Get caught up on all the Lotus news in Western Australia, with Eddie Lankhorst’s Quokka Talk for December, 2017.
Quokka Talk
By Eddie Lankhorst
It’s been relatively quiet on the motorsport scene here in WA over the last month, so it was quite fitting that Vicky and I chose to go to Victoria and participate in Targa High Country. What a blast it was! Simply Sports Cars did an excellent job providing full support to 24 cars, across 4 categories.
Having little Ruby is Melbourne made this an accessible event for us. But this poses a question for the motorsport enthusiast in WA: where do we go, and how far do we need to travel, to find more challenging events? The loss of the RAC track has been very notable this year. We’ve now got one major raceway at Wanneroo, or a two hour trip to Collie.
Wanneroo offers some competitive events and lots of Test and Tune days, if you go during the week. There are a couple of other circuits (essentially carparks adapted to be a track), but in my opinion these are not specifically setup for safe motorsport. For example, Kwinana Motorplex, with the Targa West Rally sprint series, has many curbs, walls, fences and barriers to catch the unwary. Midvale speed dome is a small circuit around the carpark, with many trees, ditches, curbs and bumps to hit. When is the State government going to realise that there is a need for more affordable motorsport facilities for driver education and the many motoring enthusiasts? We enjoyed Targa West back in August, maybe we’ll get a few more to join us next year.
On other matters, our Club Lotus WA wall 2018 Calendar is printed and ready for your purchase. Cost is $15 each plus postage, but will also be available for collection at the following events:
- December
- Sat 2nd State Speed Event Series at Barbagallo raceway (final round of WA Championship 2017)
- Sun 10th Lotus WA Christmas lunch is scheduled for Sunday 10th December at John and Robyn Edmondson’s new house in Jane Brook estate. You can either turn up at the venue at 12 noon or participate in our last EMR (meet Guildford Railway carpark 8am) for the year which will end at John and Robyn’s. RSVP before 8th Dec so we can cater to numbers. Address will be advised and further details if you confirm attendance. Non-members, Family and kids are welcome.
- Mon 11th BOAB Meet n Eat at 6pm Kings Park
The Club Lotus Championship 2017 has gotten off to a great start but participation started to dwindle due to other commitments from members. However, points for the Championship series so far stand at:
- Kevin Fitzmaurice 104 pts
- Steve Metlitzky 63 pts
- Vicky Rowe 46 pts
- Eddie Lankhorst 40 pts
- Doug Runciman 35 pts
- Richard Cooper 35 pts
- Graeme Martin 30 pts
- Steve Pretzel 15 pts
- Mark Thrift 10 pts
One more round boys and girls on Sat 2nd Dec, although this is likely to be a battle to knock Vicky off third, with Kevin’s outstanding driving putting him well ahead of the field and Steve just needing to show up to hang on to his 2nd spot.
Monday BOAB Meet n Eat 13th Nov
Story & images thanks to Les Proctor
This month’s Boab Meet n Eat was meant to end with a special presentation by local detailing expert Des at his AutoFX WA premises. However, our FB Group Event only indicated a confirmed 6 people attending hence why I postponed it to January depending on the numbers. What happens? 9 cars and 13 people turn up!
So, it was a great turnout that greeted Marilyn and I when we pulled into the Boab Tree carpark in Kings Park. Not only was Craig there in his S1 HPE (Honda-Powered Elise to the uninitiated) but we had three chrome orange S3 Elises!
New S3 V6 Exige S owner Alex was there with his car that was originally a Victorian-registered vehicle. Shod with Advan A050s semi-slick tyres, it is apparent that the car has done some track days in Victoria before coming over to W.A. Coincidentally, Alex and I knew each other from previous working lives which reminds me what a small place Perth is.
Richard (Lotus Yoda) was also there after picking up his newly-tuned Haltech ECU. Richard recently celebrated a birthday and as our resident Lotus stalwart and cheerleader, we all wish him a very happy birthday and many more to come! I know so many of us that have richer lives because of meeting Richard and think we are so lucky to have him as part of the Lotus community.
Eventually, it dawned upon me that without Eddie there to decide things, it would fall on me to pick a spot for dinner which in essence also dictated our route there. I picked a usual favorite which was ‘Little Creatures’ in Fremantle and that would allow us to follow the scenic river drive there with plenty of curves thrown in. Locals refer to this as the Mosman Park Special Stage. Somehow, we lost Andrew exiting Kings Park but thankfully we caught up with him almost at the end of the drive just as we entered Fremantle.
Apart from that little hiccup, the drive was great and as summer gets into full swing and days are longer, the amazing sunsets that provide the kaleidoscope of colours as a backdrop to our evening drives are just strikingly beautiful. I am reminded why so many of us love Perth so very much.
Our night was made complete when we arrived at our destination only to find Steve there to join us for dinner! I love our community for reasons such as this; if someone cannot make the drive, they come for the social dinner at the end to catch up with all of us. We all had plenty of food and chatting and I was on a mission to encourage Jarred to come and attend a track day to fully appreciate how his S3 Elise S handles. Truth be told, I have been getting back into motorsport recently and have been doing lots of events to increase my seat time and learning. Hopefully, both Alex and Jarred will join many of us who love using our Lotus sports cars for what they were designed and built for.
Everyone left happy and smiling with full bellies and reminders to come to the November EMR on Sunday 19th at 8AM Guildford Train Station.
Esprit For Sale
Silver 1983 Lotus Turbo Esprit, with about 55k miles on the clock.
It is in very good condition, with a completely refurbished gearbox and turbo, and new tyres.
Has been in storage for 2 years.
Maintenance log of all servicing since owner purchased. Well respected owner in WA who has been transferred to UK and is now keen to sell. I am not the owner but you can direct enquiries through me, Eddie Lankhorst 0414 431 589.
Offers in excess of $50k will be considered.
