Calum Lockie was one of the stars of the opening EERC Britcar race at Silverstone on Saturday (20 March). Driving two very different cars in the same endurance race, Calum netted second and third places in the two-hour, 100-lap race.
In a race run in testing conditions, Calum partnered David Back in the Damax Ferrari 360 to second in class and shared the BMW M3 of David Smith to third in class from a 33-strong field. Despite gale force winds and torrential rain, the Britcar race was a fine start to Lockie's 2004 racing season and, in total, he was on track for over 110 minutes!
Qualifying on Saturday morning ran in the worst of the weather, and Calum headed out first in the Ferrari with the aim of qualifying with a modest lap time. "I took it nice and steady and I wasn't trying to get pole," said Calum, who was surprised to see P1 on his pit board. By the end of the session, the Ferrari was still on pole by half a second.
Meanwhile, Calum had hopped into the BMW after Smith ran the first part of the session. "I pushed on as hard as I could, but didn't get a really clear lap through the traffic," he reported. However, the best lap was still good enough to put the BMW fourth on the grid, second in class only to the more powerful M3 of former BTCC ace David Leslie and Harry Handkammer.
There was drama at the start of the race when Back headed the field into Copse, but the Ferrari looped into a spin on the incredibly slippery track and Calum had a scary moment in taking avoiding action in the BMW! The resultant trip over the grass and gravel cost him time, but Calum was quickly up into third and battling with the leading Mercedes of Julian Rouse and the Handkammer M3.
"As the track dried out the tyres were going away and I was getting a lot of oversteer," explained Calum. However, he still nosed briefly ahead of the Mercedes as they threaded through slower traffic. "It was great fun, but I was having to feather the throttle through Woodcote on some laps. I was right on the limit for over an hour!"
Having taken the class lead for the M3, Calum finally pitted after 70 minutes to hand the car over to David Smith. With slick tyres fitted, Smith rejoined the race and drove with commendable pace and composure in his first race in the car to ensure fifth overall and second in class. "David drove a great stint to get the result. He didn't have much time in the car before the race and going out on slicks in those conditions was a real test," reckoned Lockie. "The GTS crew did a great pit-stop with the M3, changing all four wheels in not much over a minute, even though they are not centre-lock wheels!"
Meanwhile, after a quick fluid in-take and a dash up the pit-lane, Calum jumped into the Ferrari to race the last 45 minutes. The Damax crew also fitted slicks so Calum had to feel his way in over the early laps of his stint. "It took about six or seven laps before I felt proper grip from the slicks, but once I got some grip I pushed like hell!"
With an attacking drive, Calum built on the good work of Back, who had worked the car up to fifth place before the stop despite his opening lap spin. By setting the fastest race lap, Calum managed to move the car into second in class. So, when the flag fell on an absorbing contest, Calum had claimed second and third places in two very different cars and now jointly leads class one and is placed joint second in class two of the championship.
"Thanks are due to James and John at EERC for another excellent Britcar race," he said. "Also, my thanks go to Serco, Dunlop, Alcon and Memec for their support."
