Tony Yule talks about his loveable Lotus and getting ready for one of the biggest motoring events of the year – Speedfest
On the whole, people can recognise a Lotus, Tony Yule told me.
It’s almost like being in Italy and everyone knowing what a Ferrari is, he explained. But with his latest addition, an Evora S sports racer, people are less aware of what it is.
But that could all change. This year the 36-year-old has joined the organising team behind one of the biggest events in the motoring calendar – Speedfest, which takes place at the Grampian Transport Museum in Alford on Sunday, July 5. And the once little known Evora S is going to become something of a mascot for the show.
Tony said: “As part of my duties I look after the event’s Facebook page and I can put whatever I want on it so I have been posting regular updates on my car when it has been getting some work done.
“Last year before the event I did a lot of promotion with my previous car, a Lotus Exige V6 and it became a bit of a poster boy and I imagine the Evora will be used in the same fashion. As we get closer to the event I will take it to rallies and breakfast meetings so people start to associate my car with Speedfest promotion.”
The 64-plate Evora S is the latest in what is becoming a long list of Lotuses that Tony has owned. It was a dream of his to own a model from this marque – and that dream finally came true in 2008 when he walked out of Murray Motor Company dealership in Edinburgh with a 2005 Lotus Exige S2.
That car lasted two years before his daughter came along and he had to get rid of it as it wasn’t practical. There was no more sports cars for another four years when an opportunity came along to get a white Lotus Evora S – a four seater that appealed more to Tony’s new family lifestyle.
Six months later and Tony said goodbye to that car and hello to a two seater Lotus Exige V6 which was a much more track focused car and “great fun on the road or track”.
Then in October last year Tony happened to be looking at the Edinburgh dealership’s website when he came across a new Lotus Evora S in bright yellow with a contrasting black roof. As it was a bit more “grown up”, he decided to buy it.
“It’s pretty nice. It’s very laid back if you want it to be,” he said.
“The Exige was just a race car, very noisy, bucket seats, different settings for the power. The Evora is nice, has a leather interior, a great satnav infotainment system, a little switch to open the valve on the exhaust to make it louder, heated seats, reversing camera, all these things that you wouldn’t associate with a Lotus sports car. But it’s got a 3.5-litre supercharged V6 engine producing over 350bhp.
“So it has all the comforts of what you would expect from a modern car but sitting really low and has a huge amount of useable power. It’s the biggest engine Lotus has fitted in modern times, it’s a great car to drive, very quiet, very refined, then if you want to you can really put your foot down and then the noise and the anger just hits you.
“It’s a complete Jekyll and Hyde car. Although it looks very sporty, you can drive it very sedately or as if it’s a racing car. It’s great fun.”
Like all Tony’s previous cars, the Lotus is used for pleasure – trips out at the weekend and appearances at motoring events in the area, including the aforementioned Speedfest, planning for which, Tony said, is going “really well”.
He said: “We have hit the ground running after last year’s event. We have been in touch with manufacturers to display their cars so this year attending the event we’ve got Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, McLaren, Porsche and Bentley. Members of the public will get the chance to get up close and have a look at some really exciting cars. It’s a proper step up for the event so we are really excited about it.
“We are currently organising on-track activities for the day and the programme of events is still being put together.
“For those who want to be considered to take part in the event, they should go to the Alford Speedfest website, download an entry form, fill in details and submit them. It’s basically a ballot and potential competitors have until May 10 to submit their entry.
After that a team of us will sit down with every entry and do a bit of an X Factor. We will try to pick 120 interesting cars to take part in the day. We’ve received just under 60 so I think we will be oversubscribed. We will then make our final decision sometime in June.”
Anyone wanting to take part in this year’s Speedfest should visit www.alfordspeedfest.co.uk for an entry form.
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