P A R T S FOR A L L S E V E N M O D E L S - A 1 9 5 7 TO DATE R A P I D MAIL O R D E R S E R V I C E ^s E X P O R T O R D E R S W E L C O M E

ENGINE BUILDING TUNING N E W amp E X C H A N G E UNITS

T R A N S M I S S I O N NEW amp RECONDITIONED

SERVICING R E P A I R S amp RESTORATIONS

ACCIDENT R E P A I R S

We a r e A g e n t s o r S t o c k i s t s o f m o s t l e a d i n g b r a n d s i n c l u d i n g

W E B E R K amp N S P A X KENT Cams VANDERVELL BEARINGS MINILITE Wheels WILLANS Seat Bel ts NGK TOP TEK HELMETS OE LOTUS amp C A T E R H A M Parts MOTORCRAFT LUCAS Plus our range of REDLINE Accessor ies

F o r S p a r e s R e p a i r s S e r v i c i n g o r F r e e A d v i c e T e l e p h o n e o r V i s i t o u r p r e m i s e s i n C a t e r h a m O n l y m i n u t e s f r o m J u n c t i o n 6 M 2 5 S h o r t w a l k f r o m B R S t a t i o n

HISTORIC SEVEN PARTS S U P P L I E R S

1 R E D L I N E COMPONENTS L T D

FACTORY APPOINTED PARTS amp SERVICE CENTRE

TEL (01883) 346515 FAX (01883) 341604

TIMBER HALL 19 TIMBER LANE CATERHAM SURREY CR3 6LZ ENGLAND

E n t h u s i a s t i c f a m i l y b u s i n e s s P a r t s a n d a c c e s s o r i e s a v a i l a b l e

O l d a n d n e w m o d e l s m a i n t a i n e d L o t u s a n d C a t e r h a m 7 s p e c i a l i s t s

M e n u s e r v i c i n g o r b e s p o k e f o r y o u r u s e M o d i f i c a t i o n s o r u p g r a d e s f o r r o a d amp t r a c k

CONTINUOUS SEVEN 1 9 7 7 - 2 0 0 7 SERVICE FOR THIRTY YEARS

C a t e r h a m A p p r o v e d F i r e b l a d e P a r t s w w w j a m e s w h i t i n g c o m Appletree Works 26-30 Glenfield Rd Ashford Middx TWI5 IJL t)+44 (0) I 784 241466 f) +44 (0) I 784 25091 5

Club administration and membership services

including Event Support Vehicle (ESV) bookings Calendar

coordination and advertising in Lowflying

We s u p p o r t t h e L e u k a e m i a R e s e a r c h F u n d

Sam Pearce

Lotus Seven Club PO Box 7 Abergavenny NP7 5WQ

e sampearceLotus7clubcom

t +44 (0)7000 L7CLUB(572582) f +44 (0)1873 858717

for membership enquiries or changes of address contact

e memsecLotus7clubcom or Sam at the address above

or y o u c a n d o w n l o a d a m e m b e r s h i p f o r m f r o m t h e C l u b w e b s i t e

Annual membership is pound 4 0 which includes Lowflying ( U K a n d O v e r s e a s )

Contacts

Chairman

Steve Winterberg

South Lodge Cottage Rogers Lane

Findon W Sussex BN14 ORE

t 01903 873007 m 07855 846963

stevewinterberglotus7clubcom

General Secretary

pending further announcement

please direct any queries

to the Chairman ( s e e a b o v e )

Company Treasurer

Andy Couchman

Bank House Great Rissington

Cheltenham Glos GL54 2LP

t 01451 821982

andycouchmanlotus7clubcom

Membership Secretary

Sam Pearce s e e a b o v e

AO AR Coordinator

Martin Richards

t 07884 437652

martinrichardslotus7clubcom

IT and Webmaster

Barry Sweeney

PO Box 777 Haywards Heath RH16 2YA

t 01444 458065

sitemanagerlotus7clubcom

Competition Secretary

Mark Durrant

15 Searles View Horsham

West Sussex RH12 4FG

t 01403 250468

markdurrantlotus7clubcom

Regalia Manager

Nick Add i s on

m 07881 516710

nickaddisonlotus7clubcom

LRF NtL Coordinator

Rachael Sangha

Nuke the Leuk PO Box 585

Cambridge CB1 OFN

t 01223 271440 m 07974 097771

nuketheleuklotus7clubcom

Lowflying

Editors Designer

Tony Pashley

t 020 8771 8337

editorlotus7dubcom

for submissions by post

send to the Editor

co 2 Oak Lodge 130 Auckland Rd

London SE19 2RQ

Classified advertising

see directions on the

Classified pages of the magazine

Regalia sales

Faye Rafferty at BTC Group

t 020 8569 2250

e faye_raffertybtcgroupcouk

Track day Coordinator

Geoff P ick in

CLementeita Vinegar Hi l l Undy

Newport Monmouthshire NP26 3EJ

t 01633 881837

geoffpickinlotus7clubcom

Members Benefits Coordinator

Geoff Brown

t 01793 876465

geoffbrownlotus7clubcom

Event Support Vehicle Mananger

Malcolm Godfrey

maLcolmgodfeyLotus7cLubcom

Other team members

Simon Rogers

simonrogerslotus7clubcom

David Nelson

davidnelsonlotus7club

Lotus Seven Historian

John Watson

f 01923 836637

historianlotus7registercouk

Caterham Archivist

Rosey Moffatt

roseymcaterhamcouk

Valuations of Sevens

f o r i n s u r a n c e p u r p o s e s o n l y

Guy Munday

t 01508 530491 (work hours)

s e e n o t e o n N u k e - t h e - L e u k p a g e

indicates Management team

indicates CLub Directors

Our former Chairmen

Dave Mirylees (founder)

Lol Pilfold

Nick Richens

Roger Swift

Keith Jecks

Andrew Walker

Trade advertising

see CLub administration above

for non-receipt of Lowflying or

change of address

please notify the Membership

Secretary

Lowflying is printed by

Shanleys Ltd

16 BeLvoir Street Bolton BL2 6BA

t 01204 523773

wwwshanLeysdpcom

The RegaLia range can be ordered

online (or an order form downloaded)

at wwwlotus7shopcouk

Lowflying is pub l i shed by the

Lotus Seven Club w w w b t u s s e v e n c l u b c o m

an Lowflying for Lotus and Caterham Seven enthusiasts

this month

Picture gallery another slice of Life from the fridge door 2

The Lotus Seven Club at 25 4

News and events 7

Welcome to new members 9

Beginners bluff A wry view on the world of competition driving 11

Llys y Frantastic

our speed eventers tackle their first h i l l of the season 14

R500 a weekend with Caterhams latest adrenalin pump 16

Curborough a wet day at everybodys favourite sprint venue 20

Island hopping the very well-received WightBlat event 23

Nuke the Leuk

the latest fundraising news 26

Area meetings directory 28

From the other side of the fence the view from the terraces at Curborough 31

Classified advertisements 32

Diary of events 34

The Lotus Seven Club is the trading name of Seven Club Limited Registered office 9 Nevill Street

Abergavenny Monmouthshire NP7 5AA Company registration number 3880568 A copy of the Companys

constitution and rules is available on written request to the Company Secretary details above

Please note Views e x p r e s s e d h e r e i n a r e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y t h o s e o f S e v e n Club L i m i t e d ( t h e C l u b ) merely the

v i e w s a n d e x p e r i e n c e s o f i n d i v i d u a l writers O p i n i o n s ( w h e t h e r t e c h n i c a l or o t h e r w i s e ) s h o u l d n o t be c o n s t r u e d

a s p r e c i s e a u t h o r i t a t i v e a d v i c e The Club r e c o m m e n d s r e a d e r s to t a k e s p e c i f i c p r o f e s s i o n a l a d v i c e a n d t h a t

t e c h n i c a l a n d o r m e c h a n i c a l work is o n l y u n d e r t a k e n b y s u i t a b l e q u a l i f i e d i n d i v i d u a l s The Club d o e s n o t a c c e p t

a n y l i a b i l i t y f o r a n y l o s s o r d a m a g e s u f f e r e d by a n y r e a d e r a f t e r r e a d i n g t h i s p u b l i c a t i o n a c t i n g u p o n m a t t e r s

d i s c u s s e d or t a k i n g p a r t i n e v e n t s m e n t i o n e d E d i t o r i a l c o v e r a g e o r a d v e r t i s i n g d o e s n o t i m p l y e n d o r s e m e n t

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 1

A pure horsepower race in rather better weather

than seen in last months feature David

Williams captured this scene on his drive from

Mays Goodwood B r e a k f a s t The foliage and crops

even match the car

Beautiful efficient simplicity Series

captured alongside Fireblade-engined

Sevens from different eras

surely in keeping with the Chapm

Above seven-year-old

Darcy Stubbs made her model

of a Seven on the Club

stand at the Stoneleigh kit-cat

show and right Darcy is

pictured with father Mais full-

sized Seven

Below a tight line at La Source

Josh Daw takes a drive in the electric Seven at last years

50th Celebration Josh then 12 was getting in some

practice for when hes old enough to drive father Chriss car

Mind you they might all need to be electric by then

2 Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8

The fridge door

Lowflying July 2 0 0 8 3

News and events

Fri 25th-Sun 27th July

Lotus Seven Club 25th anniversary event a t the S i l v e r s t o n e C l a s s i c h i s t o r i c race m e e t i n g

We a p p r e c i a t e t h a t t h i s e v e n t

h a s t a k e n a white to s o r t o u t a n d

t h a t t i m e is t i g h t Were s o r r y

f o r t h e r u s h b u t p l e a s e n o t e t h e

c l o s i n g d a t e s f o r t i c k e t s a n d b o o k

a s s o o n a p o s s i b l e T h a n k y o u

F o r a n y o n e w h o h a s n t b e e n to

S i l v e r s t o n e b e f o r e t h e c i r c u i t

is o f f t h e A 4 3 a f e w m i l e s to t h e

s o u t h - w e s t o f Towcester

N o r t h a n t s a n d well s i g n p o s t e d

As M O S T M E M B E R S wil l know 2008 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Club For

twenty-five years members have fostered the enthusiam and affection for the

Seven and perhaps most importantly ensured the continued and serious use of

the cars for touring competition and more-or-less everyday use O u r little

community has not only provided a support network to help us all maintain run

and enjoy our Sevens but also an environment in which such an oddball

obsession (by other peoples standards that is) can be regarded as entirely

normal and healthy For many of us membership of The Lotus Seven Club (and

a general association with Sevens and similarly-minded enthusiasts of other

persuasions) has forged new and lasting circles of friendship amongst folk we

might otherwise never have encountered

As singular focused and specialist as the appeal of the Seven is it is ind iv idua l i ty that hal lmarks

the Seven-enthusiast a lthough a niche-vehicle ( i f you l l excuse a ghastly marketing expression)

we all tailor our cars to our o w n needs and derive a slightly different enjoyment from them

There cannot be another car o f such extreme appl icat ion that appeals to such a wide variety o f

owner The huge variety o f events and activities undertaken by C l u b members underlines that

f rom historical restoration and preservation to fu l l -on compet i ton d r i v i n g daily transport or

adventurous long-distance t o u r i n g to out-of-the-way places A C l u b that embraces that breadth

and thrives is something special and a tribute to those very members whose enthusiasm and

dedicat ion have made it such a l o n g - r u n n i n g success

To celebrate our landmark the C l u b w i l l get together for an in formal celebration later this

m o n t h at Silverstone to take i n some o f the best o f historic motorsport The Seven was b o r n

into and very m u c h for the w o r l d o f amateur motor racing and out o f the compet i t ion activies

of the 7 5 0 M C to w h i c h so m u c h o f the sports subsequent engineering history can be traced

