Round 1 To Lobb

Media Release: Sunday 10th June

Caine Lobb began his winter campaign on a high this weekend by taking out the first round of the Formula Ford Winter Series on Sunday with two wins and a second place at Manfeild in Feilding.

A tough qualification session and a disappointing third row start in sixth place was not indicative of what was to come when the racing began for the Whangarei driver. Lobb claimed a whopping four spots before the end of the first race to place second behind national championship rival Daniel Jileson and by a slim margin in front of Russell Hartley. Also setting a more competitive lap time in the race than he did in qualifying, Lobb was rewarded with a promotion to the second row on the grid to start Race Two from fourth.

"In the first race I came second by about half a nose cone in front of Russell but behind Daniel who is pretty quick around Manfeild" said Lobb.

A collision on the first turn from the start of Race Two was narrowly escaped by Lobb who was then able to move up into a comfortable second place. Holding this position through the majority of the race he was able to improve on it with four laps remaining with a move into the lead in front of team mate John Whelan where he stayed until passing the chequered flag securing his first win of the day.

"At the start of the second race there was a crash in the first corner and I got up to second - I was really lucky to get around that." he said.

In the third and final race of the weekend Lobb again was to start from fourth and he again made up ground quickly only to find himself again sitting behind his Motorsport Solutions team mate John Whelan. With Whelan leading the race and blocking every move Lobb threw at him it wasn't until a brave attack down the back straight Lobb could gain an advantage. Entering the high speed kink on the inside of Whelan, Lobb was able to claim racing room and the lead shortly before the beginning of the last lap and went on to take his second win and overall round victory.

"The last race was a lot harder and I only led from the second to last lap" he said. "I was chugging along in second place for a while with John blocking me hard out so in the second to last lap I did this cunning little cut-back on him and going into the kink I just got my nose in and he had to give me room."

A great weekend of two wins and a second place from three races was more than enough for the eighteen year old Northland driver to claim victory at the first of four rounds of the Formula Ford Winter Series. The next meeting of the four round Manfeild-based series is held on the 8th of July where Caine Lobb hopes to be back in his own car. He has been pleased with the performance of the leased Ford but looks forward to getting back into the Hydraulink Ford which will return to the track fresh from a rebuild and upgrade after the huge smash at Taupo last January.

Special Thanks to HYDRAULINK FLUID CONNECTORS*BRIAN CRAIG ENGINEERING* MARK CROMIE HOLDEN*TONY OLIVER CONTRACTING*CLASSIC COVER INSURANCE*CABOOSE LODGE MOTEL TAUPO*MACBILT  ENGINEERING*PPG*HARVEY NORMAN PHOTOSHOP WHANGAREI*TONY GORDON PERFORMANCE CAR PREPARATION*SHANE GALPIN ACCOUNTANT