Irish rider David Allingham became the first Thundersport GB Champion of 2013 at Anglesey after clinching the Aprilia RRV450 Championship.
Entering the round with a 204 point lead with 300 remaining, David simply needed to finish ahead of Ross Twyman in the final race of the meeting and score three more points than his title rival to claim the goods.
In a controlled manner, Allingham looked under no real pressure during the race itself and having fought off challenges from Louis Dawson and Ben Luxton in the early stages, David picked up win number 14 of the season to become the first Irishman to win an Aprilia based championship since 2002.
Marshall won back to back Aprilia Mille titles in 2001/2002 and was ironically sponsored by David Allingham’s father ‘Eddie’ during that period….. funny how history has a habit of repeating itself!
Having started out as a rookie in the Aprilia Superteen class in 2011, he picked up his first podium at Cadwell Park before going on to win his first race at Brands Hatch a couple of months later.
As the 2011 season came to an end, David’s height was costing him dearly on the little RS125 and before finishing the year in seventh overall and second in the Nitro Newcomers championship behind Joe Francis, Allingham was already testing the 450 in preparation for 2012.
It was immediately noticeable that his size and style suited the nimble Aprilia RRV450 and as the 2012 season kicked off, David made a clear statement of his intentions with three podiums in the opener at Brands Hatch including a win, leaving round one as championship leader overall.
Over the next few rounds, David fought to collect another six podiums but had lost his lead to Callan Cooper. Then at Snetterton, David picked up a nasty injury that would all but end any chances he had of fighting for the title.
He returned to form at the penultimate round of the 2012 season at Cadwell with a couple of wins but Cooper had won it by then and David was forced to settle for fifth overall.
Moving into 2013, David and his father Eddie perhaps made the best decision of his young career so far. With a number of riders flooding through the gates at BSB, the Irishman had unfinished business to attend to and it was soon announced that Allingham would be competing in the 450’s again for 2013.
Despite starting the season with the pressure of new sponsor ‘B-Mor’ and carrying a broken collarbone injury from two weeks previous, Allingham got his season off to a decent start with four podiums and a win at Brands Hatch and by the end of round two at Donington, he was just 8pts behind Twyman overall.
Over the next three rounds however, David bombed the class with all of his ammo and despite the fact that most races were covered by the smallest of margins, the 18-year-old Irishman won 10 of the next 11 races at Snetterton, Cadwell and Oulton to deliver a killer blow.
By now, David was enjoying some fierce battles with the 2012 Superteen Champion Lewis Rollo but with the young Scotsman not threatening him in the championship, Allingham just needed to stay upright to be in with a chance of collecting the title in North Wales.
And so we arrived at Anglesey and despite some amazing front end battles with no less than seven riders, the Irishman claimed the crown that he deserved.
In what is without doubt the closest fought championship amongst the Thundersport classes, it seems bizarre to have a champion with two rounds still remaining but David has not only won more races than any of his rivals, but as it stands, he’s also the only rider to have finished every single race…. A fifth place at Donington stands as his worst result.
A force to be reckoned with on circuit and a true gentleman off it, you might just want to keep an eye on the progress of this lad. Ireland has once again produced an outstanding talent.
