From Peterson Media
Though the start of his season in New Zealand was delayed a couple of weeks, Jonathan Allard made the wait worth it as he picked up two wins during the three-race Porter Hire International Series during the last week.
“It was a team effort to get everything done, and get ready to get on the track,” Jonathan Allard said. “We had some great people step up and partner with us over the off season, and hopefully they were proud of what we were able to accomplish.”
During his first night of action during the opening night of the International Series on December 3rd, Allard would simply put on a show from the time he unloaded until the time he checkered flag flew.
Forced to line up 14th in his first heat race, the Chico, CA native had his elbows up as he carved his way through the field en route to a third place finish before lining up on the front row of his second heat race and claiming the win.
Lining up in the second row of the heat race, Allard would make quick work of fellow Americans Kraig Kinser, and Brad Loyet as he would jump into the race lead and go on to pick up a very comfortable feature event win.
Traveling to Palmerston North Speedway for the second round of action, things would be rough on Allard, and his team. Being told over the radio to catch up to the field, the track’s water truck would try to exit the speedway, and contact would ensue between the No. 1NZ and the truck. Though Allard escaped uninjured, his car would be worse for wear and the team would regroup for the International Series finale.
Scheduled to run on Saturday night at Springs Speedway, Mother Nature would delay the finale to Sunday night, and despite the weather a racy track would be a welcome site to the competitors.
Having an issue during his first heat on Sunday night, Allard would eventually find himself deep in the field for the 25-lap Porter Hire International Series final feature event.
As he has done so many times over the years at ‘The Springs’, Allard was masterful as he scooped up positions lap after lap and thrilled on lookers. On lap 24, Allard would get to race leader Michael Pickens and the overflow crowd would come to their feet.
Taking the white flag in the second spot, Allard would run side-by-side with Pickens until he was able to execute a pass on the final corner to pick up the win and finish second in International Series points despite the issue in Palmerston North.
“It is awesome to come out here and run the way we did after some time off,” Allard said. “We have so many great people who help us on this car, and this week of racing has been an absolute blast.”