Lobb Aims For Round Win At Pukekohe

The final round of the ENZED V8 Utes is upon us and Mark Cromie Holden driver Caine Lobb hopes to make this weekend an unforgettable one.

He aims to finish the season with a round win at Pukekohe and believes there is a possibility he can move up into second place ahead of rival Simon Beirne in the ultimate championship standings.

Currently sitting in third place on the championship table, Lobb has 92 points to make up if he is to close the gap on second placed Beirne who he has battled with on track on numerous occasions. Beirne and current series leader Matt Lockwood have both had very consistent seasons scoring points from all the races which has seen them get well ahead of Lobb with his three retirements.

This weekend at Pukekohe promises to be exciting with Beirne and Lockwood battling it out for the championship title and with Lobb doing all he can to close the gap between himself and the two leaders.

Each of the three races and also the qualification session come with a potential of 39 points giving a driver a potential for 156 for the weekend. For Lobb the 92 points deficit between himself and Beirne offers a substantial but not impossible hurdle to overcome, also the 119 points to overtake Lockwood is a possibility albeit unlikely unless the series leader were to experience problems.

"I hope to be able to win the round and will be aiming to overtake Simon but Matt may be a bit far ahead. The car will go well at Pukekohe which is a fairly easy track and it should be a good weekend. Mark has a whole bunch of people coming for the weekend to watch it." said Lobb.

Lobb has shown he can be quick at Pukekohe in other formulas and can be expected to perform well there in the Mark Cromie Holden Team Commodore NZV8RU where it should run well on the fast paced circuit. Being closer to the team's base at Whangarei, Lobb and Mark Cromie are expecting a high number of supporters from the Northland city and have organised a large corporate function for the event at the circuit.

This rookie season has been a very promising opener for 18 year old Lobb who earlier this year signed up with the Mark Cromie Holden Team for the ENZED V8 Ute Series. The relationship looks set to continue with the team enjoying a top season with Lobb who has brought in good results over the first five rounds.

Since the start of the season the former Formula Ford driver has acheived more pole positions than any other driver with three from five rounds. He has had four wins and finished on the podium 12 times from 12 completed races, although one was later subjected to a time penalty. He is now a fulltime member of the Mark Cromie Holden Team and plans are being set in place for the direction they will be taking in the long term.

For those who are planning on attending this weekend at Pukekohe Park Raceway, it should be noted that the meeting is unusual in that the ENZED V8 Utes will have practice on Friday and all racing will be conducted on Saturday with none on Sunday. The meeting will also include Super Saloon, SS2000, Pre 65 and the BMW series in which two of Caine Lobb's fellow Northland drivers Craig Suester and Harvey Gray will compete.