Lobb Dominates Yet Victory Slips Away

Media Release: Monday 5th November

Eighteen year old Caine Lobb dominated the first round of the MTA Formula Ford National Championship by leading the vast majority of laps around the fast paced Pukekohe circuit over three races.

As luck would have it on two occasions over the weekend he was unable to claim victories which were well within his grasp.

On Saturday morning Lobb claimed Pole Position with a time of one minute 2.325 seconds over Kurt Pederson's one minute 2.483 sec. In that afternoon's championship-opening race he swapped the lead seemingly lap after lap with Auckland driver (and last year's championship runner up) Andrew Waite.

"it came to the last lap and I just timed it right and got in front of Andrew and won it quite comfortably but then got a penalty" said Lobb.

On the final lap where it all counted Lobb took the lead and the chequered flag but was then slapped with a five second time penalty for allegedly jumping the start. With Lobb relegated to third the win went to Waite and Kurt Pederson picked up second.

"Apparently the car rolled ahead slightly before the start - not Caine's fault however" said team manager Brian Craig "The officials were in disagreement over it until they checked the video. We adjusted the clutch before the next race to make sure it wasn't going to happen again."

With Sunday morning came race two and Lobb led the race with a hard chasing Kurt Pederson close behind. Pederson pushed so hard however he slipped off the track on his way up the infamous Pukekohe Circuit hill and slammed his Ford into the wall subsequently causing a pile up involving several following cars.

With no serious injury the track was cleared and race restarted with Lobb away again this time with Andrew Waite on his tail.

"After that crash I was miles ahead but of course the safety car was brought out and we were all closed up again."

Lobb held the lead throughout the entire race until making a critical error at the hairpin on the final lap letting Waite and also John Whelan through leaving himself with third place.

However the final race was the big one with the Ron Frost Memorial Trophy AND the Auckland Car Club 75th Anniversary Trophy being awarded to the winner regardless of the previous two races and round results.

The track was wet but but with Lobb consistently very strong in tough conditions he quickly built himself a very convincing lead ahead of Andrew Waite. Another accident brought out the safety car and the field was brought together again. With the race underway once more Lobb stretched the gap again and stormed through to win the race.

"In the third race I thought I did pretty bloody good but one or two laps from the end I did a big compression lock at the hairpin when changing down. I nearly went off the track and that's where Andrew closed in - he got right up on to me and I just held him off over the hill" he said.

He received the two prestigious trophies and claimed second overall for the round (behind Waite).

Lobb was also awarded a brand new crash helmet worth $2,500 for achieving pole position on Saturday morning.

Caine Lobb was clearly the dominant force over the weekend at his first race ever at Pukekohe in a Formula Ford.

Largely ignored by some national media as a serious contender for the championship in the lead up to the initial round, this weekend's show of force by him surely has made those sit up and take notice of this young talented driver from Whangarei.

"It was a very strong weekend and good way to start the season. We have some good strong points which we hope to build on and there will be more to come" says Lobb.