Racing

DTC Personal Bests

Lakeside Driver Training Centre Timed Lap events – Sept 2011 – Oct 2019

by Daryl Wilson.

For the eagle-eyed people who may have noticed that the Overall Personal Best Time table was missed out of the DTC article in the December magazine see below.

Hopefully a few of the LCQ Morgan Park guys may be tempted to enter in the 2020 DTC events and have a crack at trying to beat Paul Stokell’s Lap record!

Driver	Make	PB
Overall Personal Bests – September 2011 to October 2019
Paul Stokell	2014 Lotus Exige	44.856
Graham Sorenson	1979 78 Cooper Special	45.050
Stephen Foss	2008 Westfield XTR2	45.098
Geoff Noble	2004 Lotus Elise HPE	45.143
Matthew Plowman	2010 Lotus Exige	45.334
Evan Molloy	2001 Lotus Exige S1	45.513
Garry Pitt	2002 Lotus Elise HPE	45.616
Phil Hart	1999 Porsche GT3	46.037
Liam Philp	Mazda/Caterham	46.264
Jason McGarry	1989 Caterham Super 7	46.306
Lindsay Close	2007 Lotus Exige S	46.346
Martin O’Brien	2013 Lotus Elise S	46.423
Dick Reynolds	1988 Caterham Super 7	46.509
Michael Blessas	2011 Lotus Elise	46.744
Andrew Row	2005 Lotus Exige	47.085
Ken Philp	Europa/Caterham	47.127
Jon Young	1989 Caterham Super 7	47.165
Daryl Wilson	1998 Caterham Super 7	47.297
Joe Arico	2002 Lotus Elise	47.524
Clive Wade	1997 Lotus Elise	47.876
Mal Gray	2002 Lotus Elise	48.030
Shane Murphy	1968 Lotus Super 7	48.289
Sam Murphy	2008 Lotus Exige	48.765
Cris Johansen	2000 Lotus Elise HPE	49.099
James Driscoll	1976 Jaguar D-Type Replica	49.167
Sion Bowen	2017 Lotus Elise	49.457
Pat Richards	2004 Lotus Elise HPE	49.643
Stephen Blackie	2010 Lotus Elise CR	49.748
Malcolm Kelson	1998 Lotus Elise	49.869
Steve Lennox	2008 Lotus Europa S	50.564
Mathew Croaker	2008 Lotus Elise S	51.668
George Row	2004 Lotus Elise	51.861
Juan Renato Laporta	2013 Lotus Elise	52.552
Mike Driscoll	1976 Jaguar D-Type Replica	55.088

Graham Sorenson on the second step. Not bad for a bloke who is nearly 80.

Steve Foss has slipped from the top, but still a very respectable third spot.

Lotus at the 2019 Australian GP

Early last year I was invited to exhibit my Flintstone Lotus 23B in a display of forty historic race cars at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Story by Peter Boel, Photos Ron Wilkin.

The participation included a ticket to the entire event for myself and 2 helpers. Also included was the offer of a drive on the GP circuit on the Sunday morning of the event.

I’d not been to the AGP for some years so it seemed the perfect opportunity to give the event another look. My friend Ron, a fellow racer from NZ, was keen to be one of my ‘helpers’ and his son who lives in Australia was going to join us. It’s a long drive from Brisbane to Melbourne and back, particularly towing my ‘toyhauler’, so an extra driver would make the journey a lot more comfortable. The annual Historic Race Meeting at Phillip Island is the weekend before the AGP and the event always has a large entry of fabulous race cars. So also entering this event made good sense given the long drive.

We chose to go south to Phillip Island via the Newel Highway with one overnight stop on the way. Despite some really terrible sections, the highway is generally quite a good drive but even so it was a hard slog with a big trailer on the back. The last time I’d taken this route was years ago on the way to the Australian Lotus Clubs get together in Adelaide. My memory of that drive was of cold frosty mornings and lush green countryside. This time it was really hot and the countryside for the entire trip was brown and barren. The drought had certainly taken a grip of the outback.

We arrived at Phillip Island Wednesday afternoon with practice planned for Thursday and the three day event starting with qualifying Friday morning. Typically, we weren’t allowed into the track on the Wednesday to unload so it was bedlam at the entry to the tunnel into the track on the Thursday morning and a mad scramble to get ready for the first practice session. However, once we got out on to the track it was a joy to drive on – fast and flowing – just the way I like it.

PI isn’t the top of my list of favourite tracks but it’s not too far down. The Group M and O race field had 33 entrants and I was generally running 8th or 9th in the races with a best time of 1m 40s – pretty happy with that.

Sadly I fell foul of the race officialdom. The red flag came out in the second lap of race 3 and the car in front of me jumped on the brakes leaving me no option but to pull out from close behind and just overtake him. Jumping on the brakes as well was certainly not an option. I immediately slowed down, in turn passed by the car I’d overtaken. However, the deed was done and I was summoned to face the CAMS marshals who fined me $200 and excluded me from the next race. The exclusion from a race effectively cost me another several hundred dollars when valuing track time against cost of participation. In what other amateur sport are you penalised many hundreds of dollars by a punitive officialdom for making a mistake? Not happy! Certainly won’t be going back to any Victorian events in the future. Their officials are mean.

