Images thanks to Dario Valenza

Welcome to the middle of 2025! And apologies for the delay in getting this to you — sadly, my work has an alarming propensity to create chaos at the financial year end, and this year was no exception; hence the delay in this note.

Speaking of crises, you will no doubt be as saddened as I am to read of the woes at Hethel currently. I suspect that through a combination of strategic misdirection (the rather uncharacteristic lurch from lightweight, nimble, fun ICE cars to large, heavy SUVs and other EVs) and misfortune (the impact of Trumpenomics on both Lotus’ owners Geely and Lotus themselves), the current cash flow crunch has resulted in a need for some tough decisions.

Time will tell, but if we are to believe the press (dangerous, I know), there are a few routes out of this current pickle We can but hope that the possible impact of the closure of a significant car manufacturing factory on the Government of Sir Keir will provoke some action.

In happier news, F1 seems to be providing those interested with a notable talent in Oscar Piastri (albeit he hangs onto his championship lead by the thinnest of margins following some bad luck and nifty racecraft by some of his peers). We can but hope that this signals a more interesting period in F1 driver characters — even if the cars themselves continue to get uglier (in my humble opinion).

We are also heading into a period of renewed activity, with plenty forecast for August and September, including the CLA round of the CSCA sprints on August 16th. If you would be willing to support our excellent motorsport team in marshalling or otherwise helping out on the day, please get in touch via [email protected], and Graham, Brett, Colin and the team will gladly find something useful for you to do while watching a day of fun motorsports.

August also sees some of us heading to Winton for the Festival of Speed over the weekend of 1 – 3 August; there’s the Shannon’s Sydney Classic on the day after our sprint on August 16th (tickets available from Evan — drop a line to him or [email protected]), and then the last weekend has a few of us joining the Vintage Sports Car Club at the Cootamundra Sprints.

I have to say a huge thank you to all those who get up early on the weekends to attend the various fun that is increasingly available; last month’s Centennial Park gathering was particularly enjoyable as a few of us took the spontaneous decision to take a drive for coffee and cakes afterwards. And thank you, Dario, for the above photo, which I have to say is one of my all-time favourites of one of my cars! I’m looking forward to this month’s gatherings, starting tomorrow at Carss Park (depending on when this gets to you!)

Before we know it, we’ll be into September. So with that, I am off to pick up the ex-Gerry Crown Peugeot 205 GTi, which has been through a pretty thorough rebuild — and I’m looking forward to enjoying it! Who knows, you might see it out and about this month.

And on that note, take care, have fun, and keep it mainly on the black stuff.

Pip pip,
Ashton