MOTORSPORT - Lobb ready, willing and very able

The dominant force of Caine Lobb in his Hydraulink Formula Ford will hit the track at full power this weekend at the Ruapuna International Raceway, where the Whangarei driver plans to take his third win in a row at the Christchurch circuit.
In his Formula Ford National Championship debut at the same event last year, Lobb's consistency on the technical circuit earned him an unexpected round win at Ruapuna against a tough field of national drivers including last year's champion Sam McNeil and this year's current points leader Andrew Waite. Proving the win was no fluke, Lobb more recently again claimed victory at the circuit last month where at the Formula Ford Festival, he took two first places and a second out of the three heats, pole position and a win for the grand finale all-important fourth race.
Overall Lobb staked his claim on the South Island circuit where he is expected to be extremely strong again this weekend.
A mere 22 points behind current leader Andrew Waite after the first round at Pukekohe at the start of the month, Lobb won't be letting any slip-ups occur after a time penalty relegated his win in the first race, to a third place after officials deemed him to have jumped the start.
At the end of the weekend that five-second penalty ultimately handed the round win to Auckland driver Andrew Waite on his home circuit.
Lobb, however, won the most important race of the weekend and after taking victory on a wet track in the third and final rcae, was awarded the Ron Frost Memorial Trophy and Auckland Car Club 75th Anniversary Trophy, which were awarded to the winner of that race regardless of round standings. He also was awarded a new helmet for picking up pole position in Saturday morning's qualification.
Lobb calls Ruapuna his home circuit as he is based at Christchurch, where he works at the track as an assistant instructor at the Canterbury Motor Racing School. That means he has very sound knowledge of the layout and with guidance from top instructor and employer Andrew Neale can find speed where perhaps no one else can.
This time last year Sunday brought with it very undesirable weather conditions for the drivers and even resulted in the postponement of the final Mini Challenge race. Lobb battled the elements to finish third and earned enough points to win the round over reigning champion Andrew McNeil. Lobb showed then and subsequently that he is a strong wet-weather driver so will be ready for anything this weekend.