So on to the AGP. The forty historic race cars were grouped on a grassy area just behind the grandstands fronting the main straight. We took it in turns to man the display giving each of us plenty of time to view the action from different parts of the circuit.

Albert Park isn’t really the greatest place to view the F1 spectacle but you get a great sense of the speed of these cars at points where you can get really close to the track. We ended up watching the race on a giant screen set up not far from our display area. Probably had a better view of the race from there while downing a few beers.

Originally the Sunday track outing to show off our cars was to be a gentle drive at under 100kmh behind a pace car with no overtaking. However, at the Sunday briefing we were told we could overtake but only on the straights. When we did get out on the track the pace car disappeared in a cloud of dust and was not seen again leaving us free to circulate the track as we liked at what was described later as a spirited display. I certainly made terminal speed in top at a few locations. The circuit is not the most exciting track I’ve driven on, but I was most surprised at how dirty and bumpy it was. I thought the F1 brigade expected better. Overall the historic display was a great success with thousands of enthusiasts coming by to talk to us about our cars.

We returned to Brisbane via the Hume and Pacific Highways, stopping overnight at my favourite Motto Farm motel in Raymond Terrace. Their free breakfast is hard to beat.

The historic display will happen again at this year’s AGP but without me. Been there done that.

[Show slideshow]

Lakeside DTC – 20 Oct 2019

The Winner of the Day – Paul Stokell

By Des Hill.

Well, as a first timer to the event I was unaware of how much fun you can have in 50 seconds. I prepped the car, got up at the crack of dawn to make the journey from the Gold Coast to what seemed to be far north QLD to arrive on the north side of Brisbane bright and early to start my day of unknown excitement.

The field was looking good, we had a strong turnout of around 27 flying the Lotus/Caterham badge along with a good mix of others making up just under 40 competitors.

You know the competitions going to be fierce when they start stripping their road tyres off and fitting slicks. Then the big gun casually turns up, with more trophies than he can count, Paul Stokell swaggers on in to join the fun of the day. The regulars to the DTC are definitely worried now.

Timing tent was ready, track was ready and after a quick driver briefing by Daryl we were in our cars and lining up. All was ready.

So it was my turn, cars warmed up, I’m sitting at the start light and the light goes GREEN… Off I go up the hill like a squirrel chasing a runaway acorn, round the top curve and back down the hill, into Europa corner where I realise cold tyres on a cold track can be a wild combination. Now a couple of tight lefts before the Lungren Round, breath in as we dodge the water on entry and around we go, back up the rise to Wilson Spin, very appropriate name. Now onto the Elanesses where I got a chance to see the track through my passenger window on turn 7, woops and then onto the finish.

What an absolute rush.

A big thank you to everyone who participated and congratulations to Paul Stokell in his Exige winning with a blistering time of 44.85 followed by Graham in his 78 Cooper Special, then Evan, Gideon and Lindsay also in Lotus Exiges making our top 5 positions.

The last Lakeside Raceway Driver Training Centre Timed Lap event is run and done for the year and we have a new Lap Record for the LCQ traditional DTC course.

By Daryl Wilson.

Paul Stokell decided to enter for a shakedown run with his 2014 Lotus Exige v6 prior to the Targa High Country in Victoria. After a couple of sighting laps Paul put in a scorching 44.856 seconds.

As far as I can remember that is the first time anyone has been under 45 seconds for the DTC Timed Lap, so the gauntlet is well and truly set now for anyone to wants to try to beat Paul’s time!

The competition was quite strong with Graham Sorenson in his 1979 Cooper Special less than 0.19 of a second behind Paul and Evan Molloy in his 2001 Lotus Exige HPE another 0.463 of a second further back.

The day was predominately a Lotus Only day with 40 starters of whom 34 were Lotus Club Queensland members and 6 other regular competitors from other local car clubs.

We had five (5) runs of the usual LCQ course in the morning, then changed things up in the afternoon and ran the longer Sunshine Coast Motorsport Club designed circuit for a further 4 runs, being a total of 9 runs for the day.

Paul Stokell headed home at lunch time so it left Evan Molloy and Graham Sorenson to fight it out for glory on the long track with Evan pipping Graham by 0.527 of a second.

New member Gideon Street in only his second drive at the DTC put in a very creditable performance to finish just behind Evan and Graham on each of course and should be well pleased with his effort on the day.

Another highlight of the day was Aston Greensill long time co-pilot of his dad Wade Greensill having his first drive in Wade’s 1994 Lotus Elan M2 at the DTC. Aston has been to club events with his dad almost since he could walk and it was great to see the smile on his face after each run.

Well done to everyone for another successful day and end to a successful year, see you in 2020 for another exciting year at the Lakeside Raceway Driver Training Centre Timed Laps events.

See lists of full results for Sunday 20 October and the Overall Personal Best results since September 2011. below.

