MOTORSPORT - Hat-trick of wins shunts Lobb into second overall

ADDING to his perfect round last weekend at Timaru, Whangarei's Caine Lobb ended the MTA Formula Ford National Chamionship in style on Sunday at Invercargill's Teretonga Park with a hat-trick of wins.
Starting from third on the grid on Saturday, Lobb fought his way to win the race ahead of championship leaders John Whelan and Andrew Waite.
On Sunday, he followed that tremendous result up with two more wins, narrowing the gap between him and overall winner Dunedin's John Whelan and overtaking Auckland's Andrew Waite for second place in the championship.
Lobb, who has struggled for points throughout his first full season in the Formula Fords, was a long way back from leader Whelan just over a week ago with a 233 point deficit before going to Timaru.
Winning a record six races from six over the last two rounds of the season, Lobb closed the sizeable gap between himself and Whelan with some clever driving taking the maximum 225 points from the round.
"John wasn't holding back and really made me work for the win in the last race," he said.
But he rated his win in the earlier race as his best after fighting off an ominous start.
"This morning in race two, it started hailing when we were on the dummy grid before the race and I got soaked because we had no umbrella.
"I went on to win that race in the wet by over five seconds so I was really happy with that," said Lobb.
Lobb has had a great season, however, claiming the highest number of poles, taking four from the seven qualifying sessions, and with 10 wins he won the most amount of races after the back to back hat tricks at round six and seven.
The season had not really gone his way before the final two rounds but he has clawed his way back to become runner up in a very competitive national championship, where he finally became a contender for the title.
"We're just waiting for the award ceremony and then we are off to dinner and have a massive celebration," Lobb said after the final race of the season.
Looking ahead to next year the doors are open for Lobb who must now decide whether to move up into the Toyota Racing Series or look elsewhere.
Over the off-season, Lobb will team up with Whangarei's Mark Cromie to drive a Holden in the New Zealand V8 Utes.