It’s time to check in with our friends in Western Australia and enjoy the November 2017 edition of Quokka Talk, with thanks to Eddie Lankhorst.
By Eddie Lankhorst
Hello to the Lotus community! It’s spring and if you’ve been hibernating through winter, it’s now time to get your Lotus out on the roads and enjoy the experiences that WA and your Lotus has to offer.
The regular Lotus folk of WA have already been out there flying the flag with sprints at Barbagallo, the monthly BOAB Meet n Eat, EMR to York and sprints at Collie. So if you haven’t taken your car out yet, see the calendar of events below and contact me for further details as we would love to see more cars out and about.
Lastly, next year’s Club Lotus WA Wall Calendar is being planned and I am looking for high resolution photos of your car (with or without you). Please email me asap via [email protected] with your photos and only the best will do.
- October
- Sun 29th BritFest car display at Claremont Showgrounds
- November
- Sun 5th Speed Event Series – Jacks Hill Climb
- Mon 13th BOAB Meet n Eat at 6pm Kings Park
- Sun 19th EMR 8am from Guildford
- Fri 24th Go Karting Cockburn (tbc)
- Thu 30th Autostrada Track Day at Wanneroo
- December
- Sat 2nd State Speed Event Series at Barbagallo raceway (final round of WA Championship)
- Sun 10th EMR and Christmas BBQ at John & Robyn’s new home.
- Mon 11th BOAB Meet n Eat at 6pm Kings Park
EMR to York – Abandoned!
By Steve Grobler
Having not made it to an EMR all year due to other commitments, including a faulty vacuum pump and some electrical gremlins, I was looking forward to having a run in my Esprit Turbo with the rest of the crew.
Bee and I turned up early to find Wayne enjoying a sausage roll and a coffee from the bakery across the road, so we hit the bakery for a coffee. A nice Vauxhall Viva and a bright orange hotted up (’50s?) Holden ute were parked up outside so that was a pleasant distraction. I don’t know my EJ from FJ (or whatever!) so I won’t hazard a guess as to what model Holden it was!
It wasn’t long before Lotuses started rolling in, mainly Elise and Exige of course, but also Andrew’s green V8 Esprit, Daryl’s red Excel and a red Lotus 911 (the 911 was an honorary Lotus for the day). In the end I counted 12 cars but some say there were 15. I hadn’t seen the Excel for a while but Darren gave me a run down on all the work done on it recently – front and rear suspension, new tyres and water pump, so it was looking and running great.
As usual, Eddie was well prepared to lead the run with hand-out notes, navigator Shae and radios to help keep us all together. On the start-your-engines command, Eddie’s S1 Elise refused. Dicky fuel pump. So we left it behind and Eddie became lead navigator to Wayne in his Exige.
I ended up tail runner after having to fiddle with a bad connection to get my interior ventilation fan to come to life – it was going to be a nice hot day and the air-con was going to be needed!
The radios worked really well, enabling us all to keep in touch through the traffic. I was enjoying winding around at the tail behind the Excel when I started to smell brakes, thinking it must be Darren’s Excel. But when smoke started rising from my right front wheel I had to pull off and abandon the run. The radio was helpful in letting Eddie know not to wait for me.
After letting the disc to cool down for a while and with some gloves and tools borrowed from friendly locals, I managed to free up the hot and sticky caliper, lubricate the caliper slides with some grease stolen from the wheel bearing and limp home. Frequently sniffing the air for signs of hot brakes.
A bit disappointed not to have made it to York, but at least the car was driveable – need to strip and lube the caliper slides next weekend!
Note to self – carry some gloves, some WD40 and try to remember that I do actually have the factory tool kit in the boot!
Eddie’s S1 fired up without any fuss when he returned to pick it up later in the day. So two minor casualties, Little bit Of Trouble Uncharacteristically Simple.
EMR to York
By Karen Watkins
An undeniably perfect Perth morning started at 8:30 from Guildford train station for this month’s EMR. At least 14 Lotuses were present, coloured red, orange, blue, white, green and black, plus a bright red Porsche. Radios were distributed. We were on the grid, our engines were started. Our engines were started. Our engines were turned off. Drivers were out of their cars. A Bonnet was up. Personal effects were removed, passengers relocated. A lotus was abandoned 😐. A solo Wayne had Eddie as a navigator for the day.
It took us a few goes to get everyone through the initial traffic lights. And then it was game on losing Steve early with brake problems.
Through Helena Valley, waving to locals who (we hoped) were waving back. Past the Parkerville pub, across Great Eastern Highway to Inkpen Road.
And so in to York and stopping at the Flour Mill cafe. Where breakfast is ordered hurriedly before 11am, as the lunch menu preceded. There was talk of failed fuel pumps, understeering at Barbagallo, the weight of batteries and uses for pieces of string.
A variety of return roads were taken homewards. Some simply following the breadcrumbs back the way they came. A great day with lots of Lotus fun.
Collie Motorplex – Speed Event Series
By Keven Fitzmaurice
Rounds 10 and 11 of the WA State Speed Event Series were held at the Collie Motorplex over the weekend of 14th and 15th October. The original schedule was for a hill climb on the Saturday and a sprint on the Sunday, but with work progressing on extending the race track, the hill climb course was not available. Instead two days of sprints were held.
Only two Lotuses were entered, Kevin Fitzmaurice in his Series 1 and Steve Metlitzky in his supercharged S2. Both of us were entered for the Saturday sprint only.
The weather forecast was for a stormy start to the day, clearing to a sunny day. Thankfully, the rain stayed away and it was a warm humid spring day with a dry but slightly sandy track due to the track upgrades.
Steve got off to a good start, but admitted to finding it hard to get a feel for the track, and Kevin started cautiously on his new tyres. Steve put in some consistent laps and finished the day with a class win. Kev’s times improved steadily, helped by having a slightly faster car to follow. He also took home a class win.
There was a long break after one of the open wheelers had an excursion off track and ripped a wheel off, but the driver walked away unharmed, a tribute to the strength of his homemade car. As usual there was a wide and interesting range of cars at the event, from open wheelers through to minis, 70’s sedans up to modern 4wd turbos and hot hatches.
Looking forward to the next event which is a hill climb at Barbagallo Raceway in early November.
BOAB Meet n Eat
By Eddie Lankhorst
Another fabulous display of Lotus at Kings Park which included a long time no-see little bright Yellow Elise and its owner Craig. Our evening run for dinner saw us enjoying a meal at the Wembley Hotel. Was great to see Graeme and Rose join us for dinner.