Results Lakeside DTC – Course 1 – Sunday 20 October 2019

Car	Driver	Make	Best
27	Paul Stokell	2014 Lotus Exige	44.856
18	Graham Sorenson	1979 78 Cooper Special	45.050
33	Evan Molloy	2001 Lotus Exige HPE	45.513
2	Gideon Street	2013 Lotus Exige	46.880
11	Lindsay Close	2007 Lotus Exige S	47.108
25	Phil Hart	2012 Lotus Elise	47.425
14	Euan McGarry	2014 Caterham Super 7	47.475
7	Dick Reynolds	1988 Caterham Super 7	47.963
12	Andrew Row	2005 Lotus Exige	48.086
3	Jason McGarry	2017 Lotus Exige	48.288
9	Jon Young	1988 Caterham Super 7	48.475
8	Shane Murphy	1968 Lotus Super 7	48.710
38	Michael Sorrell	2016 Ford Focus RS	48.776
23	Sion Bowen	2017 Lotus Elise	49.457
13	Michael Blessas	2012 Lotus Elise	49.577
19	Daryl Wilson	1998 Caterham Super 7	49.615
4	Pat Richards	2004 Lotus Elise	49.643
6	David Robertson	2013 Subaru BRZ	49.850
35	Clive Wade	1997 Lotus Elise HPE	49.856
1	James Driscoll	1976 Jaguar D-Type Replica	50.320
26	Des Hill	2006 Lotus Exige S	50.344
36	Freddy Grande	2018 Mazda MX5 RF LE	50.395
28	Peter Cox	1990 Mazda MX5	50.576
29	Joshua Luckel	2008 Mazda 2	50.904
22	Cris Johansen	2000 Lotus Elise HPE	51.575
16	George Row	2005 Lotus Elise	51.861
21	Steve Lennox	2008 Lotus Europa	51.966
40	David Yule	2013 Lotus Elise S	52.003
15	Steve Blackie	2010 Lotus Elise CR	52.126
39	Robin Smyth	1971 Ford Escort	53.163
37	Abigael Engelbert	2018 Mazda RX8	53.983
31	Phillip Brook	2015 Lotus Evora	54.007
32	Alex Molocznyk	2013 Lotus Elise S1	54.514
30	Steve Foss	2019 Kia Picanto GT	54.659
5	Wade Greensill	1994 Lotus Elan M2	56.186
24	David Croaker	2006 Lotus Exige	58.787
17	Matthew Foss	2019 Kia Picanto GT	59.581
20	Aston Greensill	1994 Lotus Elan M2	60.536

Results Lakeside DTC – Course 2 – Sunday 20 October 2019

Car	Driver	Make	Best
33	Evan Molloy	2001 Lotus Exige	54.333
18	Graham Sorenson	1979 78 Cooper Special	54.860
2	Gideon Street	2013 Lotus Exige	55.271
11	Lindsay Close	2007 Lotus Exige S	55.897
25	Phil Hart	2012 Lotus Elise	56.225
3	Jason McGarry	2017 Lotus Exige	56.423
12	Andrew Row	2005 Lotus Exige	56.881
38	Michael Sorrell	2016 Ford Focus RS	56.902
14	Euan McGarry	2014 Caterham Super 7	56.979
7	Dick Reynolds	1988 Caterham Super 7	57.200
9	Jon Young	1988 Caterham Super 7	58.446
4	Pat Richards	2004 Lotus Elise	58.818
8	Shane Murphy	1968 Lotus Super 7	59.123
6	David Robertson	2013 Subaru BRZ	59.489
35	Clive Wade	1997 Lotus Elise HPE	60.063
28	Peter Cox	1990 Mazda MX5	60.205
22	Cris Johansen	2000 Lotus Elise HPE	60.277
36	Freddy Grande	2018 Mazda MX5 RF LE	60.530
1	James Driscoll	1976 Jaguar D Type	60.788
29	Joshua Luckel	2008 Mazda 2	60.856
15	Steve Blackie	2010 Lotus Elise CR	61.098
21	Steve Lennox	2008 Lotus Europa	61.998
16	George Row	2005 Lotus Elise	62.315
26	Des Hill	2006 Lotus Exige S	62.321
39	Robin Smyth	1971 Ford Escort	63.081
32	Alex Molocznyk	2013 Lotus Elise S1	63.283
5	Wade Greensill	1994 Lotus Elan M2	65.446
37	Abigael Engelbert	2018 Mazda RX8	65.626
30	Steve Foss	2019 Kia Picanto GT	65.876
24	David Croaker	2006 Lotus Exige	67.374
31	Phillip Brook	2015 Lotus Evora	68.003
20	Aston Greensill	1994 Lotus Elan M2	70.076

Overall Personal Bests – September 2011 to October 2019

Driver	Make	PB
Paul Stokell	2014 Lotus Exige	44.856
Graham Sorenson	2003 Lotus Elise	45.050
Stephen Foss	2008 Westfield XTR2	45.098
Geoff Noble	2004 Lotus Elise HPE	45.143
Matthew Plowman	2010 Lotus Exige	45.334
Evan Molloy	2005 Lotus Exige	45.513
Garry Pitt	2002 Lotus Elise	45.616
Phil Hart	1999 Porsche GT3	46.037
Liam Philp	Mazda/Caterham	46.264
Jason McGarry	1989 Caterham Super 7	46.306
Lindsay Close	2007 Lotus Exige S	46.346
Martin O’Brien	2013 Lotus Elise S	46.423
Dick Reynolds	1988 Caterham Super 7	46.509
Michael Blessas	2011 Lotus Elise	46.744
Andrew Row	2005 Lotus Exige	47.085
Ken Philp	Europa/Caterham	47.127
Jon Young	1989 Caterham Super 7	47.165
Daryl Wilson	1998 Caterham Super 7	47.297
Joe Arico	2002 Lotus Elise	47.524
Clive Wade	1997 Lotus Elise	47.876
Mal Gray	2002 Lotus Elise	48.030
Shane Murphy	1968 Lotus Super 7	48.289
Sam Murphy	2008 Lotus Exige	48.765
Cris Johansen	200 Lotus Elise HPE	49.099
James Driscoll	1976 Jaguar D-Type Replica	49.167
Sion Bowen	2017 Lotus Elise	49.457
Pat Richards	2004 Lotus Elise	49.643
Steve Blackie	2010 Lotus Elise CR	49.748
Mal Kelson	1998 Lotus Elise	49.869
Steve Lennox	2008 Lotus Europa S	50.564
Mathew Croaker	2008 Lotus Elise S	51.668
George Row	1998 BMW Z3	51.861
Juan Renato Laporta	2013 Lotus Elise	52.552
Mike Driscoll	1976 Jaguar D-Type Replica	55.088

