Club Lotus Australia is full of interesting people who are up to interesting things with interesting cars. We think that’s wonderful, so we’re going to share their stories with you here!
If you’d like to share your story on the club website, just send Seth a quick email at [email protected]
In this post, we catch up with Ashton to find out more about his journey with the Tuft’s Eleven. If you’d like to see the future, find part 2 here and part 3 here.
Hello all, May/June has rather blurred together, largely as I spent two weeks of it in Spain and Portugal on the GOME Rally (more to come for those carrion eaters among you!) and then a week recovering from the by-now obligatory gastric flu you have to pick up when you visit Dubai Airport – fun it was not…
But I gather I missed out on the warmest two week stretch in May on record, only to come back to winter… which in my book gives some of the best opportunities for open top motoring, provided the rain holds off! I was reminded recently that the best way to warm the cabin of an S1 Elise is not the heater (which, in the words of one J Clarkson, is akin to an asthmatic blowing through a straw), but by removing the back window and allowing the backdraft in…. so it remains to be seen how the heating in the Elan will fare this winter.. I’ll let you know after the next Club Run, which will be on Sunday 27th July, with a trip (hopefully, and weather permitting) to either the Blue Mountains for some fresh mountain air and some fun and interesting roads over the other side of the black stump, or down south… or both.
So put the date in the diary, and more details elsewhere. Hopefully I’ll see you before then at the July GM, which will be at the Woolwich Pier Hotel on July 8th.
Looking slightly further head, August starts to get busier, with the next round of the CSCA sprints (AHOC round) on Saturday 16th and the Shannons Classic on Sunday 17th, both out at Sydney Motorsport Park (EC to you and me), followed the next weekend by the All British Day at Kings School on 24th.
Tickets for both events are paid for by the Club but restricted in number, so if you would like to come, please drop a line to Elliott and register your request for tickets. If you would like to enter the Concours at Shannons, notify Elliott of your intentions.
This year we will once again be holding our Concours d’Elegance at the All British Day, as well as the now-familiar Family Picnic, so please bring the family and persuade the cook in the family to prepare something to share! We will be taking photographs at the All British Day with a particular purpose (so top secret I can’t tell you) so make sure you give her an extra spit and polish.
Having recently decided to keep the Mini and spend some money getting her back up to speed (another money pit to park alongside the Elan and the Elise, yes), I have spent some entertaining hours reading about and researching the rebuild of an Eaton M45 supercharger; and while at it, apparently a 15% reduction in pulley size frees up 30 hp – sounds too good to be true; anyone fancy a working bee one weekend?
Looking slightly further afield, it was good to see Mark Webber’s return to motorsport get so close to nudging the Audi’s off top spot at Le Mans; sad to see that the transmission failure left them so close and yet so far… but as I can attest, endurance racing is as much about finishing as being the fastest!
Ah well, with winter upon us the garage heater is cranked up, and all those jobs that need sorting are on the list… including the relay; for those who came along to the Garagetek evening, you don’t need reminding that Mike Jefferies has offered a very generous 25% club discount off list price for floor tiles – contact Mike on [email protected] or 0411 955 173 and tell him I sent you.
See you soon I hope, and meantime, keep safe, right side up and on the blackstuff,
Ashton
Welcome to June – already!
Well May has rushed past in a bit too much of a hurry, and I am writing this in Dubai Airport, en route to London, and thence by ferry to Santander for the start of the 2014 Guild of Motor Endurance Rally, which starts on Sunday (18th May). So please accept apologies for the brevity of this one – I will try and make up for it with a detailed report from the rally next month (assuming we don’t ignominiously depart the race like last time!)
May has been a lovely month, with several great events; we had the (now gazetted) Cars & Coffee event up at Terrey Hills on 4th, with a great turnout of cars, largely due to the fact that for only the second time this year on the first Sunday of the month, it wasn’t raining!
I hope someone got some shots, as I failed dismally to remember my camera.
Then I had to be over in Perth last week for work, so at the last minute managed to organise to catch up with a few of the WA crew for a pizza – thanks to Eddie and Vicky, Richard and Peter for organising it, and it was lovely to see you all, albeit so briefly. And it rained!
I gather the first ‘karts we have organised for some time was a huge success, and many thanks to James Chan for organising this in among all the work and domestic duties he has! It sounds as though fun was had by all, and relatively few injuries were sustained, which is always good to hear. My apologies I was AWOL – work has been a bit busy of late, which is great, just not ideal just before I leave the country for two weeks!
And of course Targa Tasmania has been and gone for another year – hoping for a report next month.
June looks to be a busy month; we have three rounds of the CSCA sprints, starting on the first weekend at SMP (Jags), then two weeks later at the South Circuit (MG), and two weeks after that at Wakefield; the last of these, the Healy Round on Saturday 28th, coincides with the next Simply Sports Cars LOTD at Wakefield on the Friday (27th), and the All British Day on the Sunday (29th), thus making up a fantastic weekend of racing/driving – I look forward to seeing lots of you there, and it sounds as though a few interstaters will probably be joining us! And I am pleased to report that the engine is back in the Elise, so I will be campaigning that this time, instead of the Elan!
Social events for the month include Cars and Coffee on Sunday 1st (when some of us will be at Eastern Creek), and a visit to Garagetek in Tempe for the General Meeting on 10th – these guys produce some fine garage accessories, and have been kind enough to offer some good discounts on the night (and subsequently), so come along and see what the garage could look like!
And they are calling my flight now, so better sign off and go. Have a great month, I look forward to seeing you out there one way or the other, and in the meantime keep safe, right side up and on the black stuff.
Pip pip,
Ashton
Our 40th anniversary at Thredbo in November of 2013.
A gallery of photos from the Club Lotus Australia Concours d’Elegance at the All British Day at Kings School in 2013.
All the shiny things at our 2013 Concours d’Elegance. Photographs by, and thanks to, Kayo Cummins.
