Lobb wins a
thriller |
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Round five of the Shelby Can-Am championship will
be remembered for its stunning racing and the arrival of a new
star. Qualifying saw championship leader Rui Campos put the Q8 Oils car on pole ahead of Alan Eve in the Metal Used Spares version. Armed with a freshly rebuilt engine, former kart star Justin Alison set tongues wagging by ending up third fastest to head the second row from Brian algar (Etana). Darryn Lobb returned to the fray with support from Hollard and lined up fifth ahead of Greg Walker (Indy Oil/Sunoco Race Fuel) as the top six were blanketed by less than 8/10ths of a second. The opening race could be described as a high-speed chess game as the top order didn’t change but the pace of the top four was blisteringly fast and one little mistake would have been severely punished. Campos lead with Eve glued to his rear wing and then it was young Allison holding off Algar. Shortly after half distance Algar began working out where he could pass Allison, but the youngster was driving superbly and resisted Algar’s attempts. Eventually Algar snuck through at the hairpin, but Allison had learnt a lot and gained respect from Algar. The final order was Campos taking the flag from Eve with Algar third ahead of Allison while Lobb was a safe fifth ahead of Walker. Race two started with the grid based on the usual inverted fastest lap order, but it didn’t take long before the top dogs established themselves at the head of the field. From then on it was a classic contest as the top four ran nose to tail with each driver waiting for the other to make a mistake. Despite a car not handling to his liking, Lobb managed to hold onto the lead and take a well deserved win for new sponsors Hollard and Cornright’s. Algar claimed second and crossed the line with Campos and Eve nose to tail behind him. “I just drove as hard and as smoothly as I could. I knew there were a few cars behind me …. It was a very hard win!!,” remarked Lobb afterwards. Hanno Pengilly (Sunoco) was a lonely fifth while Allison was disappointed with sixth place. The Shelby Can-Am series moved down to East London’s ultra fast former Grand Prix circuit for the next round on 16th July. |