Lobb Dips His Toes

Media Release: Wednesday 9th January

Caine Lobb took a break from the open wheelers last weekend at Ruapuna when he stepped into the realm of "Tin-Top" racing with an entry into the Firestone Super Six Saloons Series driving a Holden Commodore VN.

The weekend's racing let Lobb dip his toes in the water in preparation for his entry into a new touring class in the very near future. Yet to be confirmed and announced, a new drive for the up and coming Whangarei driver will see him take another step towards his ultimate goal of V8 Supercar racing.

The view into the world of the Super Sixes was an opportunity offered to Lobb by sponsor Mark Cromie Holden and Andy Neale from Canterbury Motor Racing School (who owns the Holden VN Commodore) for him to get some experience being in a field of aggressive touring car drivers.

Lobb qualified the Commodore in fourth which was a great effort for his lack of experience in the car which is used for driver training. The school only use moderate tuning and set up on the car compared to some other cars in the series so Lobb and team were all very happy with the results of the weekend which saw him get up as high as third place before backing off from the championship leaders.

The experience proved to be quite different for Lobb after the open wheel classes he is used to where there is minimal contact. Right from the first corner at the Raupuna International Raceway Lobb knew he was in for some rough play when the other drivers began to lean on him heavily and there was contact from behind and all sides. At the end of the first race he rolled the car back to the pits with damage to both front quarter panels on the 3.8 litre V6 Commodore.

"The car was dinged up on both sides and I couldn't open the door when we finished. The front light was broken and there was rubber all over my rims where other cars had rubbed up against me" said Lobb. "It was hard out!"

"They're a pretty serious bunch and it's the national series. I was asked not to mess with the leaders too much as they were contending for the title. For the final race they advised me to stay out of it because things may get a bit rough" he said. "In Race Three I was up in fourth place but I didn't want to damage the car so I pulled out."

"We really wanted to do the weekend racing just to get some experience in a tourer before I get started on our new project" said Lobb.

This weekend however Caine Lobb heads to Manfeild Autocourse for the third round of the MTA Formula Ford Championship in which he is currently running third. A very unfortunate round last November at Ruapuna saw Lobb pushed off the track in two seperate incidents while contending for the race lead.

With a second place in Race One, the 12th place and DNF which followed in Race Two and Three, Lobb was left with a drop in championship standings from second to third after Round Two.

"Yeah we should be pretty strong at Manfeild and get some points on the board there. It would be good to win it" said Lobb who recently won the four round Winter Series at the Feilding circuit.

Lobb has shown he is a force to reckon with in the national championship with two race wins at the opening round at Pukekohe in November (although one of those was later modified to a third place after officials deemed him to have jumped the start after viewing the race video for confirmation on a slight forward movement) and a very impressive showing at the previously mentioned Round Two which included a second place in the first race.

Caine Lobb will be contending the remainder of thise season's MTA Formula Ford Championship with aims on the title.