New to this Forum

[fd]

Yeah, PB for Lawrence and like all PB's at Doune it matters more . . . It's amazing how times have changed, 48.8 was a very respectable class winning time then, now that class is in the 43's with Craig Nicol (VX Caterham) and Les Mutch (GWR Dax) . . . I remember this being my target in my own Caterham (albeit with less horses) and the day I got down to 48.1 too with just as much satisfaction . . . now in the 42's and there's always more to come . . .

[tut]

Even got to see his face again........

Do you know what year that was Fergus?

tut

[Dominic]

That clip brought a wee tear to my eye.
Great to read that the car is back out there and being enjoyed.

Stu

on both counts

[fd]

Tut, I really don't know, before I started competing for sure, but I can't even remember when that was . . . too much whisker in the intervening years . . . 2005/2006 ?

Fd

[campbell]

Tut, if you trawl your SE archives, you might find when Lawrence acquired what became The Hoyabusa. That'll give a clue, as I'm guessing that won't have been long after the clip...

[tut]

It was June 2005 at Doune which was my Race season. Lawrence just did the Hillclimbs, I did nearly all of the events that year until I ended up in a wheelchair after Boyndie, and Ali did the Sprints and Fintray and ended up as Champion and top Newcomer.

Lawrence came 4th in Class 6 with a 52.26 with Alan Nicol winning. I won Class 23 with 53.67 but took to the undergrowth at East Brae. Never did take that bend slowly enough.

tut

[tut]

Lawrence looked at setting something up with the Doune Committee after they changed the regulations, but there would have been too much power difference between the cars back then, 118hp for a standard upto 220hp for a Honda, in fact N3 had 300hp by 2007. On the other hand we would not have really been competing with anyone else, so if it was just a case of enjoying the Hill Climb and competing against yourself, then that is what it is all about. I beat Ali most of the time in 2005, but so I should as I had done far more track days and had 210 hp compared to his 160. Different matter today.
tut

tut the Hillclimber also on SE1
Postby Lawrence » Wed Jun 14, 2006 7:51 pm

As most of us know tut was so fast last year that the championship committee banned him, well his car actually

Ali did us all proud in the Sprints but this year we have no Elises at all, there was a VX220 at Fintray tho'

So when I was asked if I had any friends that might like to drive at Doune this weekend I responded with the facts of the situation as it is now.
Here is the reply I received from Alistair Naismith Lotus Elan owner and one of the Doune Committee

"Lawrence,

Alistair here. Don't start me on the Championship classes. I would be a long time banging on about it.
However, on the other things:

Tut's Elise - If you can get a good squad of Loti out, you can have your own class, with your own rules. I might even join you next year. This goes for the SHCC as well, although I am now out of that after 15 years of banging my head on the committee table. How about a Lotus Challenge, like Paul Matty, but in Scotland? Run 3 Dounes, a couple of Kames?

The best bet is to get them to Doune in April, when they get plenty of low-pressure runs, we take them up the hill on Saturday AM to calm nerves and give advice, and then get the signatures at Kames and Forrestburn. From then on we can have a regular Lotus class.
We could even arrange a parade-run at September Doune for prospective 2007 competitors - how about that?"

[Shug]

From memory, the parade run happened, didn't it? But there wasn't the desire from enough to race a (small) season. Lots of chat from memory about the ease you can write off an Elise chassis with a side-on barrier impact put people off.

[tut]

It was a miracle that I got away with it Shug, only scraped the body against the armco at Oak Tree, it was the first time that I had been there, no idea where the bends went or what speed to take them at, but I wanted to win so it was all seat of the pants. Obi walked me up it so that was a help.

In my two visits that year, out of all the runs I only kept the wheels on the tarmac once at East Bray. The problem with the Hill Climbs was that knowledge was King, most of the competitors aiming for wins knew it backwards, whereas Sprints were on a short track or KH so it did not take long to get upto speed. On the first KH Sprint in the wet they made me do two extra practice runs as they said the timing was faulty as I had posted the 6th fastest time out of 110 cars. That was in 2003 when N1 still had the K engine. They missed the fact that I had done way more laps there than anybody else, half of them in the wet, and was on good wet road tyres. I also had the "No Fear" stickers on the car. The bare feet also went down like a lead balloon as well. I got fed up up with them telling me I had to wear shoes, so I just carried the MSA Blue Book with me and pointed out the regs to them. They even rang HQ to question whether they could order me to wear them.

They must have been very happy to see me again when I returned in 2005.

tut

[tut]

A brief history of Lawrence's cars: He bought the Hoyabusa at the end of the Season in 2005, and Stu made the paddle shifts for him.

tut

"For those that don't know me I would describe myself as a Lotus Enthusiast. I use my hobby to get away from the mundane weekly life that supports my habit. I bought my first Lotus in 1984 an S2 Esprit.
Most LE have more than one and I usually have a Lotus 7 or Caterham as well. I bought one of the very first Elises in 1996 and sold it last year to buy my current green Hayabusa powered 7 that I Hillclimb and MMC are currently arranging for me to have an early Europa S. I also still have my DVA powered K series 7 that has about 210 BHP.

I have built a garage in what was my garden that is the equal of many a small motor trader and to which you all are welcome to have access, and with help led usually by Fergus and Robin we have assisted many an SE to learn more about their car, engine, ecu, suspension and setup and more importantly their driving. It's a team thing really and often I only make the coffee The facility is mostly used where there is a time difficulty that may prevent a driver reaching a trackday or competion and we can often be found in the garage in the wee sma hours getting someone's car fixed for the next day. Above all it's fun and that's very important to us.

BTW I have no Idea why some SE call me Obi "

by Rich H » Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:06 pm
Because you are a gent and a scolar, as I'm sure many on these here forums will agree!

Rich

PS Can I borrow your dial gauges soon please, I'm nearly there...

[tut]

Last post from him, good way to remember Lawrence for his sense of humour. Read through the jokes as there are some good ones. S-E at its best. Very sad though for us that knew what the post meant, but he was still laughing.

tut

http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... =2&t=11153