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?

Check out the fog Thank god youre here Waiting for go Downforce One A pretty pair A bit of banter Rob Stevens Old girl among the young'uns The pointy end 720kg Joes car up close Aussie Elises decal Raw Immaculate 69 GT Falcon GT-Cortina-Mk2 GT-Cortina-Mk2 in dock Highly tuned Mini Beep Beep Boy talk Calling all cars 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 Torana SLR 5000 MGB gets some encouragement The MG gang MX5 Hyundai Excel 1 Hyundai Excel 2 Inspecting the tarmac Joe, Garry & Jason Dinner at The Bluebird Running maintenance at the track Replacing Geoff's suspension part Perfect for comfy racing Watch the limit Matchbox cars John awaits the go Vyvyan in his Elan Plus 2 Rob and Clive Rob in front Porsche 911 Orange is the new black Last chat of the day Homeward bound
[Show thumbnails]
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

img_1127 dtc-12 Car 194 concours-18 Vintage-Bentley Pits IMGP3506 11.Concours-Woodford-Golf-Club DSC_0046 P1020657 dtc-competitors-line-up IMG_6518 IMG_3621 118_1816_IMG McL_25 121_2151_IMG 121_2131_IMG IMG_7128 image_246 IMG_6224 The Jury 172_THC22_2022-12 07252021-copy4 07252021-copy2 IMG_3557 IMG_3386 Perfect-weather-for-rallying Keep-those-wheels-turning_gw IMG_2469 IMG_2464 IMG_0766 John Flynn 2014 Lotus Elise - 1 vb-World's fastest Escort vb-Matt gw_Elise & Exige production line up Daryl-Morton's-Mini-1 Mt-Cotton-Hillclimb-Sep17-14 Leaving the Gold Coast for Sydney 20161105_111913 The flying Scotsmen P1010423 122_2242_IMG IMG_0109 Ploughman's Lunch Ealand_Lotus_Smeeth_Lotus_20_Chisholm_Gemini_Mk3 Jeremy_and_James_in_BDR_7 Morning_Tea_line_up IMG_0240_1 P1010410 image_056 Fire-in-the-Sky P1010425 main-32 main-23 BTP2-Temporary-spare-acquired Mar-main-50 Seven-Lineup President-Dick IMG_7487 IMG_7589 IMG_8930 113_1307_IMG 01c 36_MG_2581 PICT7310 20090822_092 20090822_076 IMG_8034 IMG_8011 IMG_7977 IMG_7972 DSC03855 IMG_8589 IMG_8544 IMG_7324 IMG_6634 unnamed-8 Over-3000cc-sports-car-podium photo-14 Timing Crew DSC_0227 oversize-valves George-and-Garry Cols-Elan-3 stripping-the-engine-down vyv-photo-7 daryl-wilsons-caterham-1 DSC_0355 Joe_gw now-theres-a-bonnet-emblem IMG_0313 _MG_9740 as Smart Object-1 Daryl and Mal IMG_6141 blasts from the past _MG_9887 as Smart Object-1 Shop-Sign main-37 main-44 Door-Prize-Lucky-Blanche-with-presenter-Shane

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