Lobb Takes Second at Tough Opener

ENZED V8 Ute Racing Series

A tough opening to the season saw defending champion Caine Lobb unable to match the pace of Ford driver Chris Pither but with three solid podium finishes he goes to the next round at Pukekohe in second place.

Pukekohe seems to be more suited to the Holdens something Lobb hopes to capitalise on when the series heads there in the first weekend of December.

"I'm not too worried at the moment as we were beaten here this time last year by another Ford driver, I think it's just the nature of the track and the difference between the two cars. We will get another look at Chris' speed when we head to Pukekohe next month and go from there." said Lobb.

Qualifying fourth behind two Fords and one Holden, Lobb went on to place second in the first race of the season after making his way up from third on the grid where he was placed courtesy of a random marble draw.

Another quick Holden over the weekend was driven by Christchurch's Simon Grace who could stack up to be a strong new contender for trying to take the title from Lobb this season.

"Simon was racing go-karts with me back in the day and was racing against me in the nationals a couple of seasons back, now he's here in the utes and looks pretty quick." said Lobb.

On Sunday morning Lobb started from ninth on the grid in the reverse-marble-draw race.

Making his way up through the field he made up six places finishing on the podium in third place behind Simon Grace in second and Chris Pither in first.

"You can get pretty hot in these cars, get tired and start to make tiny little mistakes - some of the drivers were quick in qualifying but luckily I can make some positions up in the races." he says.

In the third and final race of the weekend Lobb started on the front row in second place and took an early lead at the first corner.

Pither's car speed was apparent hussling Lobb for the position and eventually passing him and able to pull away.

Lobb, although unable to recover the position was able to pull a sizable gap from the remainder of the field finishing second and securing second place overall for the weekend and series standings after one round.

"Chris was very quick at Taupo this weekend and it will be interesting to see how he goes at Pukekohe which I hope will suit the Holden more - it's very much a point-and-squirt circuit." said Lobb.

Pither is a Palmerston North driver who has returned to New Zealand after several seasons in the Aussie equivalent to the ENZED V8 Ute Racing Series and several drives for Team Kiwi Racing in the V8 Supercars.

With Pither in the series and Lobb keen to retain his title, this season is already shaping up to be an exciting one between the two and could include Simon Grace as an outside chance for upsetting the leaders.

Formula Suzuki Series

Lobb had his fair share of trouble in the Formula Suzuki Series which was also held at the same meeting in Taupo.

Suffering a DNF in the first race of the season with a water cooling issue, he was back on the pace again for Sunday's morning race coming in second place behind V8 Supercar development driver Gene Rollinson.

Lobb placed third on the track behind one of the GT sports cars sharing the race but took second in class out of the Formula Suzuki Series wings and slicks race cars.

That afternoon Rollinson started from the front but was hit by another driver leaving Lobb to move up into second place behind a Honda powered GT sports car.

Although racing in another class, Lobb kept the pressure on with the other driver eventually making a mistake going off the circuit and leaving Lobb to win the third and final race of the weekend.

The Formula Suzuki Series also goes to Pukekohe on the first weekend of December for their second round along with the ENZED V8 Ute Racing Series and other racing series from the Independent Racing Classes' Thunder of Summer Tour.