Motorsport: Allard steals victory at Western Springs

Western Springs Speedway International Sprintcars. Photo / www.shot360.co.nz

New Zealand sprintcar champion Jonathan Allard stole victory with a last-gasp pass at Vodafone Speedway - Western Springs on Sunday night.

Auckland's Michael Pickens looked to have sewn up the feature race having escaped the field from the opening lap and driving untroubled throughout the first 24 laps, however, while lapped traffic started to slow Pickens' progress, Californian-born Allard was steadily closing the gap behind, then with the chequered flag waving snatched the win with a pass on the final corner.

"I just got lucky on that one, wherever he went I was going to go somewhere different and I got lucky," said the 40-year-old.

This win was Allard's second in eight days having also won the opening round of the Porter Hire International Sprintcar Series last Saturday night.

"We really appreciate all the race fans coming out and spending their hard earned money to watch us race on a Sunday night," he said.

It wasn't all doom and gloom for Pickens though as he won the midget feature and was named captain of the New Zealand midget team, alongside Hayden Williams and Brock Maskovich.

Meanwhile, Nathan Howard earned his first F2 midget victory, driving around the outside of Stephen Wilson and Corbin Anderson to win.

In the TQ midget category, 16-year-old Breyton Davison beat home brothers Ryan and Scott Baker to claim victory in their main event.

Western Springs is set to welcome international midget drivers from Australia and the United States on December 26 for the opening round of the United Truck Parts International Midget Series.