Motorsport: Allard has fight on his hands to win North Island sprint car title

Jonathan Allard won his fourth North Island sprint car title at Baypark Speedway on Saturday night. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Winning wasn’t as straightforward as it appeared for California racer Jonathan Allard at Baypark Speedway last Saturday night.

Top-scoring in the qualifying heats earned Allard the choice of front-row grid positions and he led the 25-lap North Island Sprint Car Championship final from start to finish, taking a narrow win over Hamilton’s Dean Brindle.

But Allard revealed he’d had a fight on his hands in the cockpit of his Daltons racer on the way to his fourth North Island title victory.

“Sometimes there’s so much the crowd in the stands doesn’t see. I was so busy in the car,” says Allard.

“About 10 laps in, my wing slider broke and the wing was moving around, doing its own thing.”

The top wing on a sprint car has a hydraulic slider system that can be adjusted by the driver and is run by the power steering pump.

“Then it broke the hoses with about 10 laps to go. I had fluid everywhere and no power steering, so the car was really hard to turn.

“As old as I am, the experience really paid off. On the cautions I was peeling the tape off the steering wheel and trying to tape up the hose.”

Brindle was chasing Allard through the lapped traffic and got a chance on the final restart with three laps remaining.

“You always got to worry about Dean. I knew he was close behind and he’s stolen a couple of wins away from me here late in some races,” Allard says.

“I had the experience to stay calm but the win is really a testament to the great car we’ve got.”

Brindle was a close second — the fifth time he’s finished runner-up in the North Island title — while reigning champ Jamie Larsen (Kapiti) stopped with a suspected magneto issue while running third with two laps to run.

Max Guilford was the best-placed Baypark driver taking third place and scoring his first major sprint car title podium. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Baypark racer Max Guilford achieved his best major event sprint car result moving forward from grid 10 to take third place ahead of Ryan O’Connor (Auckland) and Keaton Dahm (Tokoroa).

There was more success for Tauranga’s newly crowned New Zealand super saloon car champion Chris Cowling in Cromwell on Saturday night. Cowling won this fourth consecutive New Zealand GP ahead of Aucklander Craig Cardwell and Baypark racer Sam Waddell.

The next meeting at Baypark Speedway is the Bay 51 Midget Car Spectacular on Saturday, March 4.