Baypark speedway to host championship quality Sprint Car field

Auckland based Californian Jonathan Allard will be one of the favourites for Saturday's Dalton's Bay Piston Cup.

1R3A8453sw.JPG
Auckland based Californian Jonathan Allard will be one of the favourites for Saturday's Dalton's Bay Piston Cup.

Speedway

The fastest cars in New Zealand dirt track racing have assembled a championship quality field for an exciting new event at Baypark Speedway on Saturday night (March 12).

Sprint car drivers from throughout the North Island will be chasing success in the inaugural Dalton's Bay Piston Cup, an event the track plans to establish as an annual big-money 30-lap sprint car showcase event.

The first-up response has been impressive with 24 drivers filing entries for the event. The line-up is headed by reigning national champion Michael Pickens, who returns to Baypark fresh from notching up his 199th career feature race victory last weekend in a 20-lap feature.

Auckland-based California racer Jonathan Allard, a two-time New Zealand champion, along with former national champs Dean Brindle (Hamilton), Rodney Wood (Tauranga) and Jamie Duff (Christchurch) are also likely front runners.

The strong response from visiting drivers has been encouraged following two nights of racing on a wider and much smoother racing surface. A new direction in track preparation has been completed by a team headed by Wood which has seen the clay surface re-laid and new equipment used with very positive results.

This weekend's meeting will also see Baypark Speedway continue to evolve the way it operates under the Covid-19 Red Traffic Light setting.

Since the country moved into the red light setting in January, Baypark Speedway has held one livestreamed event without spectators and two nights of racing with attendance at the track restricted to 10 groups of 100 fans.

Both opportunities are available this weekend with tickets to attend the meeting and bookings for the new 'Bay per View' livestream platform available via the Baypark Speedway website.

The other classes in action on Saturday night are the Super Saloons, Stock Cars and the Youth Mini Stocks. Racing starts at 6.30pm.