The Silverstone Classic is a very large and varied event w i t h the some top-notch race entries but

wi th plenty o f other attractions and family-orientated activities too The Lotus Seven Clubs

presence w i l l be relaxed w i th somewhere to meet up and mingle have a party and use as a base

to park the Seven and then head off to enjoy the racing i f you wish

C l u b stalwart and Herts Area Rep D i c k D i x o n has w i t h assistance from Geoff B r o w n sorted

out our weekend gathering against an almost interminable str ing of difficulties over venue

access amenities and costings Weve kept the arrangements as casual and broadly-appeal ing as

possible and hopefully ensured that the event is affordable and accessible We hope that lots o f

you w i l l be able to come along and j o i n i n the celebrations

We can all be very p r o u d o f our C l u b our achievements our reputation and the strength o f our

communi ty The w o r l d of m o t o r i n g might be very different in another twenty-five years t ime

but heres to another quarter-century o f the same k i n d o f enthusiasm and cameraderie

4 Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8

O u r 2 5 t h

Lotus Seven Club at Silverstone

The Club will have a stand there for the whole event on the outside of the circuit close

to Copse Corner and the bridge over the pits straight (for access to paddock and infield areas)

The Event Support Vehicle will be there plus a marguee and dedicated parking for Sevens

So we can relax have a good Seven-Club-style get-together or wander off and check out the

racing or all the other activities Saturday sees our parade on the Grand Prix circuit

Saturday evening is party time at the Club stand with bar barbecue live music and dancing

Sunday will be more laid-back the Club stand will provide a place to chill-out if you need a

rest from the racing roaming the paddocks or recover from earlier excesses

Therell be a stand photoshoot and selected Sevens may join the Grand Lotus Parade on track

Sunday has a full day of racing so therell be plenty to see trackside

Whats on at The Classic

The Silverstone Classic is one of the largest gatherings for classic motoring and motor racing

in the world On-track there 21 races (including those for the FIA Historic F l series and

Group C cars) and covering eight decades of nostalgic motor racing The paddocks are open

for you to browse among the teams and get a close Look at a remarkable selection of cars

A variety of track displays are planned too

Lotus is the celebrated marque this year as both Lotus and Silverstone Circuit celebrate their

60th anniversaries while the BRDC marks its 80th There should be plenty to interest both the

casual enthusiast of the marque and the serious students of competition cars

Therell be trade stalls automobilia art and photo galleries live music air displays a period

funfair creche and lots more Therell be action above the circuit too with glorious old

war-birds jet fighters and parachute displays F o r m o r e d e t a i l s see w w w s i l v e r s t o n e c l a s s k c o m

Ticket options prices times

Silverstone Classic admission

Weve arranged for circuit admission prices to be held at the pre-April advanced booking rates

for Club members and theres a buy-one-get-one-free deal Circuit entry for under-16s is free

Also free is grandstand seating and entry to the track-centre paddock areas

FRIDAY 25TH

Circuit entry pound 1 5 for two tickets p r a c t i c e b e g i n s 9 a m

SATURDAY 26TH

Circuit entry pound 2 0 for two tickets w a r m - u p a n d r a c i n g b e g i n s 9 a m

Sevens-only circuit parade pound 5 per car c a r s r e a d y by 1 1 a m p t e a s e a n d see n o t e s o n t h e r i g h t

Lotus Seven Club evening party pound 2 0 per person under 16s free

E v e n i n g e v e n t - 6 3 0 p m f o r 7 w h e n t h e b a r o p e n s f o o d s e r v e d f r o m 7 3 0 p m

SUNDAY 27TH

Circuit entry pound20 for two tickets w a r m - u p a n d r a c i n g b e g i n s 9 a m

LOTUS SEVEN CLUB MEMBERS PACKAGE

bull pound 7 0 includes circuit entry all 3 days for 2 people Saturdays circuit parade

and Saturday evening tickets for two

Sevens-only circuit parade

This wi l l be a controlled-speed run crash

helmets are not required but passengers must be

aged 12-plus Money goes to NtL

S a t u r d a y o n l y a n d restricted to f i r s t 2 0 0 cars

Camping

A local campsite is offering Club-only area if you

mention that you are a t o t u s S e v e n Club member

this is at the Whittlebury Hall Golf and Country Club

which is just 6-8 minutes walk from the circuit

Bookings are on an individual basis at pound20 per pitch

for the Saturday night

Contact Whittlebury Hall on 01327 850071

l o u i s e k i n g w h i t t l e b u r y c o m

The Car the Club built

will be there (see NtL p a g e s f o r m o r e d e t a i l s ) this

S e v e n - s t i l l raising funds for Leukaemia research-is

ten years old Wed like as many as possible of the

members who were involved in the project to gather

at the stand for a celebratory photograph

WEEKEND CIRCUIT PASSES

Circuit entry all 3 days pound 3 5 for two tickets

BOOKING DETAILS

for tickets (including the two-for-one

circuit admission offers) please contact Club

administration

Sam Pearce on 07000 572582

or see the contact details on page 1

Cheques payable to Seven C l u b L i m i t e d

Closing date for the two-for-one circuit entry

tickets is 11th July

Ticket applications for the Saturday evening

event close on 18th July

The C l u b s s t a n d is o p e n t o a l l m e m b e r s

t h r o u g h o u t t h e e v e n t w i t h r e f r e s h m e n t s a n d

h o s p i t a l i t y I f y o u v e a l r e a d y b o u g h t c i r c u i t

a d m i s s i o n y o u c a n s t i l l m a k e u s e o f t h e C l u b

s t a n d o r b o o k f o r t h e S a t u r d a y e v e n i n g e v e n t

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 5

The fridge door

Lowflying July 2 0 0 8 3

News and events

Fri 25th-Sun 27th July

Lotus Seven Club 25th anniversary event a t the S i l v e r s t o n e C l a s s i c h i s t o r i c race m e e t i n g

We a p p r e c i a t e t h a t t h i s e v e n t

h a s t a k e n a white to s o r t o u t a n d

t h a t t i m e is t i g h t Were s o r r y

f o r t h e r u s h b u t p l e a s e n o t e t h e

c l o s i n g d a t e s f o r t i c k e t s a n d b o o k

a s s o o n a p o s s i b l e T h a n k y o u

F o r a n y o n e w h o h a s n t b e e n to

S i l v e r s t o n e b e f o r e t h e c i r c u i t

is o f f t h e A 4 3 a f e w m i l e s to t h e

s o u t h - w e s t o f Towcester

N o r t h a n t s a n d well s i g n p o s t e d

As M O S T M E M B E R S wil l know 2008 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Club For

twenty-five years members have fostered the enthusiam and affection for the

Seven and perhaps most importantly ensured the continued and serious use of

the cars for touring competition and more-or-less everyday use O u r little

community has not only provided a support network to help us all maintain run

and enjoy our Sevens but also an environment in which such an oddball

obsession (by other peoples standards that is) can be regarded as entirely

normal and healthy For many of us membership of The Lotus Seven Club (and

a general association with Sevens and similarly-minded enthusiasts of other

persuasions) has forged new and lasting circles of friendship amongst folk we

might otherwise never have encountered

As singular focused and specialist as the appeal of the Seven is it is ind iv idua l i ty that hal lmarks

the Seven-enthusiast a lthough a niche-vehicle ( i f you l l excuse a ghastly marketing expression)

we all tailor our cars to our o w n needs and derive a slightly different enjoyment from them

There cannot be another car o f such extreme appl icat ion that appeals to such a wide variety o f

owner The huge variety o f events and activities undertaken by C l u b members underlines that

f rom historical restoration and preservation to fu l l -on compet i ton d r i v i n g daily transport or

adventurous long-distance t o u r i n g to out-of-the-way places A C l u b that embraces that breadth

and thrives is something special and a tribute to those very members whose enthusiasm and

dedicat ion have made it such a l o n g - r u n n i n g success

To celebrate our landmark the C l u b w i l l get together for an in formal celebration later this

m o n t h at Silverstone to take i n some o f the best o f historic motorsport The Seven was b o r n

into and very m u c h for the w o r l d o f amateur motor racing and out o f the compet i t ion activies

of the 7 5 0 M C to w h i c h so m u c h o f the sports subsequent engineering history can be traced

The Silverstone Classic is a very large and varied event w i t h the some top-notch race entries but

wi th plenty o f other attractions and family-orientated activities too The Lotus Seven Clubs

presence w i l l be relaxed w i th somewhere to meet up and mingle have a party and use as a base

to park the Seven and then head off to enjoy the racing i f you wish

C l u b stalwart and Herts Area Rep D i c k D i x o n has w i t h assistance from Geoff B r o w n sorted

out our weekend gathering against an almost interminable str ing of difficulties over venue

access amenities and costings Weve kept the arrangements as casual and broadly-appeal ing as

possible and hopefully ensured that the event is affordable and accessible We hope that lots o f

you w i l l be able to come along and j o i n i n the celebrations

We can all be very p r o u d o f our C l u b our achievements our reputation and the strength o f our

communi ty The w o r l d of m o t o r i n g might be very different in another twenty-five years t ime

but heres to another quarter-century o f the same k i n d o f enthusiasm and cameraderie

4 Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8

O u r 2 5 t h

Lotus Seven Club at Silverstone

The Club will have a stand there for the whole event on the outside of the circuit close

to Copse Corner and the bridge over the pits straight (for access to paddock and infield areas)

The Event Support Vehicle will be there plus a marguee and dedicated parking for Sevens

So we can relax have a good Seven-Club-style get-together or wander off and check out the

racing or all the other activities Saturday sees our parade on the Grand Prix circuit

Saturday evening is party time at the Club stand with bar barbecue live music and dancing

Sunday will be more laid-back the Club stand will provide a place to chill-out if you need a

rest from the racing roaming the paddocks or recover from earlier excesses

Therell be a stand photoshoot and selected Sevens may join the Grand Lotus Parade on track

Sunday has a full day of racing so therell be plenty to see trackside

Whats on at The Classic

The Silverstone Classic is one of the largest gatherings for classic motoring and motor racing

in the world On-track there 21 races (including those for the FIA Historic F l series and

Group C cars) and covering eight decades of nostalgic motor racing The paddocks are open

for you to browse among the teams and get a close Look at a remarkable selection of cars

A variety of track displays are planned too

Lotus is the celebrated marque this year as both Lotus and Silverstone Circuit celebrate their

60th anniversaries while the BRDC marks its 80th There should be plenty to interest both the

casual enthusiast of the marque and the serious students of competition cars

Therell be trade stalls automobilia art and photo galleries live music air displays a period

funfair creche and lots more Therell be action above the circuit too with glorious old

war-birds jet fighters and parachute displays F o r m o r e d e t a i l s see w w w s i l v e r s t o n e c l a s s k c o m

Ticket options prices times

Silverstone Classic admission

Weve arranged for circuit admission prices to be held at the pre-April advanced booking rates

for Club members and theres a buy-one-get-one-free deal Circuit entry for under-16s is free

Also free is grandstand seating and entry to the track-centre paddock areas

FRIDAY 25TH

Circuit entry pound 1 5 for two tickets p r a c t i c e b e g i n s 9 a m

SATURDAY 26TH

Circuit entry pound 2 0 for two tickets w a r m - u p a n d r a c i n g b e g i n s 9 a m

Sevens-only circuit parade pound 5 per car c a r s r e a d y by 1 1 a m p t e a s e a n d see n o t e s o n t h e r i g h t

Lotus Seven Club evening party pound 2 0 per person under 16s free

E v e n i n g e v e n t - 6 3 0 p m f o r 7 w h e n t h e b a r o p e n s f o o d s e r v e d f r o m 7 3 0 p m

SUNDAY 27TH

Circuit entry pound20 for two tickets w a r m - u p a n d r a c i n g b e g i n s 9 a m

