Lockwood Wins Opening V8 Ute Round At Manfeild

Lockwood Wins Opening V8 Ute Round At Manfeild On 22/23 November 2008

Matt “Phantom’ Lockwood, the inaugural ENZED V8 Ute champion, had a great weekend at Manfeild, his home track. Not only did he win the opening round of the 2008/9 ENZED V8 Ute series but he also won the second round of the Pro7 Plus series in a Series 6 RX7 at the same meeting.

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Off-season work on the Ute meant that Lockwood did not have the benefit of any testing prior to getting into the car for this meeting. “I was a bit rusty and struggling with the difference in setup between the RX7 and Holden Ute. I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage 7 races in two classes, particularly with 5 races on Sunday”

Lockwood qualified the VU Holden Ute in fourth for the first race and finished the race in second place behind Simon “Jnr Burner” Beirne with Graham “Senior” Beirne in third place.

Lockwood then went on to dominate the Sunday Ute races with two wins and a third in the reverse marble draw. His smooth driving allowed him to slip through the field in the marble draw races and he eventually took the meeting by 16 points from Caine “Ginger Ninja” Lobb with Graham Beirne in third place.

To cap off his weekend Lockwood drove his RX7 to three wins in three races including the reverse grid race. This result extended his lead in the Pro7 Plus class after two rounds.

“It was never intended that I drive two classes at the same meeting but unfortunately that’s how the racing calendar turned out. However now that I’ve done it with good results I’m looking forward to the next joint meeting at Pukekohe on 6/7 December”

Lockwood has started the new season as he finished the last, on a winning note.

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