Historic Lotus On Display at Lotus Sydney Tasman Revival

One of the most successful Lotus cars ever to race in Australia will be on display at the Tasman Revival Race Meeting at Eastern Creek Raceway on 26-28 November 2010.

The Lotus Elite S1 originally raced by former Australian champion Leo Geoghegan will be part of a special display commemorating the 50^th Anniversary of the first race meeting at the now defunct Warwick Farm circuit.

Imported by Geoghegan in 1960 the nimble fibreglass-bodied racer was immediately a winner, taking victory in that year’s Victorian Grand Tourismo  Championship at Phillip Island and two weeks later winning the Australian GT Championship at Bathurst.

In a 14-month period Geoghegan competed in 26 races, taking outright victory on 18 occasions and scoring class wins (and major outright placings) in another six outings.  The car failed to finish on only one occasion, suffering a gentle rollover after slipping off the Warwick Farm bitumen while chasing the 1961 GT title.

The Climax-engined car was sold in late 1961 to Brian Foley, who continued the car’s success with a multitude of class wins.

In early 1963 the car was retired from competition and was used regularly on the road.  After undergoing a full restoration more than a decade ago, the car was acquired by the present owner who is proud to display a significant part of local motor sport history.

Among the 400 cars competing at the meeting will be 22 examples of the Lotus marque, the most famous being the Lotus 49/R8 to be driven by John Smith.  This car was driven by Graham Hill for Gold Leaf-Team Lotus in the 1969 Tasman Series and is more recently remembered as the winner of the inaugural Tasman Revival race in 2006, when Smith and second-placed Spencer Martin thrilled spectators with a torrid racelong dice.

Peter Schell