LOTUS SEVEN CLUB MEMBERS PACKAGE

bull pound 7 0 includes circuit entry all 3 days for 2 people Saturdays circuit parade

and Saturday evening tickets for two

Sevens-only circuit parade

This wi l l be a controlled-speed run crash

helmets are not required but passengers must be

aged 12-plus Money goes to NtL

S a t u r d a y o n l y a n d restricted to f i r s t 2 0 0 cars

Camping

A local campsite is offering Club-only area if you

mention that you are a t o t u s S e v e n Club member

this is at the Whittlebury Hall Golf and Country Club

which is just 6-8 minutes walk from the circuit

Bookings are on an individual basis at pound20 per pitch

for the Saturday night

Contact Whittlebury Hall on 01327 850071

l o u i s e k i n g w h i t t l e b u r y c o m

The Car the Club built

will be there (see NtL p a g e s f o r m o r e d e t a i l s ) this

S e v e n - s t i l l raising funds for Leukaemia research-is

ten years old Wed like as many as possible of the

members who were involved in the project to gather

at the stand for a celebratory photograph

WEEKEND CIRCUIT PASSES

Circuit entry all 3 days pound 3 5 for two tickets

BOOKING DETAILS

for tickets (including the two-for-one

circuit admission offers) please contact Club

administration

Sam Pearce on 07000 572582

or see the contact details on page 1

Cheques payable to Seven C l u b L i m i t e d

Closing date for the two-for-one circuit entry

tickets is 11th July

Ticket applications for the Saturday evening

event close on 18th July

The C l u b s s t a n d is o p e n t o a l l m e m b e r s

t h r o u g h o u t t h e e v e n t w i t h r e f r e s h m e n t s a n d

h o s p i t a l i t y I f y o u v e a l r e a d y b o u g h t c i r c u i t

a d m i s s i o n y o u c a n s t i l l m a k e u s e o f t h e C l u b

s t a n d o r b o o k f o r t h e S a t u r d a y e v e n i n g e v e n t

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 5

News and events

Fri 25th-Sun 27th July

Lotus Seven Club 25th anniversary event a t the S i l v e r s t o n e C l a s s i c h i s t o r i c race m e e t i n g

We a p p r e c i a t e t h a t t h i s e v e n t

h a s t a k e n a white to s o r t o u t a n d

t h a t t i m e is t i g h t Were s o r r y

f o r t h e r u s h b u t p l e a s e n o t e t h e

c l o s i n g d a t e s f o r t i c k e t s a n d b o o k

a s s o o n a p o s s i b l e T h a n k y o u

F o r a n y o n e w h o h a s n t b e e n to

S i l v e r s t o n e b e f o r e t h e c i r c u i t

is o f f t h e A 4 3 a f e w m i l e s to t h e

s o u t h - w e s t o f Towcester

N o r t h a n t s a n d well s i g n p o s t e d

As M O S T M E M B E R S wil l know 2008 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Club For

twenty-five years members have fostered the enthusiam and affection for the

Seven and perhaps most importantly ensured the continued and serious use of

the cars for touring competition and more-or-less everyday use O u r little

community has not only provided a support network to help us all maintain run

and enjoy our Sevens but also an environment in which such an oddball

obsession (by other peoples standards that is) can be regarded as entirely

normal and healthy For many of us membership of The Lotus Seven Club (and

a general association with Sevens and similarly-minded enthusiasts of other

persuasions) has forged new and lasting circles of friendship amongst folk we

might otherwise never have encountered

As singular focused and specialist as the appeal of the Seven is it is ind iv idua l i ty that hal lmarks

the Seven-enthusiast a lthough a niche-vehicle ( i f you l l excuse a ghastly marketing expression)

we all tailor our cars to our o w n needs and derive a slightly different enjoyment from them

There cannot be another car o f such extreme appl icat ion that appeals to such a wide variety o f

owner The huge variety o f events and activities undertaken by C l u b members underlines that

f rom historical restoration and preservation to fu l l -on compet i ton d r i v i n g daily transport or

adventurous long-distance t o u r i n g to out-of-the-way places A C l u b that embraces that breadth

and thrives is something special and a tribute to those very members whose enthusiasm and

dedicat ion have made it such a l o n g - r u n n i n g success

To celebrate our landmark the C l u b w i l l get together for an in formal celebration later this

m o n t h at Silverstone to take i n some o f the best o f historic motorsport The Seven was b o r n

into and very m u c h for the w o r l d o f amateur motor racing and out o f the compet i t ion activies

of the 7 5 0 M C to w h i c h so m u c h o f the sports subsequent engineering history can be traced

The Silverstone Classic is a very large and varied event w i t h the some top-notch race entries but

wi th plenty o f other attractions and family-orientated activities too The Lotus Seven Clubs

presence w i l l be relaxed w i th somewhere to meet up and mingle have a party and use as a base

to park the Seven and then head off to enjoy the racing i f you wish

C l u b stalwart and Herts Area Rep D i c k D i x o n has w i t h assistance from Geoff B r o w n sorted

out our weekend gathering against an almost interminable str ing of difficulties over venue

access amenities and costings Weve kept the arrangements as casual and broadly-appeal ing as

possible and hopefully ensured that the event is affordable and accessible We hope that lots o f

you w i l l be able to come along and j o i n i n the celebrations

We can all be very p r o u d o f our C l u b our achievements our reputation and the strength o f our

communi ty The w o r l d of m o t o r i n g might be very different in another twenty-five years t ime

but heres to another quarter-century o f the same k i n d o f enthusiasm and cameraderie

4 Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8

O u r 2 5 t h

Lotus Seven Club at Silverstone

The Club will have a stand there for the whole event on the outside of the circuit close

to Copse Corner and the bridge over the pits straight (for access to paddock and infield areas)

The Event Support Vehicle will be there plus a marguee and dedicated parking for Sevens

So we can relax have a good Seven-Club-style get-together or wander off and check out the

racing or all the other activities Saturday sees our parade on the Grand Prix circuit

Saturday evening is party time at the Club stand with bar barbecue live music and dancing

Sunday will be more laid-back the Club stand will provide a place to chill-out if you need a

rest from the racing roaming the paddocks or recover from earlier excesses

Therell be a stand photoshoot and selected Sevens may join the Grand Lotus Parade on track

Sunday has a full day of racing so therell be plenty to see trackside

Whats on at The Classic

The Silverstone Classic is one of the largest gatherings for classic motoring and motor racing

in the world On-track there 21 races (including those for the FIA Historic F l series and

Group C cars) and covering eight decades of nostalgic motor racing The paddocks are open

for you to browse among the teams and get a close Look at a remarkable selection of cars

A variety of track displays are planned too

Lotus is the celebrated marque this year as both Lotus and Silverstone Circuit celebrate their

60th anniversaries while the BRDC marks its 80th There should be plenty to interest both the

casual enthusiast of the marque and the serious students of competition cars

Therell be trade stalls automobilia art and photo galleries live music air displays a period

funfair creche and lots more Therell be action above the circuit too with glorious old

war-birds jet fighters and parachute displays F o r m o r e d e t a i l s see w w w s i l v e r s t o n e c l a s s k c o m

Ticket options prices times

Silverstone Classic admission

Weve arranged for circuit admission prices to be held at the pre-April advanced booking rates

for Club members and theres a buy-one-get-one-free deal Circuit entry for under-16s is free

Also free is grandstand seating and entry to the track-centre paddock areas

FRIDAY 25TH

Circuit entry pound 1 5 for two tickets p r a c t i c e b e g i n s 9 a m

SATURDAY 26TH

Circuit entry pound 2 0 for two tickets w a r m - u p a n d r a c i n g b e g i n s 9 a m

Sevens-only circuit parade pound 5 per car c a r s r e a d y by 1 1 a m p t e a s e a n d see n o t e s o n t h e r i g h t

Lotus Seven Club evening party pound 2 0 per person under 16s free

E v e n i n g e v e n t - 6 3 0 p m f o r 7 w h e n t h e b a r o p e n s f o o d s e r v e d f r o m 7 3 0 p m

SUNDAY 27TH

Circuit entry pound20 for two tickets w a r m - u p a n d r a c i n g b e g i n s 9 a m

LOTUS SEVEN CLUB MEMBERS PACKAGE

bull pound 7 0 includes circuit entry all 3 days for 2 people Saturdays circuit parade

and Saturday evening tickets for two

Sevens-only circuit parade

This wi l l be a controlled-speed run crash

helmets are not required but passengers must be

aged 12-plus Money goes to NtL

S a t u r d a y o n l y a n d restricted to f i r s t 2 0 0 cars

Camping

A local campsite is offering Club-only area if you

mention that you are a t o t u s S e v e n Club member

this is at the Whittlebury Hall Golf and Country Club

which is just 6-8 minutes walk from the circuit

Bookings are on an individual basis at pound20 per pitch

for the Saturday night

Contact Whittlebury Hall on 01327 850071

l o u i s e k i n g w h i t t l e b u r y c o m

The Car the Club built

will be there (see NtL p a g e s f o r m o r e d e t a i l s ) this

S e v e n - s t i l l raising funds for Leukaemia research-is

ten years old Wed like as many as possible of the

members who were involved in the project to gather

at the stand for a celebratory photograph

WEEKEND CIRCUIT PASSES

Circuit entry all 3 days pound 3 5 for two tickets

BOOKING DETAILS

for tickets (including the two-for-one

circuit admission offers) please contact Club

administration

Sam Pearce on 07000 572582

or see the contact details on page 1

Cheques payable to Seven C l u b L i m i t e d

Closing date for the two-for-one circuit entry

tickets is 11th July

Ticket applications for the Saturday evening

event close on 18th July

The C l u b s s t a n d is o p e n t o a l l m e m b e r s

t h r o u g h o u t t h e e v e n t w i t h r e f r e s h m e n t s a n d

h o s p i t a l i t y I f y o u v e a l r e a d y b o u g h t c i r c u i t

a d m i s s i o n y o u c a n s t i l l m a k e u s e o f t h e C l u b

s t a n d o r b o o k f o r t h e S a t u r d a y e v e n i n g e v e n t

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 5

O u r 2 5 t h

Lotus Seven Club at Silverstone

The Club will have a stand there for the whole event on the outside of the circuit close

to Copse Corner and the bridge over the pits straight (for access to paddock and infield areas)

The Event Support Vehicle will be there plus a marguee and dedicated parking for Sevens

So we can relax have a good Seven-Club-style get-together or wander off and check out the

racing or all the other activities Saturday sees our parade on the Grand Prix circuit

Saturday evening is party time at the Club stand with bar barbecue live music and dancing

Sunday will be more laid-back the Club stand will provide a place to chill-out if you need a

rest from the racing roaming the paddocks or recover from earlier excesses

Therell be a stand photoshoot and selected Sevens may join the Grand Lotus Parade on track

Sunday has a full day of racing so therell be plenty to see trackside

Whats on at The Classic

The Silverstone Classic is one of the largest gatherings for classic motoring and motor racing

in the world On-track there 21 races (including those for the FIA Historic F l series and

Group C cars) and covering eight decades of nostalgic motor racing The paddocks are open

for you to browse among the teams and get a close Look at a remarkable selection of cars

A variety of track displays are planned too

Lotus is the celebrated marque this year as both Lotus and Silverstone Circuit celebrate their

60th anniversaries while the BRDC marks its 80th There should be plenty to interest both the

casual enthusiast of the marque and the serious students of competition cars

Therell be trade stalls automobilia art and photo galleries live music air displays a period

funfair creche and lots more Therell be action above the circuit too with glorious old

war-birds jet fighters and parachute displays F o r m o r e d e t a i l s see w w w s i l v e r s t o n e c l a s s k c o m

Ticket options prices times

Silverstone Classic admission

Weve arranged for circuit admission prices to be held at the pre-April advanced booking rates

for Club members and theres a buy-one-get-one-free deal Circuit entry for under-16s is free

Also free is grandstand seating and entry to the track-centre paddock areas

FRIDAY 25TH

Circuit entry pound 1 5 for two tickets p r a c t i c e b e g i n s 9 a m

SATURDAY 26TH

Circuit entry pound 2 0 for two tickets w a r m - u p a n d r a c i n g b e g i n s 9 a m

