2011 Island Magic – Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

In capping off his successful first year of racing,  young  teenager Lockie Marshall scored three podium results at the Island Magic meeting at Phillip island last weekend.

The newly crowned CAMS Formula Ford 1600 Victorian champion was piloting Brian Sampson's Speco VHT  Spectrum 06,  prepared by Borland Racing Developments.

Marshall qualified 2nd in the Kents to team mate Scott Andrews who outpaced most of the Duratec field.   For Lockie,  qualifying 2nd was all the more remarkable as he had not driven the Spectrum 06  prior to the qualifying session which was run on a rain soaked track.   The conditions were so bad  that the Clerk-of-Course delayed racing for over an hour till the rain eased.   Marshall commented after his qualifying session. " I'm really happy with my effort, the first couple of laps were pretty dicey  as the car felt very different to what I am used to.   Luckily in the last two laps I was able to pull it together and got a clean lap in".

After qualifying the rain eased and the first race was relatively straight forward although the track was still wet.   Marshall came in second to race winner Andrews.

Sunday brought much finer weather with both heat two and the final being run on a dry track.   The second heat was the same as the heat one with Lockie finishing 2nd to Andrews.   In the final it was a different story.   Marshall had to start from pit lane due to a mechanical issue which left him with the task of catching the field after the start.   With a very determined and focused drive Lockie was able two make his way back through the field to second place prior to the chequered flag on lap 10.

Marshall commented after the race.  " I would like to thank Brian for lending me his car for the meeting,  it performed well, and it is very encouraging for a young driver like myself to have such help from one of the real legends of Australian motorsport."  

Brian Sampson is an active motorsport competitor with an impressive CV.  Amongst many of his notable achievements he won Bathurst in 1975 co-driving with Peter Brock.   Brian runs the company Speco which specialises in High performance automotive accessories and distributes specialist VHT automotive paints.