[Show slideshow]

Targa High Country 2019

Well the final round of the Australian Targa Championships has been run and won at Mt Buller.

Story and photos by Tony Seymour.

A huge contingent (24 in total) of both tour and competition cars gathered at Mike Moore’s house aka Lotus HQ on Thursday morning.

At stake once again was the possibility of multiple Lotus podiums and of course more importantly 3 National Championships were up for grabs. The Stokell/Catford Exige were favourites in the open class as were the Taylors in TSD in their Elise. In my class a single point separated us from father son Mitch and Darryl Ringuet and although we were certainly 2nd favourites we nonetheless helped lift the standard at the pointy end in GT Sports.

Friday morning we woke to heavy snow with -4^o temps and watching the bushfires on TV wondered how this was possible. The snow ploughs (having retired for the summer) were recommissioned and started clearing. From our window a small 4WD slid sideways down the main road a sight not pleasing anyone. Nonetheless with helmets on (and in Darryl’s case his game face as well) we gingerly proceeded down the mountain at 5kmh avoiding the brakes at all costs.

Day 1 saw mostly wet stages with Paul Stokell being the only one comfortable with conditions (that karting from age 2 I think). By days end the Stokell/Catford Exige was in second place 25 sec in arrears to the Dodge Viper with the father son Meletopoulo’s in a very credible 14th outright. The Gulf Oil Exige with Justin Fengels and Lucas Mertens were understandably a little further back with parts of the navigator’s dinner being presented at various stages throughput the day. In TSD the Taylors held a 4-point lead over Rob Bryden and his very competitive navigator Doc I think they call him who was substituting for Ian Noble. In GT Sports the Subaru 4WD led with the Ringuet’s in second holding a 39 second lead over the Seymour’s (that was painful to write). First timers Chuadee and Pratt performed well finishing the day 5th as did the father son Trude’s in a magnificent looking Exige 410 in 11th place. The green Cup 430 finished 7th with current Champs Martin and Richard once again playing the long game.

Day 2 and with the forecast for -6 and further snow Targa rather prudently decided on parking the cars half way up the mountain and then bussing us the rest of the way. The morning saw heavy snow but thankfully some dry stages later in the day culminating in the Mansfield town stage and Targafest. In the open class the Stokell/Catford V6 held on to second place behind the Viper with the Gulf Oil Exige improving to 19th with the help of some strong drugs pre-race. The Meletopoulo’s unfortunately exited the event after lunch but being lots of fun to have around we all hope they’ll be back for Targa Tassie. In TSD the Taylors continued to lead and in GT Sports the Ringuet’s closed to be 22 seconds behind the Subaru with yours truly 49 seconds back.

Day 3 and yay finally a completely dry day in Mansfield for the 2 long Jamieson/Eildon Stages. The tour by all accounts had a fabulous run chasing tour leader Mark O’ Connor in the Exige 410 and it was reported late on Sunday night that the Jamieson stage may have been done in under 30 minutes.

By days end the weather had turned and with heavy fog on Mt Buller the run up was “unpleasant?” We tried a few different techniques like following the yellow line but having seen the drop off from the height of the bus the previous night it was caution, caution, caution. We eventually finished 28 seconds behind the Ringuet’s with pushing on the last stage not an option.

The final results saw Lotus secure 5 podiums for the event and 3 National Championships. Paul and Kate finished second in the event giving them their second consecutive Targa Championship. In TSD Peter and Tristan were unbelievable winning the event and finally winning their Targa Championship and also being the first ever to record a zero day. Now you’ve done it guys time to move to GT Sports! Rob and Doc finished second in TSD and with a possible move for the Taylor’s I’m backing the Cup 380 in TSD next year. And so, to GT Sports. Mitch and Darryl were crowned champions and worthy champions at that with Mitch being consistently quicker than me all year. Known as Hollywood for his fly in fly out drives, we are all of the opinion that he should tow and buy his own car next year lol. Our rivalry will continue at Morgan Park don’t be late.

This was the most successful year for Lotus at Targa and a huge thanks must go to Lee, SSC, the support staff, Mike Moore and all the tour and competition entrants throughout the year. The people make it and the cars make it and for all those thinking about it you’re halfway there already.