Sevens-only circuit parade pound 5 per car c a r s r e a d y by 1 1 a m p t e a s e a n d see n o t e s o n t h e r i g h t

Lotus Seven Club evening party pound 2 0 per person under 16s free

E v e n i n g e v e n t - 6 3 0 p m f o r 7 w h e n t h e b a r o p e n s f o o d s e r v e d f r o m 7 3 0 p m

SUNDAY 27TH

Circuit entry pound20 for two tickets w a r m - u p a n d r a c i n g b e g i n s 9 a m

LOTUS SEVEN CLUB MEMBERS PACKAGE

bull pound 7 0 includes circuit entry all 3 days for 2 people Saturdays circuit parade

and Saturday evening tickets for two

Sevens-only circuit parade

This wi l l be a controlled-speed run crash

helmets are not required but passengers must be

aged 12-plus Money goes to NtL

S a t u r d a y o n l y a n d restricted to f i r s t 2 0 0 cars

Camping

A local campsite is offering Club-only area if you

mention that you are a t o t u s S e v e n Club member

this is at the Whittlebury Hall Golf and Country Club

which is just 6-8 minutes walk from the circuit

Bookings are on an individual basis at pound20 per pitch

for the Saturday night

Contact Whittlebury Hall on 01327 850071

l o u i s e k i n g w h i t t l e b u r y c o m

The Car the Club built

will be there (see NtL p a g e s f o r m o r e d e t a i l s ) this

S e v e n - s t i l l raising funds for Leukaemia research-is

ten years old Wed like as many as possible of the

members who were involved in the project to gather

at the stand for a celebratory photograph

WEEKEND CIRCUIT PASSES

Circuit entry all 3 days pound 3 5 for two tickets

BOOKING DETAILS

for tickets (including the two-for-one

circuit admission offers) please contact Club

administration

Sam Pearce on 07000 572582

or see the contact details on page 1

Cheques payable to Seven C l u b L i m i t e d

Closing date for the two-for-one circuit entry

tickets is 11th July

Ticket applications for the Saturday evening

event close on 18th July

The C l u b s s t a n d is o p e n t o a l l m e m b e r s

t h r o u g h o u t t h e e v e n t w i t h r e f r e s h m e n t s a n d

h o s p i t a l i t y I f y o u v e a l r e a d y b o u g h t c i r c u i t

a d m i s s i o n y o u c a n s t i l l m a k e u s e o f t h e C l u b

s t a n d o r b o o k f o r t h e S a t u r d a y e v e n i n g e v e n t

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 5

Come along to a Caterham Drive Experience day and let us teach you to

drive a Caterham Seven on the limit Remember our motto - Drive it like

you stole it Alternatively hire a car from locations in the South of England

the Midlands or Scotland and get out on the open road for the ultimate

test drive

For further information call Caterham (South) 01883 333700 salescaterhamcouk Caterham (Midlands) 01455 841010 midlandscaterhamukcom

wwwcaterhamcouk

News and events

Flanders European union

Our growing international presence grows

further this month with the announcement of

a group in Flanders Belgium To begin with

the meetings wi l l be of the roving venue type

on the 1st Sunday of alternate (even-

numbered months) ie August October etc

Organiser is Sven De Loenen who can be

reached on +32 (0)496 065 188 or at

L o t u s 7 C l u b F l a n d e r s t e l e n e t b e

If you based within reach of Flemish Belgium -

or travelling through to Spa or the Ring

perhaps-please do get in touch with Sven and

see what they are up to

Guernsey new direction

Guernsey-based member Stuart Butler has

got in touch to explain that they are switching

to a more ad hoc basis for their meetings as

hes found they simply dont have enough

regular attendees to sustain a fixed monthLy

meeting The geographical situation makes it

pretty tough for mainlanders to add to passshy

ing trade and for Jersey-based members to

bolster the numbers on any frequent basis

The regulars are st i l l active though and meet

up with many of the other local sportscar

enthusiasts visit the local car shows or make

trips to trackdays or events such as Le Mans

Contact details are s t i l l to be found in the

Area directory so if you are local or heading

there on a holiday do get an touch and find

out what youre missing out on

Warwickshire new face new venue

Jane Varnum-Wilson has stepped forward to

take on the running of the Warwickshire Area

which had been without a leader for some

time Jane wi l l betaking up the reins from

August and hopes to announce a new venue

for the meetings very soon

In the meantime Jane is keen to talk with

members in the Area to gauge the kind of

events and activities they are interested in

and shell also start a thread on BlatChat for

the same purpose-so please do contribute

your ideas and give her the support to make i t

al l work for you Well done Jane

See d e t a i l s i n t h e A r e a d i r e c t o r y f u r t h e r n e w s

to f o l l o w when a v a i l a b l e

July 15th

Surrey new date for The Parrot and a July weigh-in

The very busy Surrey meeting is moving to

the Third Tuesday of the month when the

venue-The Parrot at Forest Green-should be

a l ittle less crowded commencing in July

To kick-off the new arrangement the Surrey AR

Martin Bushaway has secured the attendance

of well-repected Seven specialist Gary May

of Freestyle Motorsport Gary wi l l be armed with

corner-weighting scales and his set-up

knowledge and advice Please be prepared to

make a charitable donation i f you wish to take

advantage of this service

Lotus 60th anniversary

update

For those planing to go to the Lotus 60th

anniversary celebrations at Hethel and wanting

to camp nearby there is a suggested campsite

not far from Snetterton circuit

Thetford Forest Campsite

Puddledock Farm Wretham Rd Great Hockham

Thetford Norfolk IP24 1PA

www t h e t f o r d f o r e s t c a m p s i t e c o m

See wwwlotus60thanniversarycom and last

months Lowflying for more event deta i l s - i t

takes place on Sunday 14th September and the

Lotus Seven Club wil l be there

Forthcoming events

The Woodvale Rally on Merseyside first weekshy

end in August-a huge show for cars bikes

planes boats and much more-an opportunity

for a major get-together for North-East based

members in our 25th year The Clubs presence

is being arranged by the LADS Area

The special offer on tickets is now closed

but you can sti l l turn up and join in the fun

See Area d i r e c t o r y f o r c o n t a c t d e t a i l s

Dunsfold Park south of Guildford in Surrey

is hosting Wings and Wheels on Sunday 24th

August The Club will be there with a stand

along with the displays of classic and military

aircraft race cars and flying displays

See wwwwingsandwheelsnet for more details

Well be at the Amazing Machines event at

Legoland again this year -on Saturday 13th and

Sunday 14th Sept The Club stand is arranged by

Andrew Winter andrewwinfercouk

Check out wwwlegolandcouk for event details

Legoland is near Windsor in Berkshire

F S C Mixed Sources

Product group from we 11-managed forests and other controlled sources

i SGS-COC-003591

rest Stewardship Council

Lowflying is printed

on stock made with a

responsible attitude

to natural resources

Find out more about

the Forest Stewardship

Council and its aims

and standards at their

site w w w f s c - u k o r g

Oils Since 1 9 2 5

From Fully Synthetic Oils to Classic Monogrades

Delivered to your door

wwwopieoilscouklubricantshtm

email salesopieoilscouk

Tel 01209 215164 Fax01209 314019

The former Reims road circuit near Gueux

has long been one of the most popular stops for

folks heading south through France-where

so many of us have paused to photograph our

Sevens by the old pit buildings and stands

The place has been undergoing something of

a facelift in recent times and after last years

successful inaugural event therell be a second

retrospective event

The Weekend of Automobile Excellence wil l take

place on the 12th - 14th September and

wil l include spirited demonstration sessions by

racing and classic machinery of the era

Check out wwwwwea-organisationcom for

event details

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 7

News

Changes at head office Unfortunately (for us) E m i l y has decided to take up the chance o f a

lifetime and accompany her boyfriend w h o is m o v i n g to a new job i n

J a p a n - s o she w i l l be leaving us at the end of June

Sad faces emotional b lackmai l and threats o f no references h a n d shy

cuffs andor tar-and-feathering made not a jot o f difference I m afraid

As i f we w o u l d -)

I m sure you all j o i n me in thanking E m i l y for all her fantastic work

for the C l u b and Standby and for m a k i n g what we all thought might be

a high-r isk change in the way we administered the C l u b into a thorshy

oughly delightful and enjoyable experience for everyone

Wed also like to wish E m i l y all the very best w i t h her new venture

across the other side o f the wor ld - and please Emi ly stay i n touch from

t ime to t ime y o u have m a n y new friends here w h o w i l l all be keen

to see how you get o n and w i l l welcome your news As an aside i n case

you thought you were escaping these funny little beasties Japan is one

o f Caterhams biggest market places and they love Lotuses o f all k inds

That is the bad news The good news is that Susi has found a replaceshy

ment i n Samantha Pearce w h o jo ined Standby on the June 16th to

take over the C l u b A d m i n role We all welcome Sam aboard and look

forward to meeting her soon Sam w i l l have started work a couple o f

weeks before E m i l y leaves to ensure the same s m o o t h transit ion Susi

engineered when we original ly awarded the c o n t r a c t - s o we all expect

s imilar seamlessness N o pressure there t h e n Steve W

Sam Pearce joins the fray this month to look after Administration

and Membership matters Please say hello and welcome

her to our little world as and when the opportunity arises

UK SPORTS-CARS INDEPENDENT LOTUS amp CATERHAM SPECIALISTS

J J

f Wanted

If you are thinking of selling your Caterham contact Paul Clugston to discuss straight sale commission sale part exchange or whatever

O 01227 728190 copy wwwuksportscarscom

8 Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8

Membership matters

The L o t u s S e v e n Club s a y s hello to n e w m e m b e r s who h a v e recently j o i n e d the f o l d

^ e tiPBKr new members Peter Adams Herts

Nigel Arnott Hants

Anthony and Jane Ashton Doncaster

Geoff and Gill Barker Lancashire

Mr W Buggy and Mrs B Davies Tameside

Jon Crofts Berkshire

Bob Crouch Kent

Jonathan Dennis Oxford

Kenneth and Sandra Dyer Suffolk

Paul Etty Surrey

Paul Griggs and Janet Wise Surrey

Paul and Gail Hedley Gloucester

Roy Holland Herts

Martin Hull Kent

Mr Jowett Leicestershire

Steven and Annette Langley Gloucester

Mr CW and Mrs LB Laws Cheshire

Andrew McGaw Herts

Stuart Pascall Northants

Keith and Linda Pullen Monmouthshire

Paul Richards Herts

Marcello Romano Surrey

Jak Rotheram Merseyside

Jonathon Tile Essex

Jonathan Travers Bucks

Jeremy and Clare Wheeler Gloucestershire

Richard and Sara Whitnall Leicestershire

Mr J Whittaker and Miss J Benge Bucks

r a a v

Classic amp Modern Lotus 7 amp Caterham cars

Discount for club members

Agreed value on Lotus amp Caterhams over ten years old

Limited mileage discount

Our range of policies can include free club track day cover historic

rallies and family fleet cover

Try the Heritage Quick Quote at wwwheritage-quotecouk

0 8 4 5 3 7 3 4 7 7 7 BT Local call rate - Immediate cover available by telephone

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 9

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Against the clock

With t o n g u e f i r m l y i n c h e e k a n e w c o m e r t o o u r Speed E v e n t s s e r i e s Alan Bowler s h a r e s h i s e x p e r i e n c e s f r o m t h e p a d d o c k a n d f r o m t h e t r a c k ( a n d o n o c c a s i o n o f f t h e t r a c k t o o )

Beginners bluff R A Y S N O A T E S C O U L D not attend the L l a n d o w

S p r i n t due to a p r i o r engagement so he

conducted a te lephone interv iew w i t h new

competitor A l a n Bowler to get his story

RS Good evening Alan are you still able to help with a story on the Llandow Sprint for L o w f l y i n g

