From Robertson Holden Speedway
Palmerston North, NZ — (December 8, 2014) — Australian Robbie Farr won his second feature in three days as the Porter Hire – PN PartsWorld Sprintcar Series travelled south before heading back to Western Springs. A healthy crowd filed into the Robertson Holden International Speedway on Monday night to witness plenty of wheel-to-wheel action.
Porter Hire – PN PartsWorld Sprintcar Series
Six combatants would face off in two NZ v USA v AUS test matches, with the remaining 11 Sprintcars also having two reverse-grid heats before combining with the internationals for a top ten shootout. This would determine grids for the 25-lap final race.
The first test match saw the kiwis suffer an early setback when 3nz Jamie McDonald dropped down the field, but he recovered somewhat with an outside pass on 25aus James McFadden. 0usa Jonathan Allard won the race from pole position, but the big mover was 7aus Robbie Farr up to second place from grid five. The second outing was all Australia as the duo registered maximum points from the front two grids. 11usa Kraig Kinser was third with his only finish on a night plagued with mechanical woes, and Allard fourth to strike the kiwis a severe blow.
The New Zealand heat races started in the worst possible fashion for 54a Michael Pickens as he was turned around into the wall on the opening corner, and the multiple Midget champ was legitimately grumpy when interviewed. 19a Jamie Duff took the win from 21w Stephen Taylor and 78a Daniel Eggleton. The second heat was much tidier, although winner 5a Daniel Rogers was relegated after the race for a jumped start, handing the victory to 82a Jamie Larsen. Semi-local lads Taylor and Larsen were the top pointscorers over the two heats followed by Eggleton, Duff and 66m Skinny Colson.
No one driver dominated the shootout, with the challenger defeating the previous winner each time. 82a Jamie Larsen’s victory over 78a Daniel Eggleton was particularly impressive, with the Kapiti youngster holding a brave outside line as the cars went side-by-side for a full lap before emerging in front.
The final was plagued by a number of restarts, firstly for a jumped start then for a caution on the opening lap when 21w Stephen Taylor squeezed 25aus James McFadden into the wall on the grandstand straight and sadly out of the race. When the final did get going it was a cracker, with 7aus Robbie Farr holding the high line from his outside grid to emerge in front of 0usa Jonathan Allard. It was hard to know where to look as the lead cars weaved their way through lapped traffic, while 54a Michael Pickens and 21w Stephen Taylor made impressive charges through the pack from the back of the grid.
The answer was up front, where Farr had a brain fade and clobbered into 19a Jamie Duff bringing on the yellows and giving Allard a sniff. Somehow Farr survived with a damaged front wing, and courageously held off Allard over the closing laps to take the win as the American bounced off the wall a few times in his desperation. 78a Daniel Eggleton was an excellent third, and the only New Zealander able to remain within touching distance of the leaders. 2nz Dean Brindle and 3nz Jamie McDonald showed their class to finish next from unfavourable grids, while Pickens lost out in a final battle for fourth with the aforementioned duo but was hugely impressive after starting from grid fifteen.