Lotus Results

GT2 and Outright 2nd Stokell/Catford
6th	Fengels/Mertens
GT Sports Trophy
1st	Ringuet/Ringuet
2nd	Seymour/Seymour
4th	Chuadee/Pratt
6th	Duursma/Wodhams
8th	Trude/Trude
TSD
1st	Taylor/Taylor
2nd	Bryden/Lange
5th	Rowe/Marshall
8th	Fuller/Weir
15th	Dovey/Matthews

[Show slideshow]

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!

Morgan Park Sprints Round 4, 2019

For the last round of the year we were presented with perfect weather for the reduced field that made its way to Warwick.

By Andrew Row. Photos by Trapnell Creations.

Targa Great Barrier Reef, family commitments, and broken feet left us with only half the usual Lotus crews.

Although the bright sunny days were enjoyed by those at the track, the dry conditions have been taking a real toll on the local communities around Warwick. Following on from the successful fundraising of the LCQ winery tour, Geoff Noble took it upon himself to arrive with a bucket for donations. With the Lotus lads putting their transponder deposits in, donations from other sprinters, and WDSCC adding to the tally, thousands of dollars were donated to the local rotary club. Providing direct assistance to outlying schools and families desperately in need of water. Well done Geoff.

Friday and Saturday nights are always full of plenty of beers, tall stories, and the odd few laughs. Treated on Friday night by Maree’s Fine Foods, with roast dinner for her adopted Lotus family. What a champion, we all love you Maree. The local Korean restaurant put on a great spread for Saturday night, making our own smorgasbord. Definitely a step up from the usual pub grub, must make this a more regular haunt.

Plenty of PBs smashed over the weekend as everyone made the most of the last round of the year. John Flynn, Clive Wade, Geoff Noble, George Row, and Rob Stevens all making big gains. Rob doing impressive times with meagre Rover power. Clive missing his normal play mate, decided he could see no reason his Kumho clad S1 shouldn’t be able to keep up with Martin O’Brien’s slick clad S3. Turns out it wasn’t a senior moment, and he did some amazing times. Perhaps there is hope for me yet in my later years.

Geoff Noble put on a hell of a show for all to enjoy. Bringing his A game to the last round, as the pressure was on to try and make it 11 years running as outright champion. Unfortunately not to be, with his road registered Elise being pipped on the last run of the day by a Formula 3 car. With only the two of them on the track at once, we had to keep making the trek to the bridge to watch how it was done. The normally excitable commentator was beside himself watching the show, increasing Geoff’s manhood from coconuts to church bells each time Geoff entered the sweeper with no sign of brake lights. Great to watch.

A successful year for LCQ members claiming 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in over 3000cc sports cars by Geoff Noble, Matt Plowman, and Martin O’Brien. Clive Wade took out 1st place in 1600-2000cc sports cars.

With another year’s sprints over, it’s all looking forward to next year. Going to be bigger and better again with more new faces joining in. Can’t wait.

[Show slideshow]

DTC Circuit by Calum Ballinger Photographer

Personal Bests of the DTC

It is hard to believe that it is eight years since the Lotus Club Qld ran the first Lakeside Raceway Driver Training Centre Timed Laps (DTC) event.

By Daryl Wilson. Circuit photo by Calum Ballinger Photographer.

Since that first event in September 2011 the DTC has become an important part of our calendar and a popular addition to the other club activities.

It is thanks to a group of dedicated LCQ members over the years that have helped at each DTC to set up the staging lights and timing equipment and ensure that the day runs safely and everyone has a good time.

The event has gained a reputation for being well-run and for its camaraderie and friendly atmosphere as people mingle and compare their run times.

This success has allowed LCQ to progressively improve the event format and purchase our own staging lights. We have also purchased our own Farmtek Timing system that enables us to publish Run Times direct to a webpage on the day and for future historical reference.

It is pleasing that the DTC has filled an important place in LCQ’s event calendar and has encouraged many members to go on and test their skills in the Morgan Park SuperSprint series at Warwick.

As a matter of interest I recently went back over the previous events and compiled a list of Personal Best Times that may be of interest – see below.

Driver	Make	PB
Stephen Foss	2008 Westfield XTR2	45.098
Geoff Noble	2004 Lotus Elise HPE	45.143
Matthew Plowman	2010 Lotus Exige	45.334
Garry Pitt	2002 Lotus Elise HPE	45.616
Evan Molloy	2001 Lotus Exige S1	45.668
Phil Hart	1999 Porsche GT3	46.037
Liam Philp	Mazda/Caterham	46.264
Jason McGarry	1989 Caterham Super 7	46.306
Lindsay Close	2007 Lotus Exige S	46.346
Martin O’Brien	2013 Lotus Elise S	46.423
Graham Sorenson	1979 78 Cooper Special	46.434
Dick Reynolds	1988 Caterham Super 7	46.509
Michael Blessas	2011 Lotus Elise	46.744
Andrew Row	2005 Lotus Exige	47.085
Ken Philp	Europa/Caterham	47.127
Jon Young	1989 Caterham Super 7	47.165
Daryl Wilson	1998 Caterham Super 7	47.297
Joe Arico	2002 Lotus Elise	47.524
Clive Wade	1997 Lotus Elise	47.876
Mal Gray	2002 Lotus Elise	48.030
Shane Murphy	1968 Lotus Super 7	48.289
Sam Murphy	2008 Lotus Exige	48.765
Cris Johansen	200 Lotus Elise HPE	49.099
James Driscoll	1976 Jaguar D-Type Replica	49.167
Pat Richards	2004 Lotus Elise	49.656
Stephen Blackie	2010 Lotus Elise CR	49.748
Malcolm Kelson	1998 Lotus Elise	49.869
Sion Bowen	2017 Lotus Elise	50.080
Steve Lennox	2008 Lotus Europa S	50.564
Mathew Croaker	2008 Lotus Elise S	51.668
George Row	2005 Lotus Elise	52.334
Juan Renato Laporta	2013 Lotus Elise	52.552
Mike Driscoll	1976 Jaguar D-Type Replica	55.088

