Bob Lobenberg Passes
Portland Rose Cup races in 1979. That’s Bob sitting on the tire.
After a brief but courageous battle with cancer, RRDC member Bob Lobenberg passed away on October 23rd.
Bob was able to meet one last time with several of his racing family at a gathering at Sonoma Raceway on October 10th that was held to honor both Bob and ADF and Swift Designer David Bruns.
A lively panel of Bob’s friends and fellow competitors from the glory days of Formula Ford in the ’70s and ’80s shared memories and experiences from that very special time.
The panel, which included Bob, was filmed and can be seen on YouTube by searching the Formula Ford panel.
Bob dominated the class on the west coast from 1979 to 1983. His incredible record in FF included a 3-year-span from 1980 to 1982 that had him win 23 of 24 races, including two National Championships, almost all of them in his familiar #17 black ADF.
He also won three National championships in Sports 2000 and one in Shelby CanAm.
Bob also raced successfully in Trans-Am and IMSA GTP in the 1980s.
The RRDC extends it’s sincere condolences to all of Bob’s friends and family.
Bill Fickling
Following his Formula Ford success, Bob jumped into professional racing and shared rides with various racers , including John Morton, who had this to say about Bob:
“He didn’t have any trouble going fast in fast cars, even though he hadn’t spent much time in them. You can’t learn to go fast. You can either do it or you can’t do it. And he definitely knew how to do it!”
RRDC banquet at Long Beach 2023. Standing behind the light blue ADF are (l to r) Mike Mokler, Mike Hull, Bob, David Bruns, Bill Fickling, and Jim White (son of Paul White). Paul was the founder of Automotive Development and Swift Cars.
Bob Lobenberg, Mike Mokler, Bill Fickling, left to right
