CHE Racing Team’s Zak Lobko has taken the lead in the Australian Formula Ford Series through consistency after a closely fought round at Symmons Plains in Tasmania.
Capitalising on incidents involving his title rivals, Lobko came back from a lowly qualifying result to end the weekend on the podium.
A new circuit for Lobko, Imogen Radburn and Lachlan Strickland, Symmons Plains is a short yet difficult circuit to master, but all three performed admirably.
A red flag in qualifying hurt Lobko, which placed him 12th for the opening race. This didn’t hamper his progress as he charged to finish Race 1 in third after an entertaining battle to decide the podium positions.
In the shuffling during Race 2, Lobko lost out to finish fourth to continue to bridge the gap held by the series leader in the point’s race. Another podium followed in Sunday’s final race elevating him to a tight series lead heading to the next round.
Radburn’s weekend started in 15th as she enjoyed a clean weekend to bank a trio of 12th place finishes as her times continued to improve across the event.
Following Lobko’s lead after qualifying 13th, Strickland was sixth after the opening race before scoring a top five in the second encounter, but luck ran out in the final event as he was run into from behind and forced into retirement.
Lobko holds a three-point advantage as the Australian Formula Ford Series heads to Winton alongside the Shannons SpeedSeries on June 9-11.
QUOTES
Zak Lobko
#7 CHE Racing Team
“We’ve just finished up in Tasmania where I managed the last race in third,” said Lobko.
“We were fourth for the round, but we came out with the series lead. Myself and the whole team are very happy to come away with it heading to Winton in three weeks time. It’s a circuit we’re really good at, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Lachlan Strickland
#47 CHE Racing Team
“It was a bit of a disappointing end to the weekend,” Strickland said.
“Practice and qualifying was an interesting day being my first time within the Supercars paddock, which was pretty awesome. I qualified 13th and I just struggled for pace in general, we had some problems with the car in practice, but the team at CHE got it sorted.
“We fought all the way to sixth, which was an awesome job by the team to get the car prepped and it was a fantastic race in general.
“Race 2 was mainly spent following the safety car as just two laps at the start and a one lap dash weren’t spent under it, so I held position to come home fifth after a good start.
“On Sunday, we had an unfortunate race as I got a mediocre start and at the end of the first lap a car went over the top suffering a lot of damage in the end to continue.
“I just want to thank Rightway Insurance Services, my dad and the team at CHE.”
Imogen Radburn
#29 CHE Racing Team
“What a rollercoaster of a weekend it has been down in Tasmania,” Radburn said.
“We qualified not the greatest, but I still achieved personal bests and we were 15th.
“In the opening race I climbed up a couple of positions to be 12th, which I wasn’t able to progress to the prolonged safety car in the second event.
“Race 3 definitely got the nerves and adrenaline going, finishing up in 12th. We lost the pack a bit at the start, it wasn’t the perfect race and a safety car allowed me to catch back up, but at the restart there was some confusion. I came across a crash and made a position in order to avoid it.
“It was a pretty good weekend, we got the results we wanted and stayed in the top 15.
“I couldn’t have done it without the CHE Racing Team, all my sponsors and everyone at home watching.”