LCQ Lakeside DTC events on YouTube

744 - TS05 - Lake Morris - SS-2-(ZF-3863-90991-1-001)

2019 Targa Great Barrier Reef tarmac rally

LCQ member Ian Loxton of Yeppoon and NDSCC member Peter Stringfellow of Wynnum competed in the 2019 Targa Great Barrier Reef tarmac rally, their third tarmac rally as a team. Peter has a total of around 15 tarmac rallies to his name going back to the mid-2000s.

Ian competed in the 2013 Targa High Country tarmac rally with Cameron McIntosh from Gladstone. Since 2015, Ian and Peter have competed as a team in the 2015 Targa High Country and the 2018 and 2019 Targa Great Barrier Reef tarmac rallies.

For each event, Ian’s 1989 Toyota Celica ST185 GT4 has been run under the Early Modern Category. While not a fast car, the GT4 is an excellent endurance car that has been very reliable (until 2019!) and has a long history/provenance with a logbook to prove it.

Our 2019 Targa Great Barrier Reef was going very nicely, gradually driving into the event until Targa Stage 7 – Mareeba (a new stage for 2019) on Day 2 when the turbocharger failed in quite a dramatic fashion. A DNF – the first for the GT4 in Targa events.

After ending the event in a most disappointing way, Ian and his wife, Diane went to Milla Milla as CAMS officials on Day 3 to run a road closure on the Palmerstone and the Milla Milla Targa Stages. I am sure other LCQ members competing in the 2019 Targa Great Barrier Reef will have vivid memories of those two stages.

Ian’s plans for 2020 competition include the Morgan Park SuperSprint series and the Central Queensland hillclimbs in the GT4 while working actively on the restoration of his 1969 Elan +2. LCQ members would be very interested in the two Central Queensland hillclimbs – the 2 km Golden Mount Hill Sprint (first run in 2018) on the Mt Morgan Range road and the even newer 1.2 km Pinnacle Hillclimb, Pinnacle near Mackay run for the first time in 2019. The Pinnacle Hillclimb is a very technical, intensive, steep, power hillclimb suiting light, powerful cars (e.g. Exiges!).

DTC September 2019

As viewed from on high.

A one act play Dick Reynolds.

Colin:
“Jingo’s Jim, I got that 7 right. Look at that red one go!”

Jim
“Think the burgundy, and the one in your colours are pretty quick too. Must say though, a bit rough for a man of my talent!” Probably useful on the farm.”

“Colin, or can I call you “Chunky”, did you have a hand in those plasticky looking ones?”

Colin:
“They look popular enough for me to have done – there’s bloody heaps of them down there!”

“Very quick by the looks. No’s 12, 25 and 11 particularly. Given the difference to most of the others, I suspect they might be forced induction. Almost definitely been added lightness! (thinks- “I love that saying”). Definitely proves it’s not the driver making the difference.”

Jim:
“Says you Obi Wan! Remember the bloody old Cortinas you stitched Ford up on? I drove them like I stole ‘em, and trounced the likes of that old Jag down there. Mind you, he’s giving a few of those tin tops a run for the money! And check out the big one – V8 I’m guessing. Quick as in a straight line – too much haggis I suspect! Ha ha ha! Och och!”

Colin:
“Not happy about “Chunky” Jim, but did you see no. 18?”

Jim:
“Och aye the noo, looks like a billy cart! Sounds like one of them new fangled Japanese motorbikes, with too many cylinders! Looks to be cleaning them all up!”

Colin:
“Not the only Japanese one! That black Elan looking thing goes like a rocket too!”

Jim:
“Talking of tin tops, I think I just saw “Son of Corty Twink”. The blue one – says Ford, goes like Lotus! Christ! (woops, sorry, beg forgivenesss!) it’s quicker than a lot of them! Those 7’s will never catch him!”

Colin:
“Hey Jim, what’s with the 7 that aint a 7? Thing goes like the clappers!”

Jim:
“Probably a replica Col, but a damn fine one I must say!”

Colin:
“Jim, we’re going! There’s a bloody Frenchman down there! Can’t have that, especially when he’s quicker than a few of the plasticky ones! “Megane!” Wot’s that about!”

Jim:
“Must be nearly over Col!”

Colin:
“Not happy about “Col” Jim!”

Jim:
“Well it is, or nearly! My goodness, there be a wee girly down there giving that strange sounding thing a right going over. Go girl!”

Colin:
“Can’t be over Jim, nothings fallen apart or crashed! What sort of a race meeting is this?”

Jim:
“A damn good one Colin, a damn good one!”

