Above : LM600 Evos sweep to victory
Newly-crowned British GT champion Calum Lockie wrapped up his racing season in the Memec Marcos International Marcos LM600 Mantara by contesting the 500km GT race at Zandvoort on 29th October. Despite one of his co-drivers losing more than a lap with a spin into a gravel trap, Calum netted second place overall and finished runner-up to team boss Cor Euser.
The annual 500km race is a great way to finish the racing season and for Calum it was his first race for some time without the pressure of championship considerations. 'It's just a really good fun event,' he said.
A very wet test session on Friday precluded the 117-lap race on the daunting Dutch track. Calum was to share one of the Mantaras with Fred Moss and Dutch racer Herman Buurman. Euser would lead the other car, meaning that Calum and Cor would be racing against each other rather than sharing a car as they have throughout the season.
'Our car struggled with quite a bit of understeer,' said Calum. 'In qualifying, Cor and I were running round together and I just understeered wide at the end of our best lap.' That left Calum second fastest to Cor in qualifying, but as there were two sessions for the 55-strong entry, Calum started the race from the second row, right behind his team boss.
'Cor and I both started, but it was a standing start and we just sat there with the wheels spinning,' said Calum. 'All the little cars went flying past and we were about fourth and sixth into the first corner. But we were back up to first and second by the end of the first lap.'
Once into their stride, the two Mantaras dominated the race and Cor and Calum were able to play to the gallery in the early laps. Although, Calum's car was still troubled by understeer, he took the lead when Cor made an earlier pit stop and was two laps ahead when he handed the car over to Moss after an hour and 20 minutes.
With the track drying, they switched to slicks and Moss maintained the two-lap advantage. However, the rain then returned and forced a change back to wets as Buurman took over. Unfortunately, he struggled in the conditions and spun into a gravel trap. Although he managed to get going again, the lead had gone and the car finally finished second to the Euser car.
Now, Calum will start preparing for the famous Daytona 24 hours in February and will join Cor for three days of testing at the Florida track over January 6, 7 and 8. 'Daytona with Cor will be fantastic. We'll be up against the Vipers and Corvettes so it will be very tough, but we're determined to get a good result,' he says.
Paul Lawrence - 30 October 2000