AB Y e s - h o w are y o u Ray D i d you enjoy the

party at Max s house D i d y o u discuss m y

proposed rule changes for FI

RS Im recovering Ill be ok But tell me how you got into sprinting

AB This wi l l be anonymous you say

RS Of course

AB G o o d After reading the recent plethora

o f L o w f l y i n g articles i n c l u d i n g Give spr int ing

a go Sprint into sprinting H i l l c l i m b i n g for

d u m m i e s and G o o n try spr int ing you k n o w

you want to I decided to d ip my toe into the

water The idea o f dr iv ing 200 miles for 4 laps

still d idnt quite make sense but there were

prizes at the end plus Id probably get o n T V

H o w difficult could it be Ive done a few track

days overtaken a couple o f G T I S so I figured

the Speed C h a m p i o n s h i p was ready for me

I kept costs d o w n by p i c k i n g up used equipshy

ment f rom B l a t C h a t and P i s t o n h e a d s w h i c h

meant I had m o r e budget for the large

mahogany-effect t rophy cabinet f rom M F I I

made a few m i n o r changes to the car and chatshy

ted w i t h some o f the other Surrey-based

sprinters O n their dubious advice I decided

to keep my sticky Yokohama tyres and go for

outright v ictory i n Class 3 Anyway I figured

Id pick up some prize money early o n to pay

for a few more upgrades P i ty I was so late

app ly ing for a c o m p e t i t i o n l icence but the

M S A d i d deliver it just in t ime

RS What was your first event

AB I went d o w n to G o o d w o o d Big mistake

The sun was sh in ing (fortunate as Ive never

driven on track in the wet) so a class record

was on the cards Scrutineering was less traushy

matic than expected and the other drivers

seemed pretty friendly It was l o o k i n g good

T h e race started a lot earl ier than I

expected a n d we al l drove off a r o u n d the

track on a formation lap I weaved around the

track w a r m i n g my tyres b l i p p i n g the throttle

and psyching out the others I reckoned the

organisers had probably heard o f m e a n d

w o u l d be put t ing me near the front o f the

grid Anyway there must have been a problem

because we were directed straight back into

the paddock I guess this sort o f thing happens

a lot but as nobody else seemed concerned I

kept quiet and waited for further instructions

After that they decided to r u n the cars i n

groups of four setting off at 20 second intershy

vals Wai t ing o n the start l ine wi th three o thshy

ers watching for the green light was exhilaratshy

ing Green light ist gear drop the clutch and

lots o f wheel-spin ist to 2nd 2nd t o (oh

no) 5th and I was o n my way Its a very difshy

ferent challenge to a twenty minute track day

session where concentrat ion can start to wanshy

der N i n e t y seconds (well O K perhaps a few

more than 90 ) at what feels like the c o m shy

bined l i m i t o f your and the cars abil ity focuses

the m i n d I thought I might have got away

wi th the fluffed gear c h a n g e - b u t no the ever-

helpful C o m p e t i t i o n Secretary had heard it

and compl imented me o n my technique as I

sneaked back quietly into the paddock t ry ing

to keep a low profile

Anyway there must have been a problem

wi th the t i m i n g gear or something as I didnt

w i n any prizes that day I d i d get to check out

the other cars t h o u g h a n d get some tips

Classes 1 and 2 appear to r u n o n van tyres

G o o d luck to them I say Classes 3 4 and 5 get

progressively faster w i t h sticky tyres fatter

exhausts more power and louder paint jobs

N o t too many people had discovered Yoko

A 0 4 8 S though so I should at least have that

advantage I spotted quite a few fancy gold

topped dampers I must remember to paint

mine gold too and get a few more stickers all

o f which w h i c h seems to help There were a lot

of ladies dr iv ing too they seem to have their

o w n private championship and are becoming

more competit ive than the m e n As long as

they enjoy it and support us proper rac ing

drivers thats fine ( T a k e c o v e r A l a n E d )

RS So then onto Llandow and Llys y Fran

AB L landow yes But Llys y Fran no amp

way I tr ied googling for Caterham + Welsh

H i l l c l i m b and found a video o f some absolute

nutter d r i v i n g way too fast up a farm track i n

the middle o f a m o n s o o n That sort o f behavshy

iour gives us Lotus Seven C l u b members a bad

name I dont th ink he had a proper gearbox

either So I decided against Llys y Fran but

played my joker and entered for Llandow

RS Why your joker

AB I d i d my first track day there a couple o f

years ago so I k n o w the place like the back o f

my hand Three right handers and a wiggly bit

-easy Plus its miles away i n South Wales so I

doubted too many people w o u l d show up I

caught a r u m o u r there was a test day on the

Friday before so rang the circuit and booked

myself in for a sneaky half day Practice makes

perfect

To be honest G o o d w o o d was a bit o f an

eye-opener in terms o f how tr icky it is to find

the perfect lap I th ink given a few more runs

I cou ld have knocked 20 seconds off my t ime

RS How did testing go

AB Great fun It was quieter than a track day

and most o f the other Seveners seemed preshy

occupied w i t h t inker ing rather than the serishy

ous business of do ing as many banzai laps as

possible A l l that corner-weighting and tyre-

p r o d d i n g cant do any good M a r k D u r r a n t

offered me a few passenger laps i n his

Superlight R500

It took me about 20 minutes to clamber in

through the ro l l cage but it was a fantastic

couple o f minutes (once Id opened my eyes)

I figured that his 250+ bhp monster at around

double the power o f my Roadsport might just

be a bit q u i c k e r B U T N O T T H A T F A S T H e

abandoned me to get out some slow steady

breathing followed by another 20 minutes o f

contor t ion He later explained that this was a

t e m p o r a r y Class 4 c o o k i n g engine o f just

i897bhp since the or ig inal had unfortunately

destroyed itself H m m So why w o u l d anyone

ever need more than i89-7bhp gt

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 11

Right and below a press-on performance

from Paul Forster in Class 4 attacking

the kerbs at Llandow

Right middle a different kind of Seven

an Austin Seven racer and below

picking a route through the chicane (and

the odd puddle)

Far right the coveted Golden Trowel -

which is awarded for the driver who most

recently went off-track gardening

Pictures from Rob Spencer

INDEPENDENT LOTUS amp CATERHAM SEVEN SPECIALISTS We buy and sell new and secondhand Sevens

We also offer a kit build facility plus any help you may require P l e a s e c o n t a c t S t u a r t W y l i e o n 0 1 7 3 7 6 4 5 2 1 3

Beechwood Gatton Bottom Merstham Surrey RH1 3BH wwwwoodcotesportscarscom

12 Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8

Right and below a press-on performance

from Paul Forster in Class 4 attacking

the kerbs at Llandow

Right middle a different kind of Seven

an Austin Seven racer and below

picking a route through the chicane (and

the odd puddle)

Far right the coveted Golden Trowel -

which is awarded for the driver who most

recently went off-track gardening

Pictures from Rob Spencer

INDEPENDENT LOTUS amp CATERHAM SEVEN SPECIALISTS We buy and sell new and secondhand Sevens

We also offer a kit build facility plus any help you may require P l e a s e c o n t a c t S t u a r t W y l i e o n 0 1 7 3 7 6 4 5 2 1 3

Beechwood Gatton Bottom Merstham Surrey RH1 3BH wwwwoodcotesportscarscom

12 Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8

Beginners bluff

After testing I had a great drive up through

mid-Wales to stay overnight w i t h Maest ro

Bowler Senior overnight Thats Maestro as i n

Fangio not the m u c h underrated hot hatch

pitched between the M e t r o and Montego H i s

advice was to not spin the wheels too m u c h at

the start and drive smoothly That sounds like

so l id advice for an M G B but what does he

k n o w about my race car for the road Dr ive it

like you stole it I say Then I had a look at the

remains o f my tyres O h dear

RS And did you win the Sprint this time

AB Accord ing to my new scoring system yes

- b u t more of that later Anyway Id forgotten

how big Wales is and how m u c h it rains So I

still had to set off unreasonably early to sign

on at 730 after 30 minutes bal ing out f rom

where the tonneau had leaked The Maestro

d idn t even get up to make me breakfast

Thankful ly the C i rcu i t cafe opened early

I attached my t i m i n g strut and checked over

the car This t ime the scrutineer wanted to see

my log book I explained that pretty as the car

is it wasnt for sale He looked cross and went

on about needing it to conf i rm the engine was

correct in case o f dispute Luck i ly M a r k was

on-hand to move h i m onto the next car before

it turned nasty (and before I got sent home in

disgrace)

First practice was O K but I went a bit more

sideways than planned as Id forgotten that the

tyres w o u l d be cold compared to my semi-pr i shy

vate endurance testing yesterday O n e o f the

marshals came over to have a pol i te w o r d

about me having all 4 wheels off the circuit on

both laps Oops A n o t h e r black mark

The t i m e d runs started off badly Id sort o f

reconciled myself to not w i n n i n g after seeing

some o f the other practice times posted but

c o u l d st i l l t ry to i m p r o v e M a e s t r o f inal ly

showed up and watched my first t imed r u n I

took off s m o o t h - a n d - s l o w l iked he d sugshy

gested and as I thought took longer than I

had in practice M y times were very close to a

few others i n c l u d i n g T Calvert w h o had been

about even wi th me at G o o d w o o d So long as

I beat h i m Id be satisfied Maestro told me to

ignore his earlier advice and drive w i t h a bit

more passion

T h e second r u n was a lmost per fect ion

N o b o d y c o u l d d r i v e the car faster o r s m o o t h e r

and I knocked a good chunk off my t ime N o w

I was just three hundredths behind T Calvert

so I knew I could w i n I prepared for he final

t i m e d r u n and was i n the zone (once Id

hotwired the car to get it to start) N o t h i n g

was going to stop me Green light loads o f

wheel s p i n i s t 2 n d a n d - o h n o - 5 t h gear

again T h e r u n was d o o m e d unless I t r i e d

something radical so I shifted back into yesshy

terdays banzai attack mode o f dr iv ing S l id ing

o n every corner w h a c k i n g the curbs a n d

b o u n c i n g off the rev-limiter

The t ime was fantast ic- I d knocked 4 secshy

onds off I l l be i n Autosporti I then took a

deep breath re jo ined reality and pol i te ly

asked the timekeeper to double check Rats

O u t came the Tippex-YA actually gone slower

M a y b e there is s o m e t h i n g to this s m o o t h

dr iv ing business after all

I stayed a r o u n d for the pr ize g iv ing m y

times were good but not enough for silvershy

ware just yet There was no m e n t i o n o f prize

money either but I guess its a taboo subject I

wanted to put some faces to names see who

the class winners were and see how big the

champagne bottles were To add insult to

injury rub salt into the w o u n d etc the final

t rophy for Fastest Lady was awarded

to Tamara Calvert N o Its just not dignif ied

for w o m e n to drive that quickly I crept back

quietly to the car to pack up

O n the long journey back d o w n the M4 and

while h o t w i r i n g the car again at the services I

had t ime to p o n d e r where it had a l l gone

wrong N o b o d y could be a better driver than

m e - t h e track day organiser f rom MotorSport

Events had passed o n the mantra that I f anyshy

one catches up w i t h you its because theyve

got more horsepower They couldnt possibly

be a better driver c o u l d they

A l l I need is an improved points scoring sysshy

tem based o n fairness equality and honesty

so here we go - a 3 second penalty for using a

trailer a p a r t f r o m M a r k because he let me p u t

my stuff i n h i s ) 3 second penalty for having

better tyres (actually make that different

tyres because some o f the Class 1 and 2 people

were quicker than me) 3 second penalty for

l o u d paint schemes 5 second penalty for

teams so far Ive identified the Welshmen o f

7 T i p s the D r o w n e d R a t R a c e r s and Team

Hawkes w i t h their fancy matching racesuits

10 second penalty for sequential gearboxes

A l so anyone w i t h a silver bonnet stripe gets

a 2 second bonus That should do it

M y next event C u r b o r o u g h I dont supshy

pose anyone has been there before so at least

we l l all be new to the circuit That should level

the playing field

RS Er thanks

AB It was a pleasure Please forward my new

scoring system to the C o m p e t i t i o n Secretary

anonymously bull

The trophy you dont want but then dont want to give up

The Golden Trowel

round 2

Llandow sprint 10 bull 5 bull 08

time points

Class 1

1 Jonathan Ward 87- 39 100- 00

2 Richard Ormson 92 41 94 57

3 Alistair Gibbins 93 51 93 46

Class 2

1 Michael Sankey 83 bull 14 100- 00

2 Roger Cumming 85 26 97 51

3 Stephen Herring 86 61 95 99

Class 3

1 David Nelson 80 13 100 00

2 Michael Calvert 80 26 99 84

3 Jeff Smith 81 19 98 69

Class 4

1 Martin Sargeant 79 59 100 00

2 Mark Durrant 79 86 99 66

3 Nigel Fox 80 96 98 31

Class 5

1 Simon Rogers 74 95 100 00

2 Adrian Williams 76 63 97 81

3 Robert Margel 79 11 94 bull74

Class 6

1 Graham Ford 82 48 100 00

BTD

Simon Rogers 74 95

Detailed results f o r all the classes can be

seen in Competitors Korner on the

Clubs website at wwwlotussevenclubcom

Lowflying July 2 0 0 8 13

Speed Championship

The Lys y Fran h i l l d i m b e v e n t s a w o u r S p e e d Eventers in f i n e f o r m Ray Snoates reports

o n s o m e g r e a t p e r f o r m a n c e s a n d S e v e n Club s p o r t i n g spirit Michael Calvert t o o k the p i c t u r e s

