Lockie denied victory in Spa 1000km 2003

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.


Above : Ready for the weekend's action - Photos courtesy Gary Harman.
"It was classic Spa weather," said Calum of the weekend that went from dry to soaking wet track conditions on a regular basis. However, Friday's free practice sessions were run in particularly poor conditions. In fact, Friday was so wet that Euser reported wheelspin in fifth and sixth gear on the Kemel Straight! Eventually, with the track drying a little, Lockie ran three laps just to bed himself back into the car after a year away from driving the thundering Mantara.

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!


Above : Great lap in damp qualifying - Photos courtesy Gary Harman.

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.


Above : Pit Action for the MRI team - Photos courtesy Gary Harman.
However, Lockie's stint was not without drama. Halfway through the hour the exhaust broke loose and he was forced into the pits for the team to carry out some emergency work. Then, in the later stages the car started to fill with smoke as a result of the exhaust problem. "At one stage my eyes were running and I was coughing, but I decided to press on and brave it out," he explained. "I was turning into Eau Rouge at 160mph on a damp track with slicks," he added.


Above : Terrible conditions finally caught out Menten - Photos courtesy Gary Harman.
Sadly, soon after Menten had taken over the car he spun harmlessly. But in trying to fire the engine up again, the starter was broken and their race was over. "It was gutting," admitted Lockie. "All we had to do was cruise to the win."

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."


Above : The back of the LM600...for now... - Photos courtesy Gary Harman.

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!

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