My Dad was chief mechanic on a 23 from 1963-65, from first race right out of the Lotus dealer in NY till the owner wrecked it. My favorite car when I was a kid.
Well i'll be dammed. i was a turn worker for sears point/ infineon raceway and this weekend i entered a raffle and won the opportunity to ride along on some hot laps IN THIS VERY CAR!! What a blast i tell ya. this little lotus s.r. was insane. i kid you not it will easily out accelerate most modern motorcycles. thats the honest truth. it was incredible. also it gets REALLY hot in there. even with the open canopy. what a great memory
My Brother won the c sports championship in Canada in his lotus 23b. Rules changed when the 4valve per cylinder engines came out. His 1600 twin cam was dropped to c class to compete against 1300 cc bda head engines.
The genius of Colin Chapman, the 23 started off with a 1 litre engine producing about 100bhp with virtually no weight it still punched really hard. It was in many ways a 2 seat enclosed version of an open wheeled Formula Junior Lotus 22. The 23 was a typical Lotus; lightweight, superb handling car with lovely balance and excellent brakes.
I get the impression you have had this car for a while. Watching someone drive a 23 that knows how to use it is awesome. I really like when running with the 88 (Genie/Elva?) you went a little wide at the carrousel and then squared off the corner for a much higher speed at the end of the straight. Craftsmanship.
Yes, My all time favorite Lotus car the 23b. I remember watching 2 guys race around Grattan Raceway in these things as a young kid. Damn I thought then as I do now that these things are fricken awesome. These cars are the definition of the term POCKET ROCKET. When those two guys got on the track, nobody could touch em.
I spent about ten years working as a Safety Marshall with SCCA at Sears Point (about a half hour from home), Laguna Seca, and at Willow Springs just as it opened. Life got in the way and other things took priority but your video has certainly piqued my interest once more... and I still have my Safety Marshall's jacket!! (OK, the patches might be just a little out of date but who's counting???) ;^) Excellent video!!
Great video. Thank you for sharing it. I grew up 45 minutes from Road America and Dad crew chiefed for a Bugeye Sprite. Because of that I did not know much about the Sports Racers. Your 23 is fast and it lays down its power well as evidenced by wheel spin and needing to fight the wheel while accelerating hard - as the wee Lotus can - out of the tighter corners. Well done, good race, it is harder than those of us at home realize. Quick question - are you coming to COTA in Austin, TX in the Fall of 2019 for the SVRA championship? If so, I’d love to meet you and even help you if I can be of service. I have a crewed before, am an engineer, etc.. Drive safe and well!
My Dad was chief mechanic on a 23 from 1963-65, from first race right out of the Lotus dealer in NY till the owner wrecked it. My favorite car when I was a kid.
Well i'll be dammed. i was a turn worker for sears point/ infineon raceway and this weekend i entered a raffle and won the opportunity to ride along on some hot laps IN THIS VERY CAR!! What a blast i tell ya. this little lotus s.r. was insane. i kid you not it will easily out accelerate most modern motorcycles. thats the honest truth. it was incredible. also it gets REALLY hot in there. even with the open canopy. what a great memory
Cool car the Lotus 23, love the sound of the motor and very nice driving!
My favorite sports-racing car.
The true example of power to weight ratio, and how fun little light cars can be! Excellent video!
My Brother won the c sports championship in Canada in his lotus 23b. Rules changed when the 4valve per cylinder engines came out. His 1600 twin cam was dropped to c class to compete against 1300 cc bda head engines.
The genius of Colin Chapman, the 23 started off with a 1 litre engine producing about 100bhp with virtually no weight it still punched really hard. It was in many ways a 2 seat enclosed version of an open wheeled Formula Junior Lotus 22.
The 23 was a typical Lotus; lightweight, superb handling car with lovely balance and excellent brakes.
I get the impression you have had this car for a while. Watching someone drive a 23 that knows how to use it is awesome. I really like when running with the 88 (Genie/Elva?) you went a little wide at the carrousel and then squared off the corner for a much higher speed at the end of the straight. Craftsmanship.
Great piece of driving. Great track, wonderful little beast!
One of the very best YT videos so far.
Great ride! Sonoma is such a fun track!!
Yes, My all time favorite Lotus car the 23b. I remember watching 2 guys race around Grattan Raceway in these things as a young kid. Damn I thought then as I do now that these things are fricken awesome. These cars are the definition of the term POCKET ROCKET. When those two guys got on the track, nobody could touch em.
That wouldn't have been in October 1993 would it?
I spent about ten years working as a Safety Marshall with SCCA at Sears Point (about a half hour from home), Laguna Seca, and at Willow Springs just as it opened. Life got in the way and other things took priority but your video has certainly piqued my interest once more... and I still have my Safety Marshall's jacket!!
(OK, the patches might be just a little out of date but who's counting???) ;^) Excellent video!!
Acknowledging the Lotus fam. :)
Fun to watch. Kind of educational watching the other drivers miss the line. I feel like some of those other cars should have bee way quicker than you.
In Jim Clark’s hands it mullered Ferrari, Aston and Porsche!
Until the rain stopped.
Great video. Thank you for sharing it. I grew up 45 minutes from Road America and Dad crew chiefed for a Bugeye Sprite. Because of that I did not know much about the Sports Racers. Your 23 is fast and it lays down its power well as evidenced by wheel spin and needing to fight the wheel while accelerating hard - as the wee Lotus can - out of the tighter corners. Well done, good race, it is harder than those of us at home realize. Quick question - are you coming to COTA in Austin, TX in the Fall of 2019 for the SVRA championship? If so, I’d love to meet you and even help you if I can be of service. I have a crewed before, am an engineer, etc.. Drive safe and well!
My brother raced a b23 great little car
Great track
I wish he had his speed posted in the video.
Rauw!
Anyone know what track their racing on?
starman1968ful It’s Sonoma Raceway. It used to be Sears Point race track. Beautiful video!!