Motorsport: Big-city drivers sweep board thanks to Lusi

Auckland racer Jamie McDonald won the Sprint Car Gold Cup at Baypark on Saturday night. Photo/Colin Smith

Western Springs-based racers can thank the previous weekend's Cyclone Lusi for the chance to clean sweep the podium at the Baypark Speedway's Sprint Car Gold Cup on Saturday night.

Former New Zealand champion Jamie McDonald led a quality 18-car grid from start to finish in the 25-lapper chased by Hamilton's Dean Brindle, with Auckland racer Daniel Eggleton completing the top three.

They would not have been able to contest the Gold Cup had it run as scheduled on March 15, due to a date clash with the Western Springs season finale.

The second Baypark feature win for McDonald this summer continued a strong late-season run - he had clinched the Western Springs season points championship the previous Sunday night. "The winter is so long. It's nice to end the summer with a good run," said McDonald.

The track was fast, with Sprint Car lap times dipping into the 13-second bracket for the first time this season. It was Brindle's 13.65s effort in his chase of McDonald in the final pole-shuffle duel that becomes the benchmark for the summer.

"The track was fast and quite tricky," said McDonald.

"It was pretty hairy getting into turn three. You had to drive it in straight.

"If you got it right, you were fast but, if you got it wrong, you were out the back door."

McDonald and crew chief Lee Rusher got their J&J chassis sorted with some last-minute changes.

"When we knew that we'd be on the front row for the feature, we decided to try some different things in the pole shuffle," said McDonald.

"It was a bit of a rush, we were still changing tyres on the infield during the pole shuffle and we only just made it."

McDonald was into lapped traffic early in the race and had lapped up to sixth place before the only caution of the race on lap 17, when national champ Rodney Wood (Tauranga) tangled with Paul Donovan.

In the remaining laps, McDonald edged away from Brindle again, with Eggleton and Tokoroa brothers James and Keaton Dahm the best of the Baypark drivers, taking fourth and fifth.

Former national champ Brent Emerson (Tauranga) won his first Super Saloon Car feature of the year, working his way past the battling Karl Hanlon and Russell Donovan to take the win.

The Saloon Cars raced with their more powerful counterparts and Steve Cowling pipped Brent McClymont for the class win.

In the Stock Cars, Scott Hayward won the feature race by a clear margin, while Ash Henstock raced to a narrow win over Sam Waddell in the Mini Stock feature race.