MOTORSPORT - Difficult weather for utes finale

Whangarei driver Caine Lobb struggled to deliver at the sixth and final round of the ENZED V8 Ute Series held in bleak conditions at Pukekohe Park Raceway on Saturday.
Lobb, a favourite for a round win at the beginning of the three-month long championship, was hunting for second place with an outside chance of the title. His aim was to overtake Simon Beirne for the runner-up position behind leader Matthew Lockwood.
Driving the Mark Cromie Holden Racing NZV8RU, Lobb qualified third in a session prematurely brought to a halt after another competitor aquaplaned at speed into the safety barrier at the end of pit straight.
Treacherous conditions brought more excursions off the track, Lobb suffering at the end of the back straight going off the tarmac into the gravel stop trying to pass Simon Beirne.
"Simon had been blocking me hard and even pushed me out into the grass at one point along the straight. I was getting frustrated and tried to outbrake him at the hairpin but pushed too hard unfortunately," he said.
His reward for the excursion was a DNF (did not finish), his fifth of the season and the main reason he just missed out on a podium finish in the championship overall.
"The DNF have really pushed us down in the points, but they haven't all been Caine's fault. We have certainly learnt a lot from them, experience which we can use for the next season," team principal Mark Cromie said.
In the second of the three races on Saturday, Lobb stormed ahead from fifth on the grid to take the lead in the first lap. He held the position against a vigorous challenge from Super Sedan champion Dayne Running to claim some much needed points.
However, Lobb started in 15th place on the grid in the final race of the season and was looking at simply defending his third place in the championship against Mack Peach in fourth.
Lobb moved up through the pack finishing fourth, incredibly his worst finish for the season.
However, his earlier DNF left him one point shy of Peach, who finished second in race three claiming the third spot in the ENZED V8 Utes inaugural season.
Palmerston North's Matthew Lockwood drove a great round, including two race wins to take the championship. Beirne held on to second place after a troubled day including his first DNF of the season when he blew his engine.
The new season begins on November 21 at Manfeild Autocourse with eight rounds running through to May 2009.