Lobb Decides To Win at Taupo

Media Release: Monday 14th January

Caine Lobb has decided to put the last two rounds of the MTA Formula Ford National Championship behind him and look freshly towards this weekend's racing at the A1GP International meeting in Taupo where he plans to leave with a round win.

"Last weekend at Manfeild wasn't that great but we will just go to Taupo and have a great one!" he says. "We've had our share of bad ones so we should be in line for some good ones now."

Lobb showed his strength at Manfeild last weekend very early on when he lapped the circuit up to quarter of a second faster than the rest of the Ford pack throughout practice. He went on to claim pole position on Saturday morning and eventually brought the Hydraulink Ford home in second place behind John Whelan in the first race that afternoon.

Unfortunately a tangle with Hugh Gardiner and Andrew Waite early on in that race, which resulted in DNFs for the two, was deemed to have been caused by Lobb and he was consequently given a penalty resulting in a non-placing and no championship points.

"I got in a tangle with Hugh (Gardiner) and gave him a nudge but was deemed to have taken him out" said Lobb. "But Andrew (Waite) was on the outside and there wasn't much I could do. They gave me a 50 second penalty which was a tough call but that's just how it goes in racing."

In Race Two Lobb dropped out of second place behind Whelan when he was forced to take the car through the pits when his engine cover came loose. He re-entered the race but only to finish in 16th place.

Lobb remained in top form for Race Three and after a gruelling battle with John Whelan and Andrew Waite came home in third place with less than a second separating the three at the chequered flag.

"John had an excellent weekend with three wins. I only managed to get up in front of him once when going around Dunlop - good on him." said Lobb.

Whangarei driver Caine Lobb has consistently shown he has more than enough speed to win races over the season, which is nearing it's half way point, but to date has encountered many a barrier to keep him from winning rounds. He is particularly looking forward to this weekend which will be a grand affair with record breaking crowds expected to witness the fourth round of the A1GP along with the MTA Formula Ford National Championship and other Tier One racing classes including the NZ Truth V8s.

"This weekend is going to be huge and I would love to win the round in front of the huge crowd that's going to be there." said Lobb.

This time last year at Taupo he suffered a huge crash in Race One where he rolled three times before coming to a halt upside down in the gravel trap. He then went on to impress the crowd the following day with third and fifth placings in a bent car which had been pieced back together by the miracle-working Motorsport Solutions crew over night.

Championship Standings (Points after Rnd 3 of 7)

1. John Whelan 602
2. Andrew Waite 519
3. Stefan Webling 411
4. Caine Lobb 372
5. Mathew Wooding 361