After two successful rounds of the V8 Ute Challenge, Holden driver Caine Lobb heads to Invercargill's Teretonga Park Raceway and then Timaru International Motor Raceway looking to maintain first place in the series.
An early lead after the opening round became an enlarged deficit between the Whangarei driver and defending championChris Pither of 141 points after the second round at Ruapuna in November. This has enabled Lobb and the Mark Cromie Holden Racing Team to sit well atop of the field at this stage with Christchurch's Simon Beirne sitting in second place 43 points behind.
"We have a pretty good lead over Chris who has had some car problems in the first couple of rounds and can probably afford to finish behind him through to the end of the season," Lobb said.
Round three of the V8 Ute Challenge and Motorsport New Zealand's Premier Championship Series is on today and tomorrow in Invercargill before heading to Timaru next weekend for round four.
Hard-charging rivals in the challenge, Lobb and Pither, have continued to race door handle to door handle this season as they have done previously with some extremely close contests.
At Pukekohe in November, Lobb lost a major lead to the safety car and then tussled with Pither over first place managing to pip him at the finish line in front of a enthralled audience. At Ruapuna later that month Lobb led the field by approximately the length of the main straight but it was slashed to nil by yet another safety car intervention. Pither managed to slip past him after the restart taking advantage of the more nimble Ford on the tight and technical circuit in the closing laps.
The opposing drivers apparently have nothing or little between them and have provided spectators with ample entertainment as they battle for race wins. It is uncertain which manufacturer the variable Teretonga Park Raceway will favour with performance restrictions enforced on Holdens to keep parity with Fords.
"Both seem to get similar lap times on the circuit but the Holdens and Fords make it up at different parts of the track so it will be interesting to see how we go this weekend," Lobb said.
The V8 Ute Challenge qualification is this morning and race one is at 2.50pm this afternoon. The action continues with races two and three tomorrow.
