Calum Lockie was denied a famous victory during the Spa 1000km race over the weekend (30/31 August). Sharing the Marcos Racing International Marcos Mantara with team boss Cor Euser and Jos Menten, the team were bang on course for GT victory when Menten spun early in his stint and put the car out of the race.
In first qualifying on Saturday morning Calum went out first, but an exhaust problem was discovered just before the start of the session. With that fixed, Calum got onto the track for the last 10 minutes of the session in damp but drying conditions and put the car on pole by six seconds on his first flying lap!
For the 1000km race on Sunday, which was expected to run for around six hours, each driver was scheduled to take two one-hour stints. Euser started, but within two or three laps the rain came down again and the Mantara dropped nearly a minute to the new class leaders while stopping for wets.
Cor soon pulled the car back up to second place and handed over to Calum after an hour. Although he had been unwell on race morning after a bout of food poisoning, Calum was quickly into his stride and soon moved into the lead. "It was very interesting, being out on slicks! I just settled into a nice rhythm and as soon as I got into the car I forgot about feeling unwell as the adrenaline took over," he reported.
Nevertheless, Calum was delighted to be back racing with Euser. "It was great to be back with Cor and the team again and my thanks are due to everyone involved in the team. The Dunlop tyres did the job beautifully."
Already, Lockie and Euser are now in discussion about contesting the 24-hour races at Bathurst and Daytona over the winter.
Many thanks for this report to Melindi and Calum - You can follow Calum's activities in 2000 on his website, but you'll hear how he's doing right here!