Lotus Club Queensland
Dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of the Lotus experience
Login
Register
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Membership
    • Member Login
  • Events
    • Calendar
  • Motorsport
    • Lakeside DTC Timed Laps
    • LAKESIDE DTC RESULTS
  • Magazine
  • For Sale
    • Merchandise
    • Classifieds
  • Posts
  • Galleries
  • Directory
    • Suppliers & Parts
    • Advertisers
  • Archives
panorama-hillclimb-banner

Australian Hillclimb Championships

Mt Panorama 2,3 Nov 2019

By Tony Galletly.

It’s been on my bucket list for a while. There isn’t much better than Mt Panorama. I ran the S1 Elan at the 2008 and 2009 FOSC events at Bathurst, but seeing Barry Bates (Lotus 15) and Peter Yeomans in ‘streamline’ cars, I was envious. Once the Lotus Eleven had arrived, I think I was always coming back.

In February, after seeing the Australian Hillclimb Championship announced, I put the Historic log book application to CAMS hoping it would be approved by mid-year. I should have realised it wouldn’t happen that smoothly, but at least it was finally approved two weeks before Bathurst. The new wobbly wheels and Dunlop Racing tyres needed bedding in, so a few GEAR days were needed. But after over 50 years since its last competitive event, it was sorted enough to head south.

The ‘Mountain Straight’ is a 1700m long hillclimb which starts at the hump along mountain straight, and finishes just before Skyline. It is easy to forget just how steep and narrow this part of the circuit is, with such high concrete walls. The kink before the Cutting is completely blind.

The Hillclimb was a smoothly run event by Bathurst Light Car Club. With 145 competitors coming from all over Australia, I was surprised to see I was the only Lotus entered! Although 9 runs were planned, the rain after lunch on Sunday left us with only 8 runs, which was still enough to have some fun. The Blend TV Live Stream was a great addition to the event and had over 150,000 views over the weekend with excellent video quality. Family and friends were much more involved and several competitors commented that they received loads of ‘arm chair’ advice from afar.

For my Lotus Eleven’s first competitive event in Australia, it ran very well. There will always be room for improvement, and even slight clutch slip after the Cutting didn’t diminish from the enjoyment. With the other competitors in the ‘Historic Other’ class being much more modern, I hoped to at least come close to the Historic Group L (pre-1961 Historic Racing and Sports Racing Cars) record. In the end, I lowered it by 6.15sec (64.35).
2019 Hillclimb Champion was Malcolm Oastler (34.88), close runner up, Dean Amos (34.90), with Dean Tighe 3rd (37.92) and their performances were simply amazing to watch. Other outstanding performances included a Westfield Megabusa (Grp 2A Sports 0-1600cc) driven by Zac Le Lievre (44.81) which was really impressive, as was Stuart Inwood in his Sports Sedan Corvette C5 (44.56).

Outright winner Malcolm Oastler said at the trophy presentation: “Standing start from the hump on Mountain Straight, 300m to the first corner, 240kph, Cutting in 4th, flat in 6th through Sulman Park, all the shifts light on the exit curb, 11000rpm in 6th 245kph/151mph. 34.88 sec. It’s a hell of a ride.”

Can’t wait for next time!

Sunshine Coast Day Run Targa High Country 2019

Related Posts

mp-banner

Events, Gallery 2022, Homepage, Racing

Morgan Park Sprints R4

kevs-banner

EMRs, Gallery 2022, Homepage

Kev’s Big Day Out

duratec-banner

Articles, Homepage, Technical

Duratec Elise – better late than never

Random images

img_1119 151120 Ghostbuster 14-Elise-S1-340R Cootha-Map Greg-and-Tim 17-Tim-John-doing-it-tough MG_6478 9-Coffee-at-the-Bellbird 11.Concours-Woodford-Golf-Club A-lively-lunch P1020846 James CRW_6610_RJ Carsten_in_Excel IMG_6186 IMG_3623 IMG_6809 IMG_6690 IMG_4346 IMG_8885 IMG_7405 gw_Lotuses being let out of the gate IMG_0972 Tony-Jason-Andrew-and-Peters-Lotus-at-lunch-in-Innisfail IMG_3297 From-Targa-to-short-course-daryl The-Black-and-Gold-theme-worked-really-well Scott-Carolyn-and-Craig-Wilson-with-Elisa-Artioli Elisa-takes-the-wheel-S-Messenger Lotus_Only_Track_Day_at_Mount_Panorama_Bathurst_Februar_2018-430 gw-Clive and Liam IMG_6450 gw_Garages of other competitors Spectators Daryl laying down the rules Mt-Cotton-Hillclimb-Sep17-15 elises-4 Colin and Robyn Liam George dismounting Peter Stringfellow main-0 IMG_5099 IMG_7309 IMG_5204 main-18 IMG_9125 Washing-with-the-help-of-the-RFB Mar-main-63 IMG_0323 main-7 13e Lotus-admirer Alloy door handle P1010076 Sep_MS02_7 Stowing_the Jeremy_and_James_Self_portrait P1060105 Cradle_Mountain_Tasmania P1020210 Rob Packing_up IMG_1267e 017_17 P8310110 P1090181 P1090171 Chris_Bev_and_Greg IMG_0932 02c IMG_8097 IMG_5138 IMG_8070 0097 0063 IMG_5194 Assembly at the start photo-14 joe's-morgan-photo-by-alex Line-up-at-Tyalgum_gw Jasons-Caterham Loose-Wires photo-11 Chef Mal with Colin photo bombing_gw 20170923_112907 410-Sport-and-Elise tonys-evora fiat-124 Sam Craig, Mal, Clive & Scott_gw Lancia-Fulvia Luncheon-Feast main-29 awaiting the line Paddy Wagon IMAG5939 IMGP8633 main-55 Shane and the loot

Recent Articles

  • Morgan Park Sprints R4
  • Kev’s Big Day Out
  • Duratec Elise – better late than never
  • Gold Rush Hill Sprint – 2022
  • Marburg Pub Run – 4 Sept 2022
  • Unique +2 Road Trip to Brisbane
  • Leyburn 2022
  • August 2022 DTC

Latest Gallery Images

20220220_093834 20220220_093818 20220220_093827 20220220_093743 20220220_093812 20220220_093730

Search articles by category

Archived articles

Lotus Club Queensland
© Lotus Club Queensland   |   Site by Black Eye Studios