Allan pounces in as last lap drama denies Giddy

Reigning champion Hugo Allan lucked in after a dramatic last lap moment cost teenager Ajay Giddy his maiden victory in the Bridgestone GR86 Championship feature race at the penultimate round at Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon.

Giddy looked home and dry before he momentarily slowed as he lost fifth gear with just one corner to go on the final lap. Allan needed no invitation and pounced for his second win of the weekend, leaving Giddy and his team heartbroken and denied their first main game victory.

“We had really strong pace, but Ajay did do a great job,” said Hugo afterwards. “Our car was really strong at the end of the race. You have to take the points and the wins you can get when you can get them and we’ll take that win any way after our start to the season.” A strong weekend overall also saw Allan take the round win.

Giddy made it home for second while Arthur Broughan had another strong run to third. White maintained his championship lead with fourth while a fine fifth for Lee Zeltwanger was enough to claim the Rookie Championship title with a full round still to go, a huge achievement by the youngster.

Fastest lap of all in qualifying gave Ajay pole position for the 14 lap feature race – with White alongside, and the youngster got an absolute flyer to lead comfortably into turn one. White meanwhile, lost places to Arthur Broughan, Hugo Allan, Josh Bethune and Justin Allen in the first corner congestion before emerging in sixth place at the end of the first lap. The pressure was clearly on the championship leader.

Lap two and Allen got muscled down to seventh in the heat of the battle , elevating Zach Blincoe and Cooper Barnes. White meanwhile had gathered himself up and moved up to fifth, which became fourth when he got past Bethune on lap three. Allan fought his way up to second in all the drama too.

Giddy had already checked out to a one second lead by lap four, which was packed with more action as Zeltwanger and Blincoe got ahead of Bethune in a great battle that saw elbows out, track limits tested and cars pushed to their absolute maximum around Manfeild’s cambered corners.

Things settled down significantly from lap six, certainly in the front half of the field – with Giddy, Allan and Broughan holding station. Action continued further back with Lucas McGill and Mac Templeton enjoying a great battle for twelfth and thirteenth.

Giddy was doing everything and more required to win the race and at halfway had several car lengths over Allan, the reigning champion right up there again after a strong weekend in the Manawatu. Broughan was a similar margin behind Hugo in third, while in the championship fight White was concentrating on staying fourth ahead of Zeltwanger and Blincoe.

Giddy had his head down – watched from pit lane by racer Kaleb Ngatoa – focussed on taking his first win in the ‘main game’ Bridgestone GR86 Championship and despite being the youngest driver in the field, looked well in control throughout the second half of the race as the laps ticked away.

His first win looked a certainty but fate – and fifth gear – had other ideas and the last few hundred metres of the race were the cruellest of his Toyota racing career so far as he watched Allan sweep by.

Broughan kept Allan honest throughout but wasn’t able to pass Giddy when he hit trouble. He still took a fine third, while White also drove well surviving the pressure of the opening laps to take an eventual fourth place and take back some of the points margin he lost on Sunday morning to Blincoe. Blincoe would come home sixth ahead of Bethune, Justin Allen, Harry Townshend, Cooper Barnes and the rest.

The championship now heads to Taupo on April 10th where the title will be decided in front of a Supercars packed house.