Morgan Park Sprints – May 2018
By Liam Philp, photos by Gloria Wade.
A strong contingent of 22 Lotus Club entrants made the trek to Warwick for the second round of the Queensland Super Sprint Series on the 11th of May.
The weather gods, who had reaped havoc on the Friday practice of the first round, had thankfully left us alone and the sun shone down gloriously.
Unfortunately, due to my genetic predisposition to losing things, dad and myself were unable to complete the Friday practice and missed out on shaking down the Exige as the key had wandered off to explore Warwick. With all hope lost, we headed back to Brisbane, heads in hands.
Thankfully our Saturday was significantly better, with the incredible help we received from Darryl, Tania, and Mitchell Ringuet, as well as Chris from Automotion.
With the car able to be started, we made it back to Warwick in time for the third session of the day. And boy, what a car. Having driven a Seven for the previous four years, I can certainly see just why people love these things. After doing two (somewhat uncompetitive) runs on Saturday, it was time to head back to the Pitstop Lodge with the rest of the Lotus contingent before gorging on the food from the Condamine Club. By the end of one and a half days of competition, it was Geoff Noble out in front, with Garry Pitt and Matt in hot pursuit. With all but Vyvyan’s Elan (electrical gremlins) still running, Sunday looked to be a cracker.
We woke to a clear but chilly morning, with beautiful Queensland sunshine and a noticeable lack of wind. After a quick bite to eat, it was off to the track for a highly anticipated day.
Everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves, setting scorching times throughout the three sessions. By keeping it mostly on the track and without further reliability issues, Team Lotus placed extremely well, with six out of the top ten outright positions belonging to us, including Geoff Noble who claimed first by almost eight seconds.
Special thanks to everyone who helped dad and myself out over the weekend, as well as all the support crew for organizing nibblies and keeping us drivers well fed.
