyed back to Brisbane.

Magic!

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Meeting at HM Gem

Lotus Club July Meeting at HM Gem Engines Acacia Ridge. Tuesday 7th July 2015

HM Gem describe themselves as the industry leader in supplying fully reconditioned cylinder heads to the Australian automotive industry, offering services such as block machining, crank and cam shaft grinding as well as cylinder head servicing.

Thanks to Luke Gray at Goodyear Tyre and Auto, The Lotus Club of Queensland was invited to tour the HM Gem facility at Acacia Ridge. Home to a full range of state-of-the-art reconditioning machinery including one of the largest surface grinding machines in Australia, HM Gem offered the time of one of their senior technicians, Brad Zurek, to take us through their facility and explain the process of engine and engine component reconditioning.

We met at Goodyear Tyre and Auto Acacia Ridge on the corner of Bradman Drive and Beaudesert Road from 6.30pm where Luke addressed the club, before moving down to HM Gem at around 7.00pm. Attendees were welcome at the Goodyear workshop from 5.00pm where Luke was happy for limited numbers of us to make use of the hoist or other facilities.

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