PETERSEN
MEDIA: Jonathan Allard left the United States in October with the
bitter taste of defeat in his mouth as he narrowly missed out on
defending his Trophy Cup title. Since arriving in New Zealand to defend
his National Title down under, JA has been simply untouchable, as he has
captured five wins in seven stars, including a string of four wins in a
row.
On November 5th, Allard and his Hydraulink/Porter Group/Albany Toyota
No.1z put together a solid night at Western Springs Speedway in
Auckland, NZ as JA snuck past Dean Brindle on the last lap to pick up
the opening night victory.
After a few weeks of rain and a night that saw Allard smack the wall
and not finish, JA and his Zero Motorsports team returned to Western
Springs Speedway with fellow American Donny Schatz in the house on
November 26th.
The Americans entertained the New Zealand crowd, as Schatz motored
away from the field from his pole starting position, while JA charged
from his ninth starting spot.
As JA fought threw traffic, he utilized a couple mid-race cautions to
get in striking distance, and as the race drew to a close, he pulled up
on Schatz bumper as he stalked the reigning Knoxville Nationals
champion for the final two laps.
JA looked to make a move on Schatz on the final lap, but Schatz kept
the New Zealand champ at bay and relegated Allard to second place.
With a month to regroup for the busiest time of the year, Allard and
his team came back swinging during the Boxing Day event on December 26th
at the Springs Speedway.
The race featured American legend, Sammy Swindell, and Peter Murphy
among others, and Swindell and Allard were easily the class of the
field.
Sharing the front row, Swindell got the jump and was checked out,
extending his lead over JA to a straight away, until the caution waved
on lap 18 bunching the field up.
With JA on Swindell’s bumper, he was able to throw a slide job on the Hall of Famer, and proceed to walk away with the win.
JA then hopped on a plane and headed to South Island to compete in
the Race Rock aboard the Edge Parts machine, where he proceeded to time
in sixth quick, win his heat and his dash, and then pick up the lead on
the fifth circuit and drive away to the victory.
After some nasty rain in Auckland, JA returned to the Hydraulink/Porter
Group/Albany Toyota mount, and went back to work at Western Springs on
January 2nd.
Following two second place heat race finishes to Ricky Logan, and
Peter Murphy respectively, JA was on the front row, and the only thing
that slowed the Californian was a lap four caution.
When the race resumed he again took off and picked up his third straight win.
January 3rd saw the Zero Motorsports team make their season debut at the unique Bay Park Facility.
In what may be the most impressive and exciting race of Allard’s
season down under, he got off to a rough start in his first heat and
scored a DNF. In his second heat, JA then followed that up with a win
from the ninth spot.
With Sammy Swindell being the high point man, he was to line up in
the rear of the field, but was able to select who he wanted to start
next to him, and as fate would have it, he selected to red hot JA to
join him in the rear.
Gridding the field in the 18th spot, JA and his Hydraulink Maxim were
on a charge as he worked the tight confines of Bay Park, and was up to
fourth on the 12th lap as the caution waved.
JA used the caution to his advantage and grabbed the lead with just
eight laps remaining. Once out in front JA was un touchable as he
cruised to his fifth win in seven starts down under over Jamie McDonald
and Sammy Swindell.
“This has been a great start down under,” said JA. “I love all these
New Zealand fans, and I am glad I’m able to put on a good show for them
with all these tough guys here competing. I can’t thank my guys enough,
they have been working their tails off and were really clicking right
now.”
ON TAP: Allard will now be in action again tonight at the Western Springs Speedway in Auckland, NZ.
STAY CONNECTED: For more information on Jonathan, including upcoming
events, pictures, and news please check out www.allardmotorsports.com,
or follow JA on twitter @Allard0.
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