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

IBT1_Markets_in_the_Mountains MG post-run-antics dick-reynolds Joe-keeping-Sally-Matt-entertained Lotii-surrounded-by-Holdens Garry-and-Kelly IMGP3554 triumph-tr5 Bright-sunny-Lotus-lovers Crossing the finish line IMG_8739 IMG_8438 121_2140_IMG 121_2109_IMG lw01pb IMG_4410 image_250 image_137 A King Pauls-hot-lap Mike-Moore-and-Cris-Johansen-S-Messenger IMG_1413 Stephen Foss 2008 Westfield XTR2 - 1 Jack Toohey 1989 Mazda RX7 - 1 George Row 2007 Lotus Elise - 1 vb-Pitstop Lodge Garage The-Grid Artistic img_0941 _MG_9167 as Smart Object-1 MG-8144 IMG-0155 20161106_145815 Garry and Geoff D71_6372_full Martin The finished billy cart P1080268 Clive-getting-some-fishing-tips-from-a-local main-6 main-4 IMG_0280_1 lec_0187 P1060073 IMG_3290 F1000016 img_1096 David_Reid_and_Jonathon_Williamson P1080259 P1080248 Ploughman's Lunch Bambino on steroids Allan IMG_9200 IMG_0363 DSC_5281 main-3 IMG_4332 36_MG_2541 DSC05019 PICT7251 IMG_2607 028_28 P1050423 P8310143 P1010010 IMG_3031 IMG_5149 Mar-main-15 IMG_7399 IMG_5084 IMG_5100 MG_4798 IMG_8069 Liam and Martin IMG20200202084857 _MG_9526 as Smart Object-1 Dick and Daryl main-2 Alan-Bents-Esprit-1 JB-21-2 Michael-Byrne-in-his-S4-Lotus-Seven Colin-Elan 20201220_092441 IMG_1817 DSC_0359 IMG_1479 Only-50-kg-allowed P1020909 Two in a Row Presentations Immaculate 69 GT Falcon Zaid Dick Rob Lunch-at-Pickled-Sisters happy-campers S1-Elise IMAG6012

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