MOTORSPORT - Champ revs it up at old school

Tyre squeals and the thunder of a V8 engine pierced the air at a Whangarei school bus bay - but the school headmaster was smiling ear-to-ear.
Former Whangarei Boys' High student and racing driver Caine Lobb was back at his old school yesterday to speak at assembly and show off his Holden VE Commodore ute to a crowd of star-struck boys.
Lobb, 20, fresh from his win in the New Zealand V8 ute series just over a week ago, was invited to the school along with his sponsor, Whangarei Holden dealer Mark Cromie.
Hundreds of students gathered around Cromie's vehicle transporter parked in the bus bay and waited expectantly as Lobb's shiny red $90,000 ute was lowered out of it. A ripple of awe went over the crowd as Lobb started up the ute and rolled it out of the transporter.
Boys rushed forward to check out what was under the bonnet and excitement grew when headmaster Al Kirk suggested a few laps of the bus bay.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Advocate photographer Mike Cunningham was left with "my eyeballs in the back of my head" when Lobb tore up the cobbles in four laps.
The noise and brake slides drew a collective "ooooh" from the boys watching.
"Speed it up!" one cried. "Do a wheelie!" shouted another.
Lobb said part of the reason for visiting Boys' High was to show the students there were legitimate ways of driving fast cars to get petrol-head thrills.
"There are some low-lifes who continue to do stupid things but if you do it on a track, you can still have the coolest car and drive it fast . . . I've got boy racing out of my system though, I think."
At the assembly, he also told the boys that if they worked hard enough for something, it would become a reality.
Cromie said he was thrilled with Lobb's series win.
"He's a very good driver . . . he's quite tactical, with all the driving he's done right from go-karts, it's paid off for him," Cromie said.
Lobb said Cromie's support was invaluable and it helped that Cromie was a true petrolhead. "I think he's more into it than I am."
Cromie last year took Lobb for a spin in his jet boat in Hamilton.
"It was awesome. I'd almost rather be racing boats."