Llys y Frantastic IN T H E D E P T H S o f rural Pembrokeshire lies a

picturesque wooded valley i n the lee o f the

Llys y Fran reservoir T h e h i l l c l i m b course

snakes its way beneath the foot o f the d a m and

rises via some very interesting corners to a

v iewpoint across the water and the ro l l ing pas-

tureland beyond

Sounds like an idyl l ic venue doesnt it Wel l

it is but youd never have k n o w n that when we

came for our first visit in M a y last year V iew

what view M i s t ra in (and I mean torrential

Welsh rain) obscured everything bar the track

- o r the r i v e r - j u s t ahead o f the bonnet for the

whole day In fact I th ink that it got worse as

the day went o n

But what a contrast this year was B laz ing

sunshine and high temperatures for most o f

the day gave rise to s u n b u r n t scalps some

great t imes and talk o f actual ly c o m i n g to

Wales for a ho l iday w h i c h shows how the

heat can affect the funct ion ing o f even the

most logical brains

T h e day was organised by the Swansea

M o t o r C l u b and the paddock contained M G s

Renaults several Westfields a Jedi M o r g a n

rally Escorts etc but the Lotus Seven C l u b had

by far the largest turnout After s ign ing-on

and scrut ineer ing proceedings got off to a

very pleasant and leisurely start w i t h m u c h

sunbath ing t y r e - k i c k i n g and talk o f dar ing

deeds to come A n d the day exceeded al l

expectations

In Class 1 Alister G ibbons and A l a n Johnson

were given great encouragement by usually-

quick Richard O r m s o n as he was the slowest

o f the three in the two m o r n i n g practice sesshy

sions The t imed runs in the afternoon saw

experience come to the fore as Richard betshy

tered his first m o r n i n g effort by nearly 9 secshy

onds for an excellent 5081

Al istair just managed to stay ahead o f A l a n by

a mere 033 sees for second place

Class 2 was rather sparsely populated (with

only M i k e Sankey and Rob Spencer competshy

ing) but exciting nevertheless Rob evidently

made a gallant effort for the Y e l l o w T r o w e l

Typical action from the tr icky lower hairpin

award as he came i n f rom his first practice

w i t h nicely decorated wheels adorned w i t h

Welsh grass The yellow trowel (similar to the

M a i l l o t J a i m e in the Tour de France) is just as

one might find in garden centres and is tie-

w r a p p e d to the rol lover bar or cage o f the

driver w h o most recently strayed off stray off

the black stuff M i k e managed to (just) keep

ahead o f Rob all day finally w i n n i n g the class

w i t h 5038 seconds just i fy ing a celebratory

cigar in the paddock

As usual Class 3 was hotly contested w i t h

last years victor Jeff Smith h o p i n g to defend

his honour The first t imed runs saw the bookshy

ies favourite D a v i d Nelson put in a bl istering

4762 w i th Jeff R o b i n Brackett and Michae l

Calvert all very close beh ind O n his final r u n

Davids apparent desire to set BTD resulted in a

comprehensive exploration to the s u r r o u n d shy

ing pastureland This firmly secured the yelshy

low trowel award and the eventful run can be

watched in the comfort o f your o w n h o m e on

Y o u t u b e l A s torming M i c h a e l Calvert i n his

newly refurbished crossflow engined car

i m p r o v e d by over two seconds for second

place and an ever-colourful R o b i n Brackett

put in a great r u n for th i rd However Davids

first r u n was good enough to w i n the class

and as it eventually transpired fourth fastest

t ime o f the day

Class 4 w e l c o m e d new entrant o u r

C o m p e t i t i o n Secretary M a r k D u r r a n t w h o

having suffered a major engine failure in his

R 5 0 0 had jo ined the slower boys by d r o p p i n g

in a lcjobhp K-series Mechanica l gremlins (or

fairies possibly) seemed to plague the higher

classes and M a r k seemed to spend as m u c h

t ime helping others to fix things in the padshy

dock as he d i d behind the wheel

The most serious incident occurred when

M a r t i n Sargeant holed his sump at the end o f

the (grandly named) M o n a c o o n his first

r u n M a r t i n was disappointed to be facing the

poss ibi l i ty o f early retirement but this was

noth ing compared to the despair o f his dual

drive-and-fiancee Julie Greenhalgh w h o had

so m u c h enjoyed the drive in her first ever

spr int I am not sure whether it was Julies

enthusiasm Mart in s expertise or the sterling

efforts o f all the w i l l i n g helpers in the padshy

dock but somehow they managed to patch the

car up for just one t imed r u n each This was

enough to give M a r t i n th i rd in class w i th 4909

and Julie an excellent sub-60 seconds t ime

Predictably M a r k took the class by s torm

w i t h a 4732 w h i c h was not only the fastest i n

Class 4 but nearly good enough to get overall

B T D be ing second o n l y to the Jedi single

seater Second in class was taken by Nigel Fox

w h o posted an excellent 4879 seconds in his

( e B a y sourced) Zetec-engined car

By the t ime the Class 5 runners were on the

h i l l for their last r u n there was a reminder o f

why West Wales is so green A short sharp

thundery d o w n p o u r made it difficult for these

cars to use their considerable power

Despite a myster ious misf ire A d r i a n

W i l l i a m s conducted his new R 5 0 0 to a class

14 L o w f l y i n g July 2 0 0 8

Below Julie Greenhalgh storms up the

narrow confines of Llys y Fran on her first ever

hillclimb Julie had entered her first ever

speed event-the sprint at Llandow-the day

before and enjoyed it so much that she

jumped at the chance to take over a last-

minute cancellation TECHSPORT bull Independent Caterham and Lotus specialists bull

bull Caterham servicing maintenance and repairs bull

bull Race and trackday preparation bull

bull Trackside support bull New kit builds bull

bull Flat floor set-up and alignment services bull Parts service bull

A family business dedicated to your Caterham

Techsport Unit 8 Henson close Telford way Ind est Kettering Northants NN16 8PZ

Telfax 01536 522767 wwwtechsport-ukcom infotechsport-ukcom

R A C I N G

mm

w i n in 4754 followed by Shaun Elwell and then Rob Marge l

w i th his new Hayabusa engine s o u n d i n g very businesslike

Local (well hes Welsh anyway) hero and 7 Tips leader S i m o n

Rogers couldnt get his engine to r u n properly and had to setshy

tle for an uncharacteristic fourth place

Have you ever been accused o f d r i v i n g like a girl W e l l i f

what I saw at Llys y Fran was anything to go by take it as a s inshy

cere compl iment

A l l four ladies present ( inc lud ing novices Julie Greenhalgh

and G e m m a Hawkes) were sub-60 sees with G i l l Elwell post ing

a 5674 and Tamara Calvert an outstanding 5116 to take the

ladies prize both in the Seven C l u b and overall competit ions

So at the end o f a great day it was for most the long trek

back to c iv i l i sa t ion w i t h the Seven i n tow N o t so for the

(slightly mad) Calverts who insist on d r i v i n g their hoodless

and aeroscreened (and Xflow-engined-hooray Ed) car to

events in all weathers A l o n g wi th the equally-deranged Elwells

they formed Drowned Rat Racing here last year and I rememshy

ber p i ty ing them as they passed me on the M4 in the incessant

downpour w i t h the prospect o f three more hours o f severe

d i scomfort This year m y emotions were somewhat closer to

envy as they s m i l e d their way past o n a beauti ful s p r i n g

evening Maybe Wales isnt so bad after all bull

See page 21 for results

S p e c i a l i s t s i n F o r d b a s e d 7s a n d e a r l y m o d e l s

All Seven work undertaken bull Road and Race Engines bull Rebuilds Upgrades bull Road and Track Suspension Setup

Telephone For More Details

01362 820831 or

07986 961948

W e H a v e M o v e d

46 Hale Road Bradenham

Norfolk IP25 7RA

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 15

Below Julie Greenhalgh storms up the

narrow confines of Llys y Fran on her first ever

hillclimb Julie had entered her first ever

speed event-the sprint at Llandow-the day

before and enjoyed it so much that she

jumped at the chance to take over a last-

minute cancellation TECHSPORT bull Independent Caterham and Lotus specialists bull

bull Caterham servicing maintenance and repairs bull

bull Race and trackday preparation bull

bull Trackside support bull New kit builds bull

bull Flat floor set-up and alignment services bull Parts service bull

A family business dedicated to your Caterham

Techsport Unit 8 Henson close Telford way Ind est Kettering Northants NN16 8PZ

Telfax 01536 522767 wwwtechsport-ukcom infotechsport-ukcom

R A C I N G

mm

w i n in 4754 followed by Shaun Elwell and then Rob Marge l

w i th his new Hayabusa engine s o u n d i n g very businesslike

Local (well hes Welsh anyway) hero and 7 Tips leader S i m o n

Rogers couldnt get his engine to r u n properly and had to setshy

tle for an uncharacteristic fourth place

Have you ever been accused o f d r i v i n g like a girl W e l l i f

what I saw at Llys y Fran was anything to go by take it as a s inshy

cere compl iment

A l l four ladies present ( inc lud ing novices Julie Greenhalgh

and G e m m a Hawkes) were sub-60 sees with G i l l Elwell post ing

a 5674 and Tamara Calvert an outstanding 5116 to take the

ladies prize both in the Seven C l u b and overall competit ions

So at the end o f a great day it was for most the long trek

back to c iv i l i sa t ion w i t h the Seven i n tow N o t so for the

(slightly mad) Calverts who insist on d r i v i n g their hoodless

and aeroscreened (and Xflow-engined-hooray Ed) car to

events in all weathers A l o n g wi th the equally-deranged Elwells

they formed Drowned Rat Racing here last year and I rememshy

ber p i ty ing them as they passed me on the M4 in the incessant

downpour w i t h the prospect o f three more hours o f severe

d i scomfort This year m y emotions were somewhat closer to

envy as they s m i l e d their way past o n a beauti ful s p r i n g

evening Maybe Wales isnt so bad after all bull

See page 21 for results

S p e c i a l i s t s i n F o r d b a s e d 7s a n d e a r l y m o d e l s

All Seven work undertaken bull Road and Race Engines bull Rebuilds Upgrades bull Road and Track Suspension Setup

