Barry McKockiner

Barry McKockiner (born in Fife, 20th of April 1952) is a Scottish racing driver who can allegedly drive a car, known for his ventures in the Dywa Grand Prix Series. He is related to Scottish former ARWS driver Phil McCracken. Much like him, he is useless at the wheel of a racing car, and prone to outbursts of profanity and violence when anyone points out his complete ineptitude at racing. However, he is prone to rare outbursts of driving fast, usually when it is unwanted.

Early Career

His forays into motorsport began when he entered a local rally in a stolen Mark 1 Cortina at the age of fifteen, lying about his age on the entry forms. He immediately made his name infamous in the Scottish motorsport scene by setting the slowest time on the first stage, then getting caught speeding when driving to the second stage, and being chased down the second stage's route by pursuing police. While it cannot be verified, he is believed to have set a time on this route over a minute faster than the official fastest time during the rally. Soon after this, he totalled the car in a spectacular crash, but remarkably, both he and his navigator walked unscathed despite the lack of a roll cage in the car. He was promptly arrested for speeding, resisting arrest, driving without a licence, and stealing a car. After spending the remainder of his childhood in a juvenile detention centre, he went back to rallying where he developed a reputation for making bits of cars that he did not own.

Following a roadside fight with his navigator who supposedly caused him to crash out of the 1975 Burmah Rally with a bad pacenote, he made the switch to circuit racing. He started off in Formula Ford, but in 1977 he moved to British F3. During that year's round at Oulton Park he would become a legend after making a bet with his teammate that they take Knickerbrook flat-out. Predictably, this led to both drivers obliterating their cars within minutes of one another but miraculously, neither was injured in the tomfoolery. Somehow, prospective Dywa GP team Automotive SuperSport saw potential in this and signed McKockiner up for the inaugural season in 1978.

Dywa GP

1978

McKockiner's 1978 season was rather underwhelming, even in comparison to his underperforming teammate, Heywood Jablowme. In the two consecutive races where Jablwome managed to score points, McKockiner failed to qualify. In addition, McKockiner would fail to qualify on two further occasions, at Pau and at Castle Combe. The latter of these was particularly embarrassing for his team as teammate Jablowme also failed to qualify, the only time in 1978 where both drivers for a given team failed to qualify. McKockiner was classified 33rd in the final standings, with a season-best result of ninth place at Syracuse. He never saw the chequered flag all season.

1979

Both McKockiner and Jablowme would be let go by Automotive Super Sport after their dismal 1978. McKockiner was initially contacted by British outfit Dickenson-Lightley for a full-time seat, but with the caveat that he race under the Union Flag instead of the Saltire. McKockiner was absolutely irate at this demand and promptly walked out of the team. He would later find himself a ride at the new Order of Racing effort, where he qualified 26th for the first three races. Following this, the team declared that McKockiner would be fired if he qualified anywhere other than P26 for a race, and at the very next round in Thruxton, he qualified P25. Following this, he was fired by Order of Racing and replaced with Nunzio Dunn.
Later in the season, he got an unexpected break when Reception Carrot Team need a last-minute replacement for Nina Noyer (who herself was a replacement driver, subbing in for the injured Amada Castellón), who was unable to get a visa in time to travel to the Soviet Union for the round at Bikernieki. McKockiner survived the attrition to get up to sixth place; even though he too failed to finish, he was classified sixth, thus earning himself his first career point. This performance earnt McKockiner another drive; when Latin Auto Technology Enterprises needed a replacement for the injured Jacques Clouseau, he was chosen to fill in. He vindicated LATE's decision with a shock podium at Keimola, where he saw the chequered flag for the first time in his career. At the following race, at Castle Combe, he continued this remarkable run of form with a sixth place, denying Vaillante's Bern van der Westhouzen a crucial championship point in the tightly-fought Teams' Championship.

Complete Career Results

Dywa Grand Prix Series

Season	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Pts	Pos
1978	Template:GBR Automotive SuperSport	PER 11	IMO DNQ	ROU DNQ	NOR 21	SYR 9	MUG DNQ	PAU 24	CAS DNQ	CHA 10	MNZ 13						0	33rd
1979	Order of Racing	PER 23	IMO 11	ROU 10	THR 14	MAI	MUG	SYR	PAU	GRO	HAL						6	24th
	Reception Carrot Team											BIK 6†
	Template:SUI Latin Auto Technology Enterprises												KEI 3	CAS 6	CHA 17	MNZ 16