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

[Show slideshow]
1 2 ... 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

IMG_4437 Hairpin_bend_ahead P1060037 IMG_0039 IMG_0025 IMG_0021 IMG_0007 IMG_3780 117_1797_IMG IMG_8792 IMG_8786 121_2194_IMG IMG_5316 IMG_6990 IMG_6841 IMG_8616 image_255 IMG_0367 image_162 lot_016 IMG_7601 IMG_4346 IMG_8898 Jeff IMG_6186 IMG_3377 John-Mactaggarts-lovely-Evora-by-SDPICS Outright-winners-Paul-and-Kate DTC-009 gw_Garages of other competitors Ready Set Go IMG-0167 IMG_0081 Martin and Rob image_249 Aaron dtc-11 Ormiston-12 Ormiston-10 _MG_4787 as Smart Object-1 11-Michael-Ian-Moira-Daryl-Norma-Peter-Mal-Tim-Carol-Alex-Clive IMG_4900 MG_6284 03 Bright-sunny-Lotus-lovers IMG_3847a Mar-main-111 Mar-main-108 main-10 Tony,-Mike,-Maggie-and-John IMG_3712 Cats-at-the-ready At-the-drivers-briefing John,-Jason-and-Clive-having-a-cuppa-in-the-Lotus-Hilton main-50 main-14 Checking-out-the-competition 2006_08_27_Gympie_Skid_Pan0092 2006_08_27_Gympie_Skid_Pan0043 Sep_MS02_1 P1060083 F1000020 Ploughman's Lunch 1426852332_d664f84b65_m_1 Elan boot Honda Civic 1600cc motor IMG_0066 P5250020 John_Mal_with_John_s_7 P1060533 PICT7314 160_160 077_77 IMG_5632 P8310108 Cane_field_run_4 IMG_6348 IMG_7972 Daryl_and_Mitch_checking_times IMG_5082 IMG_5067 image_195 image_026 image_011 DSC_1537 main-3 Shane Checking-out-the-Ferrari_ Jon-Young End of the Road New-member-Paul-took-the-trophy-for-his-Elise-220 IMG_0291 main-13 _MG_9711 as Smart Object-1 super-healey-tank tonys-eleven MG-TSeries-1 main-42 main-44 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