Telephone For More Details

01362 820831 or

07986 961948

W e H a v e M o v e d

46 Hale Road Bradenham

Norfolk IP25 7RA

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 15

SSSSSSSSSi Weekend wonder

Caterhams Duratec-powered R500 was i n a t t e n d a n c e o n the Clubs s t a n d a t S t o n e l e i g h

Barry Sweeney r e c o u n t s his weekend with t h i s l a t e s t h i g h - s p e c i f i c a t i o n Seven

S U R P R I S E A C O U P L E O F W E E K S before the Stoneleigh Kit Car show dur ing a phone call

with Steve Winterberg he dropped into conversation something along the lines o f

H o w would you like to take the new R500 up to Stoneleigh Once Id collected my

thoughts I said that Id let h i m know in a day-or-sos time Im not k n o w n for having

sleepless n i g h t s - b u t that night as I laid my head o n the pi l low I considered the

offer that had been put to me Sleep didnt come quite so easily that n ight

The new R500 had been announced fairly

recently and naturally enough Id glanced at

the spec to see what Id be missing M y o w n

Seven is some 21 years o l d now and the only

other Sevens that Ive driven for any great disshy

tance have been a couple o f Series 11 Lotuses

A l l these cars have been 4-speed manuals ( H -

pattern se lect ion that is) w i t h cast - i ron

engines exhausts exiting o n the left and I susshy

pect that the total bhp w o u l d have been less

than that o f the machine o n offer

I found the idea o f a weekend l o o k i n g after

a 26obhp 6-speed car priced as starting from

pound36995 a little daunt ing I consoled myself

w i th the knowledge that there were two o f the

new cars and that I w o u l d probably be lent the

regular non-sequential 6-speed one wi th full

windscreen and weather gear

Needless to say I accepted the offer and in

t u r n spoke wi th A n d y Noble to arrange collecshy

t ion A n d y didnt seem too concerned about

my lack o f experience o f R 5 0 0 S so I let h i m

have my details for the insurance and starting

look ing forward to the c o m i n g weekend

Arrival F r i d a y was a nice hot day O n arr iva l at

Caterham I was delighted when I was told that

I w o u l d be leaving in the white car w i t h the

orangey-red s t r ipes- the one that I had seen in

the pictures on the E V O and B B C websites

A n d y explained that since this was actually a

p re -product ion mode l there were a couple

o f things that I w o u l d need to look out for

T h e first was the start ing procedure the

cars ign i t ion is secured by a p r o x i m i t y sensor

and card Unfortunately the card was not very

proximate i n fact it was i n Dart ford N o t to

w o r r y t h o u g h they had p r o g r a m m e d i n an

override start sequence w h i c h w o u l d enable

f i r ing up wi thout the card I was shown the

sequence and A n d y demonstrated how easy it

was to start the car without being in it N o t

something I m used to generally theres a c o u shy

ple o f prods needed on the throttle pedal a

kickback from the wasted-spark then a gentle

t ick l ing o f the accelerator to get my car r u n shy

n ing in the m o r n i n g

There was a q u i c k d e m o n s t r a t i o n o f the

sequential gearbox and a run- through o f the

Stack display and I was almost ready to go

After c h a n g i n g m y footwear to s o m e t h i n g

more appropriate A n d y said he was going to

leave me to it and he hoped that I w o u l d

remember the start sequence H e was going

back ins ide now to watch me t h r o u g h

the darkened w i n d o w s and wait for me to

come back to ask h i m to show me again H a

Theres confidence for you

Anyway buckled in wi th car started (quite

p leased-a lmost s m u g - that I hadnt made a

fool o f myself) I tr ickled out to the edge o f

the forecourt

A nice person in a large saloon let me out

into the short queue and as the pedestrian

crossing lights turned to green I engaged the

c l u t c h and stalled the engine T h i s fairly

embarrassing m o m e n t was made worse as the

start sequence took a few seconds longer than

just turn ing a key or pressing a big red button

I promised myself that Id be more sensitive

w i t h the c lutch pedal a n d eased mysel f

towards the roundabout i n first gear

The change into second was made at reashy

sonably modest crank speed but the crack

from the propshaft andor dif f was something

o f a surprise Nevertheless onwards and

upwards out o f the t o w n and I still couldnt

get the hang o f the gear changes O n e o f the

other problems Id been to ld about was that

the Stack dash wasnt showing the amount o f

fuel left in the tank

A h so how many miles per tankful then

About 200 came the reply

W e l l that l l be O K but can you show me the

odometer then

Er thats not w o r k i n g either

At the filling station i n nearby Godstone I

pleasantly surpr ised to find that the p u m p

nozzle went cleanly into the tank and I was

able to fill up without it spitt ing back or cutshy

t ing out A n improvement over times o f o l d

T h e traffic o n the way h o m e was pretty

unpleasant w i t h lots of queuing to junct ions

the c lutch was heavy compared w i t h others

Ive used but the box was easy to get into

neutral so it wasnt too m u c h o f a chore

A p r o b l e m for me was that I m used to

double-dec lutch ing w h i c h w i t h a sequential

box just isnt possible a n d occas ional ly I

released the clutch too sharply causing more

sharp bangs from the transmission I took the

o p p o r t u n i t y to squeeze the throttle pedal a

few times and delighted in p ick-up from low-

engine-speed I was l o o k i n g forward to using

more o f the power but the roads just werent

clear enough

16 Lowflying July 2008

Passengers O f course the first th ing that one must do

having taken possession (albeit temporari ly)

