Into the Lion's den I head

This weekend I am participating in Log34 "Lotus Owners Group" who is meeting 100 miles south of me in Asheville NC. More than 120 Lotus cars have shown up and with my Roadster being half Lotus they were happy to have me along.

I was not sure of the reception I would receive, and pleasantly surprised I and my car were warmly accepted. I had many questions and in the staging part of the weekend you can see many more people carefully studying my car as opposed to the others.

A highlight of the evening was hearing former Formula 1 racer and Lotus racer Malcom Ricketts. I offered to let him drive the Roadster back to the hotel and he jumped at the opportunity. As a long term Lotus driver I was interested in his perspective. It was a delight to hear him giggle as what he was was simply "marvelous acceleration". He was totally taken back by how smooth and powerful the car is.

This morning we head out on a mountain drive and this this afternoon I will join the good folk of Asheville to celebrate Plug-in day. So a lot of EV evangelizing taking place.


Photo shoot at the Biltmore Estate Grounds


In a sea of Lotus Elise's, the Roadster stands out.


Malcom Ricketts, recounts his racing days and later gets the Tesla Grin

TOBASH said:

Not so fast hcsharp!!!!!

Before I give my kudos for what seems an awesome event.......... WHERE ARE THE PICS OF MALCOLM BEHIND YOUR WHEEL AND NEXT TO YOU!!!!!! After such a build-up, where is the payoff shot? LOL

Awesome pics. Looks like it was a pretty awesome time. Thanks for sharing.

Best,

T

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Sorry, it was after dark when we went back and so I did not think I could get a good picture of him in the car with my phone camera. So you will just have to take my word at it

Tomorrow is the final day and I hope a fun day. We get to run at Bristol Motor speedway and I hope to verify that the car will do 125. We also have use of the drag strip and an Autocross. So I should get a good chance to see how the car does against it Lotus counterparts.

Track day was a lot of fun and Roadster performed well. In my group of 13 on the Autocross I finished 4th which I feel is fine for a non-racer. On the drag strip I finished 2nd out of 19 in my group behind a very non-stock Elise. The Roadster was a good 1 second faster than a stock Elise.

Then we topped off the day with a 10 lap run around Bristol Motor Speedway. We got to about 85 mph and I must say the curves were intimidating. I have a whole new appreciation for NASCAR drivers.