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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- Petersen Media on Jan 04, 2012
- Article Date: 1/4/2012