This just in:

Hey there!

We appear to be gradually regaining some sense of normality as the country (except Victoria) starts to get used to the new normal post-COVID. Social distancing is likely to be with us for a while yet (likely until either COVID is eradicated and/or a vaccine is available.

The good news is that we are now allowed to drive our cars (including the historic registered ones) again for pleasure. With some clear guidelines in place, events are starting to appear on the calendar:

• On Saturday the 18th of July we have the first LOTD of the year at Wakefield Park. Sadly the Victorians will be unable to attend, but we are hoping for a fun-filled day with friends nonetheless
• Also on Saturday, the 18th of July – the CSCA series get back underway at Marulan
• On Sunday the 19th of July we are planning to reconvene the Tyre Kick and Coffee at the Kokoda Cafe, with appropriate social distancing being observed please
• August 28-30 will see the HSRCA run their Spring Festival at Wakefield Park with a strong turnout expected

Aside from the rather dull issue of COVID and lockdown, we continue to hold our breath regarding the likelihood of Lotus 2021 going ahead in February next year. We still hope to be in Tasmania then, but will make the decision in September.

Hoping you have all completed your projects, sorted out the garden, tidied the garage and generally caught up on all those tasks on your to do list. I haven’t!

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones, have fun, and keep it upright and on the black stuff. I look forward to catching up with lots of you over the next few weeks of events

Pip pip,
Ashton

Apologies for the late arrival of CC this month – entirely my fault, and due to an abnormally high workload in my ‘real’ job causing me to fail to realise it is nearly mid June.

As we start to see the relaxation of restrictions around movement and congregation, it is encouraging to see that car clubs generally are starting to get events back into the calendar both here and overseas.

Likewise, your committees have been beavering away to work out what and when we can expect to be able to undertake activities; so the following is a status update more than an announcement.

First up, the planning for Lotus 2021 continues to be held in limbo while we await further lifting of restrictions for interstate travel. However, we have set ourselves a date of the start of September to make a call one way or another, and based on current restrictions being lifted, and with fingers crossed there is no ‘second wave’, we expect to commence asking for deposits and making bookings then. It is worth noting that we will have to make some quick decisions, so would be immensely grateful for your decision as to whether you wish to attend or not once we ask.

Next up is the CSCA championships, which evolved into an eRacing series during lockdown, and is gradually coming out of hibernation we hope.

In the meantime, the team at Lotus Cars Australia and Simply Sports Cars has organised one of their excellent Lotus On Track Days for Saturday 18th July. The booking form is at this link.

The HSRCA, with whom we have a very close relationship, has announced that the Spring Festival will be going ahead at Wakefield Park over the weekend of August 28-30. This includes sprints for more recent (up to and including 1990s) cars, so up to and including Elise S1s. These weekends are always a lovely mix of interesting cars, interesting people and close racing, so if petrol flows through your veins, come along and find out how much fun it is. I am planning to run the Elite now that it’s undergone a bit of work following the cloud of smoke at the Summer Festival in December.

And socially, I’d appreciate your thoughts on whether a General Meeting might be popular as a venue to re-gather, reacquaint, and catch up? Drop me a line if so, and we’ll get something happening.

I was amused to see on the front cover of the HLR’s 100th magazine, a photo of the original gathering of HLR at Bill Friend’s farm, including a car (might be a Type 23 – anyone got better eyesight than me?) turning up on a trailer towed by a Land Rover. The precedent was set then (I believe it was quite commonplace), so now I need to sort out that leaking welch plug in my otherwise rebuilt Series 2.

On a personal level, a quick update on the fleet. The Elite engine rebuild is almost completed, the Eleven continues to progress at the expert hands of Adam Doyle Smith – last update showed the front clip almost completed – and I momentarily thought of selling Gidget, but no sooner had I posted adverts in a few places than I decided that was premature, and anyway, I have been accepted into the re-run of the Perth-Sydney Marathon in late October 2021, so I need to get her sorted for that. The organisers have managed to get six of the original cars that took part in the London-Sydney Marathon in 1968 (of which the Perth-Sydney leg was the last stretch) to participate, so it should be a fun occasion. We’ll be taking 10 days, where the original race took three – to cover 5500km of largely dirt!

Right, before my laptop crashes again, I’ll fire this off to Tom.

Take care, stay safe, and I look forward to seeing you out and about soon.

In the meantime, keep it upright and on the black stuff,

Pip pip,
Ashton