Lobb Misses Round Win After Penalty

In touring car racing there is usually plenty of action between a field of highly competitive drivers and contact is often rife in a top series as they compete for every little piece of ground available finding opportunities where possible.

The ENZED V8 Utes are no exception to the rule as evidenced by the fifth round at Manfeild Autocourse over the weekend where Caine Lobb and Simon Beirne once again had an on-track disagreement. Fires still smouldering from Teretonga were stoked on the last corner before the end of race three at the weekend.

Lobb was chasing series leader Matt Lockwood into the final turn of the Manfeild circuit before the chequered flag when Simon Beirne tried to take an inside line on him resulting in two heavy contacts and Lobb losing control and momentum for the run down to the line.

Beirne was awarded a 50 second penalty for his actions and Lobb received an equal penalty for his actions after finishing the race.

"I was in second and Simon gave me a tap and after I crossed the line I gave him a bit of a nudge on his back bumper. He got a penalty and protested about what I did and so I ended up with a penalty and fine. His was a move that would never have worked and I was so angry I gave him a bit of a love tap." he said.

With the infringement penalties both Lobb and Beirne lost their podium finishes in race three finishing in 12th and 11th respectively but the penalty for the 'love tap' on Beirne was double-headed for Lobb.

"Unfortunately I missed out on winning the round due to my penalty as well." said Lobb who was having a strong round before the last race incident.

Earlier in the weekend Lobb struggled for a competitive qualification session missing out on his consecutive fourth pole position and instead settling for a fifth place in the Top 10 Shoot-out.

This was the first time in the five rounds of this series he had not proven to be quickest in the field although a crash in the opening round in qualification put him out of the session and first race of the season.

There was some criticism over a technical ruling put in place before Saturday's session where the officials decided the newer Holden Commodores would have their rev limiters lowered by 200rpm beforehand.

"It would have been better to do that before practice so the drivers could get themselves set up and accustomed to using the lower revs." said Caine Lobb's manger Brian Craig.

The marble draw for the start grid went Caine Lobb's way however with the 18 year old driver from Whangarei pulling pole position. In race one a battle with Dayne Running left Lobb with second place.

In race two Lobb came through the pack from the reverse grid start and managed to claim another podium with third place.

With the fifth round all done the action next moves north to Pukekohe Park Raceway on the 27-29th June where the championship will be decided with the grand finale. Lobb has moved up into third place in the standings but with a gap of 111 points between himself and leader Matt Lockwood he has a very large hill to climb for a chance at winning his first season in the ENZED V8 Ute Series driving for the Mark Cromie Holden Team.

"I think Matt (Lockwood) is a little too far ahead now so we will be aiming to move into second ahead of Simon Beirne." he said.

It all seems very similar to Lobb's season in the MTA Formula Ford Championship where he jumped from fourth to second place in the final two rounds eventually finishing as runner up behind team mate John Whelan in March this year. Perhaps Lobb can pull off another stunner in the final round.