Lobb Leads Suzuki Series after R1

Hard fought on-track battles and a little bit of luck put Whangarei race car driver Caine Lobb into the lead of the Formula Suzuki Series at Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding over the weekend.

The opening round of the series began well for Lobb who claimed the fastest time of the open wheelers and pole position.

The Formula Suzuki Series share the circuit with sports cars who are deemed compatible to run with the class and race together creating a field of around 20 cars.

Taking the class win in the first of three races held over the weekend, Lobb followed that with second place in race two behind main rival Gene Rollinson setting the scene for an exciting third and final race for Sunday afternoon with the two tied on points.

The first two races were scratch starts with the fastest cars at the front but the final was to be a reverse grid and time handicapped start which placed Lobb and Rollinson at the rear of the field.

Misfortune hit Rollinson's Suzuki with a mechanical issue leaving Lobb unopposed to pursue the cars up ahead.

"He (Rollinson) and I swapped the lead three times before he had a breakage, we were close all weekend." said Lobb.

After chasing down the advantaged cars ahead Lobb eventually ran out of laps and passing opportunities following new comer Shaun Varney from Auckland across the finish line.

Claiming another second place for the weekend Lobb scored the points needed to win the opening round and series lead.

"It was a shame that Gene had a problem but that's just how it is with motorsport, we'll take the win happily because it could be us that has trouble next time." said Lobb's manager Brian Craig.

The Formula Suzuki Series heads to Taupo Motorsport Park for Round Two on 23-24th October where no doubt Caine Lobb and Gene Rollinson will once again keep each other on their toes as they swap the lead and fastest lap times. It promises to be another exciting battle for the lead in the series.

Furthermore Caine Lobb will be back under the tinned top of the Mark Cromie Holden Racing Team's V8 Racing Ute on 5-7th November for the season's opening round of the ENZED V8 Ute Racing Series.

He and the team will be making a committed attempt at reclaiming the title after becoming runner up last season to Palmerston North's Chris Pither. Lobb was champion the previous season.

This season the series becomes part of the Motorsport New Zealand's Premier Championship (Tier One) taking it's rightful place alongside headliner category the BNTV8s which can boast a field of New Zealand's best touring car drivers.

The MCH Formula Suzuki race car will be on display at Mark Cromie Holden on Hannah St, Whangarei from Thursday 7th October until the next round.

Caine Lobb is currently rated the international top driver in the Future Stars category on the Drivers Data Base website www.driversdb.com. He is listed as the driver aged 21 or younger with the highest number of race wins. He also holds the highest race win percentage of New Zealand drivers listed on the site at 40 percent and sits in 15th place overall.