Short Course Top 10
18	Graham Sorenson	1979 78 Cooper Special	46.434
12	Andrew Row	2005 Lotus Exige	47.436
25	Phil Hart	2012 Lotus Elise	47.69
11	Lindsay Close	2007 Lotus Exige S	47.737
8	Michael Sorrell	2016 Ford Focus RS	48.303
7	Dick Reynolds	1988 Caterham Super 7	48.439
19	Daryl Wilson	1998 Caterham Super 7	48.586
9	Jon Young	1988 Caterham Super 7	48.814
2	Gideon Street	2013 Lotus Exige	49.096
13	Michael Blessas	2012 Lotus Elise	49.32
Long Course Top 10
18	Graham Sorenson	1979 78 Cooper Special	55.373
25	Phil Hart	2012 Lotus Elise	56.167
2	Gideon Street	2013 Lotus Exige	56.466
11	Lindsay Close	2007 Lotus Exige S	56.488
12	Andrew Row	2005 Lotus Exige	56.53
7	Dick Reynolds	1988 Caterham Super 7	57.066
8	Michael Sorrell	2016 Ford Focus RS	57.15
13	Michael Blessas	2012 Lotus Elise	58.21
9	Jon Young	1988 Caterham Super 7	58.518
26	Jason Smith	2019 Westfield Clubman	59.062

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Targa Great Barrier Reef 2019

Targa GBR 2019 is done and dusted. Lotus cars were represented by 19 cars over competition and tour categories.

By Darryl Ringuet.

Proud GT Sports Trophy winners Darryl and Mitch Ringuet at the finish line.

Finally, we got the monkey off our back, we had a battery clamp issue at Targa North West 2019, a speedo issue at Targa Tasmania 2019, and last year we were second place at Targa GBR because we were just not good enough.

We were determined to get the job done this time. That said, the level of competition we faced in Tony and Sandra Seymour, Steve Sher and Fergal Murphy, and Martin Duursma and Richard Wodhams, was ridiculously hard.

To be good enough to beat all these fellow Lotus teams we had to bring our A game and then some. To put this in perspective on the Lake Morris stage we came 3rd outright against amazing cars and drivers that were all super experienced in Targa racing, and not limited to 130kmh, and we only just beat Tony and Sandra by 8s. The Seymour’s made 6th place overall on this stage, with Steve and Fergal in 10th outright, with Martin and Richard not far behind them.

At the end of day one we were in 6th place overall with Tony and Sandra in 10th place overall, and Steve and Fergal in 11th place overall. In fact counting the GT2 Lotus cars of Paul Stokel and Kate Catford in 2nd overall, and Jeff Morton and Damon Nicoli in 3rd overall, we ended the day with 4 Lotus in the top 10 overall places. Talk about the little cars that can punch above their weight.

By the end of Day 2 we were in 10th outright, and at the end of day 3, by calculation, as we had one stage cancelled as a certain black Lotus got a bit enthusiastic and “caressed” an Armco railing, we were 9th Overall and the Seymours finished 10th overall.

This was an amazing showing by the Lotus cars in the event.

Paul Stokel after coming second outright

We are now leading the Seymours by one point in the National GT Sports Trophy Targa Championship and it will come down to who blinks at Targa High Country, hopefully we have used up all our bad luck this year. Martin Duursma and Richard Wodhams are currently in 4th place in our class in the National championship.

As always Paul Stokell and Kate Catford were up the pointy end of the field chasing down the monstrously powerful Dodge Viper, they finished 2nd Outright which keeps them in the lead of the Australian Targa Championship with only Targa High Country left.

Mitch and Darryl Ringuet getting some air on the Mareeba stage.

Jeff Morton and Damon Nicoli were flying as usual and unfortunately a small indiscretion by Jeff on the Milla Milla stage put them out of the race. They were running 3rd outright at this stage.

We had three days of amazingly tight competition, getting to drive on some of the most amazing pieces of road in Australia that were just built for Lotus cars, and supported as always by the team at Simply Sports Cars. As per usual “Hollywood” aka Mitchell Ringuet flew in, let his nav do the recce’s, drove the wheels off my car, had a big drink Sunday night, then flew home. To spite him, his mother and myself had a holiday for a week around Port Douglas and Fitzroy Island to spend some of his inheritance. Made the long drive home at least a bit more palatable.

RESULTS TARGA GREAT BARRIER REEF

GT2 and OUTRIGHT
2nd Place	Paul Stokell and Kate Catford
GT SPORTS TROPHY
1st Place	Darryl and Mitchell Ringuet
2nd Place	Tony and Sandra Seymour
4th Place	Martin Duursma and Richard Wodhams
12th Place	Jason and Euan McGarry
DNF (whilst in 3rd Place)	Steve Sher and Fergal Murphy
TSD
1st Place	Peter and Tristan Taylor
3rd Place	Rob Bryden and Ian Noble
9th Place	Peter Quinn and John Johnson
12th Place	Andrew Lydon and David Doyle

Loads of Lotus crews enjoying the podium celebrations.

Qld Super Sprints 2019 Round 3

It was a long wait between Round 2 and Round 3 of the QLD Super Sprint Series (around 3 months!) so we were all keen to get our cars back to the track and engage in the usual camaraderie that has become as much a highlight of the weekend as the competition itself.

By Joe Arico.