o f a new car is to show it off I had to pick my

12-year-old son Jack u p f rom his friends

house Said friends father is H o r t u s I n f i n i t u s s

Tony Smith (a veteran o f H a m p t o n C o u r t and

Chelsea shows) who shares a Seven wi th his

father N o w Tonys a tall chap and has a little

difficulty getting i n to a Series 3-sized car but

that wasnt going to stop h i m c o m i n g for a

q u i c k sp in i n this par t i cu la r Seven It was

early evening and there are a few roads close to

his house that are good c o u n t r y routes for

someone whos still getting used to a different

c a r - m a i n l y straight w i t h some nice bends

but most important ly v i r tual ly empty

We took the road south and once into secshy

o n d gear squeezed the throttle open progresshy

sively and let the car have its head Being wary

I was changing up before the Aces lights were

close to c o m i n g on but still the acceleration

was quite special the road just streamed

towards us like that in a video game where the

image o f the car stays still but the s u r r o u n d shy

ings career a round at unrealistic speeds W i t h

Tony home safely I left w i t h Jack i n the passhy

senger seat gave it a b ig squirt up the h i l l and

his reaction said it al l really uncontrol lable

laughter gasping to get his breath back and

waving his hands in front o f h i m like Wallace

hav ing discovered that he d forgotten the

crackers

O n Saturday Jack and I set off for the pre-

Stoneleigh C l u b management meeting close to

Keni lworth It wasnt l o n g before I was able to

use the accelerative abi l i ty of this car to pershy

form overtakes in places where i n my o w n

Seven I just wouldn t have considered it an

o p t i o n T h e quickest i f not most exc i t ing

route f rom south o f L o n d o n to Keni lworth is

via the motorway network

Its fair to say that the R 5 0 0 is not a quiet car

Yes I k n o w that it d i d a day at Jonathan

Palmers Bedford A u t o d r o m e (8dB) wi thout

being black-flagged but its jol ly noisy i n the

cockpit at motorway speeds I attribute this

mostly to the gearbox I m used to a straight-

cut box but this was l o u d and I think that

earplugs w o u l d have made the journey someshy

what more comfortable

Talking o f comfort I was very surprised at

how good the Tillet seats are and the 140-mile

journey in them left me feeling very relaxed

The lowered floor also meant that my arms

rested very comfortably o n the transmission

tunnel cover and cockpit side at such angles

that it was as i f I was sitting in a deep armchair

- a l b e i t a firm one I m 5n and the lower sitshy

t i n g p o s i t i o n a n d carbon- f ibre deflec-

toraeroscreen meant that I couldnt see the

cycle wings a shame as it was something that

I was l o o k i n g forward to exper iencing as a

change f rom m y flares

Sunday morning s r u n to the Showground

provided me wi th a m o m e n t as I found out

very early on just how little grip there is under

braking wi th cold brakes and CR50o s

H a v i n g parked up in front of the C l u b ESV

I took a closer look at the car As I ment ioned

the seats were comfortable and the tunnel top

was nicely padded The boot cover is made o f

a carbon-weave effect proper ny lon-backed

w a t e r p r o o f mater ia l that is really n ice

although the extra tubes in the boot area (the

extra brac ing for the diff mount ing) do make

it a little less usable than earlier versions

Another satisfied customer O n discovering after the A R meeting that

our M e m b e r s h i p Secretary E m i l y had never

actually been in a Seven I offered my servshy

ices W e l l it w o u l d have been rude not too

wouldn t it The car was still w a r m after the

drive i n so we strapped ourselves i n and made

our way out o f the showground for a quick

t r i p a r o u n d the lanes We t r u n d l e d a long

sedately at less than 5omph to al low E m i l y to

get used to being in a car so low and we talked

about how fast it seemed even at such a low

speed I pushed the gear lever forward gently a

couple o f times to drop into second gear and

let the revs rise then opened the thrott le

W i d e That sequential box is great at g iv ing

you the full feeling o f d r iv ing a proper racing

car w i t h its abi l i ty to let you just keep pu l l ing

back o n the lever and cont inue accelerating

unbelievably quickly

A l t h o u g h the road was slightly damp there

was ample grip in the bends to give an inexpeshy

rienced passenger some idea o f the fun we all

have N o w I get i t was Emily s comment as a

large smile appeared on her face I didnt have

such a smile o n my face when it started ra inshy

ing late in the afternoon I bought a couple o f

C l u b rain jackets for Jack and me to wear o n

the journey back to the hotel I m glad I d i d I

hadnt p icked up any hal f -doors f rom

Caterham (not that theyd been offered) and

those cycle wings dont help do they

M o n d a y m o r n i n g was very wet and an

o p p o r t u n i t y for sp inning wheels safely only I

didnt find it so easy such was the amount o f

grip available at the back We arrived at the

C l u b marquee and I s lowly t u r n e d the car

s l ipped the gearbox into reverse and parked

up H a v i n g watched me do this N i c k C h a n

approached and asked how easy it was to get

reverse as on a motorcycle-sourced gearbox

finding neutral can be awkward I can conf i rm

that w i t h this Quaife box all you need to do is

lift the collar and push the lever forward to

select neutral and reverse is s imply another

push forwards it really is very easy

It wasnt unt i l that M o n d a y m o r n i n g drive

in to the show that I finally got the hang of the

sequential gearchanges

Whi l s t talking to S i m o n Rogers about the

technique he employs wi th his Elite sequential

gearbox he suggested that using 25 clutch

o n up-changes and maybe 75 on d o w n -

changes w o u l d make the t r a n s i t i o n m u c h

smoother

W i t h this particular Quaife box and c lutch

I f o u n d that less than 25 o n up-changes

together w i t h an easing off o f the thrott le

pedal (not a lift really just the merest ease o f

pressure o n the ball o f the foot) was sufficient

to finesse the change and make the car m u c h

m u c h nicer to drive gt

Lowflying July 2 0 0 8 17

B O O

R500

D u r i n g the show I spent some t ime talking

to a few interested (and interesting) owners

o f other Lotus Seven inspired cars Natura l ly I

was enthusiastic about the cars capabilities

and just as naturally they were shocked that

a space-framed k i t car c o u l d cost as m u c h as

or more than pound40 000 1 too wondered about

that but when you already make a great car

making the next one even better is going to be

difficult and is going to cost ever more as is

p r o m o t i n g it sufficiently to get wider exposhy

sure through the decent magazines and the

more respected web sites A n d youd have to

say the car has been well received

As y o u can imagine it created lots o f intershy

est among Seven owners Possibly too m u c h

when I returned from explor ing some other

areas o f the show I found the bonnet and

nose off w i t h people p o r i n g over the engine

bay Understandable curios i ty o f course but

hey its not their c a r - i t s not even mine I

th ink that pubishing pictures on the web o f

the inlet valves (for w h i c h the the airbox must

have been removed) was p u s h i n g things

just a bit far though T h i s d i d cause some

embarrassment actual ly I had after a l l

pledged to take good care o f the c a r - t h e n

A n d y saw the pictures before I d id I do hope

Caterham w i l l not look too u n k i n d l y u p o n

us after that Sorry A n d y

An old friend rediscovered At the end o f the show Jack and I made our

way back d o w n the M40 and decided to take

the long way home d r o p p i n g d o w n the A34

to Winchester to pick up the A272 and head

east I m so glad that we d i d I used to drive

that road quite a lot some years ago but when

Id used it more recently the traffic was such

that the road s imply wasnt enjoyable anyshy

more D r i v i n g it in the R500 was just like it

was a l l those years ago when traffic was

scarcer and hot-hatches werent as quick as

they are now overtaking was a joy and the

road invited it

Unhappy returns I m not one for pol i shing but I d i d give the

car a quick rinse (something else thats m u c h

easier w i t h cycle wings) before setting off for

Caterham By now I was very m u c h happier

w i th my gear-changing and I took some nice

w i n d i n g roads back to C a t e r h a m to enjoy

it all the more A n d y had said that he wanted

the car back o n Tuesday m o r n i n g I think I

made it w i th a few minutes to spare and glad

that I hadnt dropped it w i t h the knowledge

that it was booked out to the press for the

next few weeks

In summary I admit that I am sceptical and often cyni shy

cal I m something o f a traditionalist I love

the view over the flared wings and the fact

that all factory Sevens have had the exhaust

exit ing o n the left hand side But whilst I still

l ike the v i e w over the flared wings I was

pleasantly surpr i sed at h o w I never really

noticed that the exhaust was on the wrong

side except w h e n gett ing i n a n d out a n d

w h e n the water v a p o u r rose after a t r ip

through a puddle

I handed the car back very very relucshy

tantly Theres no way I could afford a car of

that price but could I justify it O h yes and

w i t h o u t too m u c h di f f icul ty the gearbox

itself is lovely to play w i t h and I m not sure

that many people w i l l be opt ing for the stanshy

dard H-pattern six-speeder i f theyve had a go

with the sequential one W h a t a tool this car is

- a great piece o f kit

I dont really have anything detrimental to

say about it at all and it must be fantastic on a

track where you can use m u c h more o f the

available performance

M a n y reading this w i l l have driven powershy

ful K-series or Duratec-engined cars and wi l l

have experienced the glee available w i th this

sort o f power and delivery o n tap and that

extra lightness but most o f my t ime behind

the wheel these days is spent in a Ford Focus

and d r i v i n g my Zetec-engined Seven aftershy

wards shows y o u what a leap forward the

Seven is in performance terms

This R500 isnt a leap ahead o f m y Seven

its a N e i l A r m s t r o n g step

I must thank A n d y Noble and Caterham

Cars for offering me the chance to take their

flagship to Stoneleigh and whilst I realise that

it was i n part to enable Caterham to have a

(small) presence at the show their willingness

to let me o f all people take their new car

there and the C l u b to be just the fourth

organisation to have the car to drive says a lot

about the relationship between the C l u b and

Caterham Cars O f course having dr iven the

car o n the road Id dearly love to get it on a

track so that I cou ld lean on it a bit more bull

Above two excited kids with

a fabulous new toy-

Barry Jack and an R500

Below some look on in

fascination whilst others try

to appear nonchalent

Meanwhile Emily Bransom

gets her first taste of

the Seven experience what a

place to start

Pictures by Steve Winterberg

Right R500 at the Club stand

at Stoneleigh

Picture by I a n B l o k e m a n

18 Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8

Lotus Seven Club

Lowftying J u l y 2 0 0 8 19

Sprinting

A h u g e entry a t the e v e r - p o p u l a r C u r b o r o u g h s p r i n t c o u r s e f a c e d tricky a n d c h a n g i n g c o n d i t i o n s

f o r the f o u r t h r o u n d o f o u r S p e e d E v e n t s s e r i e s P i c t u r e s by Michael Calvert

Curborough Below massed ranks of Sevens assembled in

the startline holding area awaiting their turn to

brave the elements and set a time

W I T H 75 E N T R I E S i n c l u d i n g a record n u m b e r o f 12 lady drivers the four th r o u n d o f the

championship at C u r b o r o u g h was shaping up to be a good event The weather forecast didnt

look great w i t h heavy showers predicted i n the m o r n i n g but at least it was going to clear in

the afternoon to give the competitors dry t i m e d runs

First practice wet

First practice got under way and wi th showshy

ers keeping the track wet things were very s l ipshy

pery indeed T h e c o n d i t i o n s certa inly p r o shy

v ided some entertaining runs w i t h G r a h a m

Fords powerful Class 6 - c a r o n s l i c k s - f i n d i n g

it difficult to stay in a straight line

A d a m Hays Class 6 turbocharged Hayabusa

was back i n ac t ion f o l l o w i n g o i l pressure

problems at L landow but was struggling to get

r o u n d f inal ly s tutter ing over the l ine w i t h

electr ical g reml ins T h e ever i m p r o v i n g

Tamara Calvert i n Class 3 put i n an excellent

t i m e a n d I m sure h u s b a n d M i c h a e l d idn t

m i n d one bit that she beat his t ime

Second practice drying

So on to the second practice and wi th a rapshy

idly d r y i n g track the times tumbled Michae l

Calvert obviously spurned on by his thrashshy

ing earlier responded w i t h a s tunning t ime o f

6192 m a k i n g h i m quicker than most o f the

Class 4 and 5 runners and throwing d o w n the

gauntlet to quick Class 3 m e n Dave Nelson

and Jeff Smith

W i t h the electr ical p rob lems resolved

A d a m Hay spectacularly exited the event by

going off hard on the l o n g sweeping start at

p a d d o c k b e n d After some checks by the

medics A d a m was pronounced fine w h i c h is

more than can be said for his car w h i c h susshy

tained considerable front suspension damage

( W h e n w i l l y o u r l u c k c h a n g e A d a m )

Class 4 newcomer Julie Greenha lgh was

happier on the d r y i n g track k n o c k i n g a full 17

seconds f rom her first pract ice t i m e - w i t h

L y n n Gi lbert also in Class 4 finding her feet

and putt ing in a good t ime o n her first t ime at

the track

First runs wet Very wet

A n d then the ra in came r e t u r n e d but

properly this t ime W i t h the rubber la id d o w n

from the m o r n i n g runs the track was more

slippery than ever and no one improved on

their practice times O n l y the quality o f the

n u m e r o u s excurs ions o n t o the grass

i m p r o v e d R i c h a r d Price be ing par t i cu la r l y

entertaining wi th his usual c o m m i t t e d dr iv ing

style and look ing to do a fast r u n - u n t i l d o u shy

ble-pirouett ing off exit ing the M o l e h i l l

G r a h a m Ford was having trouble keeping gt

20 Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8

o n the track and d i d well to keep his car o n the

black stuff after a scary tank-slapper up the

f inishing straight whi le Class 1 runner D a v i d

Grewcock decided the fastest way around the

Flagpole ha i rp in was backwards

Class l novice Johnathon W a r d put i n a

c rack ing t ime given the c o n d i t i o n s to keep

M a l c o l m H i c k e y in second spot

Second runs a touch less wet

The rain eased as the second t imed runs got

under way C o m p e t i t i o n between the ladies

was fierce w i t h an excellent drive by returning

sprinter Patricia C h a n w h o managed 8144 i n

difficult condit ions

In Class l seasoned spr inter M a l c o l m

Hickey improved his t ime but not by enough

to prevent Johnathon Ward securing his secshy

o n d class w i n o f the season and Fastest M a l e

Novice award In Class 2 a close-fought battle

between G r a h a m H o w a r d and Roger

C u m m i n g ended w i t h G r a h a m taking top spot

by just over hal f a second

R i c h a r d Price i m p r o v e d on his first r u n

p i rouet t ing this t ime manag ing to traverse

f rom the M o l e h i l l to the f inishing straight in

fine style

Tamara Calvert went grass cutt ing too so

M i c h a e l not to be outdone added to the co l shy

lec t ion o f h o r t i c u l t u r a l specimens o n the

underside o f their newly-rebuilt car leaving

the Class 3 w i n to Dave Ne l son w i t h Jeff Smi th

hot on his tai l

N e w to Class 4 this year ( from Class 5) M a r k

Durrant got his final r u n a little less sideways

p u s h i n g M a r t i n Sargeant into second place

after a close fought battle throughout the day

wi th Lynn Gi lbert w h o improved on her preshy

vious t ime to take the Fastest Female Novice

trophy In Class 5 Rob Grigsby secured his

first-ever B T D in a borrowed car (courtesy o f

Ni f tys Styles) to w i n the class w i t h S i m o n

Rogers only 024 seconds beh ind o n his first

out ing at C u r b o r o u g h

So al l i n al l an eventful C u r b o r o u g h w i th

the rain prov id ing some challenging spr int ing

and no less than 18 cars taking excursions onto

the grass (thanks to N i c k C h a n for counting)

M a n y thanks go to C o l i n Heseltine and family

for their excellent organisation and the many

volunteer marshals w h o braved the weather

throughout the day

It was w i th a tear in his eye that Dave Nelson

passed the coveted Y e l l o w T r o w e l t rophy (posshy

s ibly the most p r i z e d o f a l l the awards) to

C l ive M c C a l l for the last off o f the day i n

his Class 4 car A n d so to Pembrey for the next

r o u n d and hopefully some sunshine bull

round 3

Llys y Fran hillclimb n-5-08 time points

Ray Snoates reports

round 4

Curborough sprint 17 5 08 time points

Class 1 1 Richard Ormson 50- 81 100- 00

2 Alistair Gibbins 53 41 95 13

3 Alan Johnson 53 74 94 55

Class 2 1 Michael Sankey 50 38 100- 00

2 Robert Spencer 51 60 97 64

Class 3 1 David Nelson 47 62 100- 00

2 Michael Calvert 48 19 98 82

3 Robin Brackett 48 83 98 33

Class L

1 Mark Durrant 47 32 100 00

2 Nigel Fox 48 79 96 99

3 Martin Sargeant 49 09 96 39

Class 5 1 Adrian Williams 47 54 100 00

2 Shaun Elwell 48 94 97 14

3 Robert Margel 49 70 95 65

BTD Mark Durrant 47 32

Class 1 1 Jonathan Ward 80- 39 100 00

2 Malcolm Hickey 80 72 99 59

3 Matthew Willoughby 81 22 98 98

Class 2 1 Graham Howard 79- 94 100 00

2 Roger Cumming 80 48 99 33

3 Paul Collins 80 50 99 30

Class 3 1 David Nelson 74- 11 100 00

2 Jeff Smith 74 16 99 93

3 Mark Gibson 76 33 97 09

Class 4 1 Mark Durrant 71 40 100 00

2 Martin Sargeant 72 88 97 97

3 Paul Forster 74 07 96 40

Class 5 1 Robert Grigsby 69 74 100 00

2 Simon Rogers 69 98 99 66

3 Adrian Williams 71 94 96 94

Class 6 1 Graham Ford 74 82 100 00

2= Adam Hay no time

2= Darrell South no t ime

BTD Robert Grigsby 69 74

D e t a i l e d r e s u l t s a n d c h a m p i o n s h i p

p o s i t i o n s c a n b e f o u n d o n t h e C l u b s w e b s i t e

a t w w w t o t u s s e v e n c l u b c o m

Above Curborough yielded a first trophy for

Mark Gibson Mark is in his second season

of competition he runs a Xflow-powered Seven in

Class 3 and drives the car to the events

Right Mark Durrant presents the award for Fastest

Lady Novice to Lynn Gilbert

Lowflying J u l y 2 0 0 8 21