David Allingham toasts maiden British Supersport triumph

Eglinton's David Allingham bagged his debut British Supersport victory at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
David Allingham on the EHA Racing Yamaha.David Allingham on the EHA Racing Yamaha.
David Allingham on the EHA Racing Yamaha.

The EHA Racing rider took full advantage when Saturday’s Sprint race winner Ben Currie suffered a problem on the Gearlink Kawasaki, scoring a maximum haul of 25 points.

Allingham was third over the line behind GP2 riders Kyle Ryde and Josh Owens, but secured the Supersport victory overall.

It was just rewards for Allingham, who finished as a narrow runner-up behind Currie in the Sprint race on Saturday, missing out on victory by only 0.189s.

Allingham, who started the race from pole position, is now aiming to use his debut success as a springboard for the remainder of the season.

“I had a tough start to the year and my confidence was dented as I just couldn’t seem to find the right balance with the new Yamaha R6,” he said.

“We’ve moved back to the old bike for a couple of rounds to see if we could find some sort of rhythm, and it’s worked.

“I might have been a little fortunate today when Currie developed some problems late on, but you have to finish to win it and I kept pushing right until the end.

“We’ve worked hard all weekend and this is as much a reward for everyone within EHA Racing as it is for me.

“Del, my mechanic, has kept the faith and been a massive help, and for this round I worked with Craig Fitzpatrick as acting crew chief,” Allingham added.

“The goal going forward is to get back onto the new Yamaha, but for now I’ll savour that first win. But what a weekend for EHA Racing with my second place on Saturday and Ross (Twyman) third, and Joe Collier getting two wins in the Superstock class for the team.”

Team manager Gail Allingham added: “Everyone is delighted for David grabbing his first win in the Supersport class.

“A lot of hard work has gone into getting the Supersport effort to this point and we now need to re-evaluate and see what else we can add to the overall package, so we can run at the sharp end on each and every race weekend.”

Allingham is sixth in the championship standings, just four points behind James Rispoli.

Dublin’s Jack Kennedy continues to lead the title charge despite missing out at the weekend through injury.

The Integro Yamaha rider holds an advantage of 16 points over Currie.

Carrickfergus man Alastair Seeley, who made his return to the class at Brands, suffered misfortune in the Sprint race on Saturday when a problem with the Tsingtao MV Agusta caused him top drop through the field after he was running in sixth at the beginning.

Seeley, a former British Supersport champion, finished seventh overall in Sunday’s race.