It wasn’t a good start for yours truly – as I pulled into Aratula (about half way to Warwick) I could hear a worrying noise coming from the engine. It was definitely the kind of noise that you don’t ignore so I pulled over, got a cup of tea and contemplated what to do next. Poking around in the engine bay at the side of the road revealed nothing and it wasn’t long before I began to realise I wasn’t going anywhere under my own steam. I was fortunate that several other club members were travelling behind me. After much moral support from Jason and John, Clive pulled over for a cuppa and saved the day! He was trailering his car down so long story short our cars swapped positions and we continued onto Warwick.

Since Friday proved to be enough excitement for one day, I didn’t get serious about a fix until Saturday morning. It didn’t take long to find the culprit. My alternator drive pulley had come loose! Unfortunately this damaged the custom shaft that drives the alternator and it put me out for the weekend. No matter, I stayed on anyway and made a nuisance of myself. Very glad I did – lots of laughs with good mates was the best way to forget about my misfortune!

All was going well for the boys until Saturday afternoon. Matt’s Exige was performing strongly as usual but 4th gear decided it had better things to do and parted with all its teeth!

The rest of the week end saw some great competition. Geoff was trying out some new tyres and was his usual very quick self. Garry punched well above his weight with his NA S2 Honda, leading the under 2L class with the usual daylight back to the rest of the field. Tony was trying out a new exhaust on his V6 Exige. I can report that the sound was indeed fantastic. There are so many of us competing these days that I can’t mention everyone but a good time was had by all. Lotus was well and truly represented!

And just when we thought the dramas were over, I got a phone call from Jason (who had left after the 2nd last run of the weekend). He was stuck a few km from the track with his brakes locked on! Things were getting serious now – we were running out of trailers! I grabbed a jack and borrowed Clive’s Landrover for a bit of roadside assist work. Luckily it was a relatively easy fix and he was under way again in no time. Phew!

Big thanks to Clive for getting me out of trouble. You’re a true gentlemen mate. I owe you one!

Sports Cars 3001cc and over
1st	Geoff Noble	Supercharged S2 Honda Elise	4:15.093
2nd	Matt Plowman	Supercharged S2 Exige	+14.681
3rd	Liam Philp	Supercharged S2 Exige	+16.621
4th	Tony Seymour	Supercharged S3 V6 Exige	+17.665
5th	Martin O’Brien	Supercharged S3 Elise	+22.019
6th	Ken Philp	Supercharged S2 Exige	+22.417
9th	John Flynn	Supercharged S3 Elise	+39.282
11th	Andrew Row	Supercharged S2 Exige	+39.592
Sports Cars 1501cc – 2000cc
1st	Garry Pitt	S2 Honda Elise	4:25.980
2nd	Jason Patullo	S2 Honda Elise	+17.739
3rd	Clive Wade	S1 Honda Elise	+18.095
6th	Cris Johansen	S1 Honda Elise	+22.204
9th	Rob Stevens	S2 Rover Elise	+29.295
12th	George Row	S2 Rover Elise	+49.288

Overall results saw six Lotus in the top ten (out of 90 cars). 2nd Geoff Noble (pipped on the very last run of the week end by a Formula 3 race car on a re-run when it had plenty of heat in its tyres), 4th Garry Pitt, 5th Matt Plowman, 6th Liam Philp, 7th Tony Seymour, 10th Martin O’Brien.

Historic Qld Race Meeting Warwick 2019

Historic Queensland Race Meeting, Warwick 13th-14th July 2019.

By John Barram.

This is the big annual event for Historic Racing in Queensland with entrants from as far as Tasmania and South Australia. This year it featured Groups C and A Heritage Touring Cars and I particularly liked seeing some of the Ford Sierra and BMW cars from that era.

For Lotus representation, Michael Byrnes was up from Melbourne with his usually giant killing S4 Lotus Seven. However he was having problems with the clutch all weekend which limited his pace somewhat although he still managed a third in his class.

Peter Boel had come over from New Zealand to race his Lotus 23B Flintstone in Group O for sports cars 1962-69. Pete spent a lot of the weekend coming from the back of the grid for a variety of reasons, but in the race that mattered he won the class to take out the Lionel Ayers Trophy in memory of that great sports car racer from earlier years. Lionel’s son Bruce was there to present the trophy to Pete.

The Formula Ford group had over 20 entrants making for some competitive racing. Greg Bray with his Lotus 61 took out third place in the Fa class.

I was running my Lotus Seven by invitation against Group L and M racing and Sports cars, all of the cars being from the early sixties. There were five of us with very similar lap times and we enjoyed the nose to tail racing over the weekend.

As usual there are some drop dead gorgeous cars at this event. If you are into race cars, Chris Farrell had his 1982, F2 Spirit Honda 201 which had been the car of Thierry Boutsen. With a naturally aspirated 2 litre Honda V6 engine it looked and sounded fabulous. The Lightweight E-Type replica looked like it was carved from a block of alloy. Perfection. The meeting celebrated 60 years of Minis among other automotive anniversaries and the minis turned up in droves. The two big Healeys sitting in the winter sunshine were a picture to behold. Trevor Bassett (past Lotus driver) had his beautiful Ferrari Daytona which looks nearly as good just sitting in the pits as it does with its nose in the air coming down the straight.

One of the sponsors of the meeting was Rare Spares who supplied a $100 Gift Certificate. The president of the Historic Racing Car club was to choose the “nicest” car at the meeting to receive the certificate and, amongst all the above and many more cars, he chose my Lotus Seven!

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