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
bseries-banner

Morgan Park B Series Rd 1 – May 2017

Story by Vyvyan Black, Photos by Gloria Wade & Vyvyan Black.

The day started at the wretched hour of 4.30am. What strange misadventure is this, I thought.

What kind of idiot gets up at this time? What I didn’t know was that all the sensible people leave late on Friday and stay overnight. Never mind. Off I go, into the blackness and the cold, and the fog. And what a fog it was!

The further from Brisbane, the thicker it got. So much so that at one point I’m zooming along at over 120kmh with just ten feet ahead visible – only the occasional reflector as my guide. It was almost dreamlike and I might have lost myself in it if it weren’t for the thought that a big red roo could jump in front at any moment. Where was I heading?

Just outside of Warwick there’s a track at a place called Morgan Park, that I’ve heard about but never actually seen. Being the webmaster of this glorious club I get to look at all the photos that have ever been taken at the various events members attend, and this event comes up a lot. Looks pretty serious I thought.

For those who don’t know, I’ve recently acquired my 1968 Plus 2 and have managed to have a go at a couple of hill climbs. These events marked the first time in my life I have ever raced a car. Well, apart from my foolish youth – and that was only on public roads where I always was a bit of a leadfoot! Still can’t stand slow drivers in front – sheesh!

So, I’m a complete novice. I have to say it’s pretty daunting when you turn up, having driven to the track, and you see the magnificent vehicles that you’ll be driving against. They all seem to have arrived via trailer, unregistered and built specially for track use. Slicks, and modifications everywhere, even sponsorship logos. What am I doing here?

But there’s a number of cars that also drove to the track, mostly have very few modifications and don’t have any sponsorship decals. These cars are of course the Elises. No chance against them either, but luckily everything’s roughly classed into like capacity.

So here’s my first real race situation. But I quickly felt at ease, and after a bit the Elise guys turned up. Here’s the club attendees and times:

Geoff Noble S2 (SC Honda) Silver 03:54:581
Garry Pitt S2 (NA Honda) Red 04:20:366
Martin O’Brien S3 (SC Toyota) Orange 04:20:627
Joe Arico S2 (NA Ford) Black 04:28:337
Jason Patulo S2 (NA Honda) Yellow 04:28:579
Clive Wade S1 (NA Honda) Green 04:34:474
Rob Stevens S2 (NA Rover) Blue 04:43:830
John Flynn S1 (NA Rover) Green 04:51:190
Vyvyan Black Elan Plus 2 (NA Lotus) Navy & Silver 05:33:068

It’s a very nice track. Recently resurfaced and lots of variety. On my first warm-up lap I was getting giggly. This will be a gas! In a way I felt like a lad again. Pity I don’t have the daredevil attitude and the stamina I used to. But what fun!

Some had hiccups – Geoff repaired a small suspension component and Clive was alarmed by a noise in his newly refurbished powerplant that actually turned out to be a window rattle. Over the course of the two day weekend I got slightly better each run, enjoyed some ding dong bouts with a couple of the others in my group and had a total ball. On the drive home I realised that I didn’t think (and the scrutineer didn’t ask) to remove my spare steel wheel, tools and wooden boot lining. Talk about just adding lightness!

I cannot understand why more members don’t do these events. There’s nothing like it for driving your car the way it was meant to be. It’s not even that expensive. And if a complete schmuck like me can do it, what’s stopping you?

Clive
Garry and Jason
Garry undulating
Jason on the straight
Martin
Jason
Joe-Arico
Garry
Geoff
Whats this looming behind me
John
Hands on hips
Gloria, John and Penny
Clives in the bay
Clives window issue
Look at that
A bit of a chill
The wife
Torana XU1
Torana donk

[Show slideshow]
◄ 1 2 3 4 ►
More Duratec Madness HSCCQ Khanacross – May 2017

Related Posts

mp-banner

Events, Gallery 2022, Homepage, Racing

Morgan Park Sprints R4

gold-rush-banner

Events, Gallery 2022, Homepage, Racing

Gold Rush Hill Sprint – 2022

leyburn-banner

Events, Gallery 2022, Homepage, Racing

Leyburn 2022

Random images

lw01comp 9.--Holden-vs-Lotus btiu-18 CRW_6579_RJ 113_1368_IMG IMG_8785 117_1754_IMG McL_22 lw01py IMGP3407 IMG_7071 IMG_7056 IMG_6821 10e 15_MG_2564 20_IMG_9604 11_Interior_of_Maiala_Rainforest_Teahouse IMG_2599 gw_Ken Philip Photo-28-11-20-8-29-03-pm The-Fellas Eddie-Tess-Huffam IMG_2461 IMG_9975 Geoff ahead of Matt Daryl Wilson 1998 Caterham Super 7 - 2 vb-Great colour scheme 20130511_101750 Carol-Suzanne_gw In Transit IMG_0077 Rob and Joe Daryl, Steve and Adam Ken Philp with the ICC Trophy 3428 151120 Ghostbuster 2-Winding-mountain-road-1 Ploughman's Lunch main-11 Mar-main-6 Craig- Mal,-Geoff,-Marie IMG_0219 Drivers-as-spectators-Mike,-John,-Matt-and-Clive 2006_08_27_Gympie_Skid_Pan0092 IMG_0273_1 Mar-main-116 MG_6936 Eleven2 F1000013 Hang_gliders_on_Tamborine IMG_0452 IMGP3942_1 lotus_Ase_2935 image_156 073_73 IMG_3943 Cane_field_run_4 IMG_8044 IMG_8031 P1060281 IMG_7359 The-saddle-challenge image_101 122_2267_IMG IMG_6406 IMG_6401 Pat_Clive_Wade IMG_0361 Craig_Carolyn_Wilson Susan-Steve-and-Jen IMGP8327 DSC_0216 Downforce One img_2027 Jason-McGarry High Hopes Pits2 The-Lotus-line-up-GPitt IMG_8205 Cadillacs IMG_4380 Vyvyan-providing-the-entertainment 20170709_104245 Evan-ready-to-run The-Elan-Lineup Penny-Robyn-Carolyn_GW At lunch IMG_0307 main-12 gostwyck-chapel-photo-by-vyv Zaid - Post Scrutineering IMG_0863 various-lotus Europa buick-2 Dick on Slicks IMAG6067 Trophy time main-63 20170709_104617

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