Super2 title, Bathurst on Allen's radar

13 Jul 2023

18-year-old broke through in Townsville

2 mins by James Pavey

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The Super2 title and a Bathurst 1000 debut could form key life-changing moments in the coming months for Eggleston Motorsport teen Kai Allen.

Allen, who recently turned 18, won his first Super2 round at last weekend’s NTI Townsville 500.

The Eggleston Motorsport driver showed maturity beyond his years to dominate Race 1 before keeping his cool in a Race 2 battle with Zak Best.

While Best got the chocolates in Race 2, Allen cruised home to take second and the round win in Super2’s milestone 150th round.

Heading to Round 4 at Sandown, Allen is just 66 points behind leader Best, who has led since the season-opening Thrifty Newcastle 500.

In six Super2 starts, Allen has finishes of fourth, sixth, 19th, fourth, first and second — the obvious blip the 19th in Perth after suffering power steering issues.

A Super2 title in his rookie season would be welcome redemption, given last year's Super3 title went begging due to a heartbreaking crash in the Adelaide finale.

“We had a bad race in Perth, but we’ve salvaged as many points as we could,” Allen said.

“I’m happy to leave here second in the championship, that’s a good weekend.

“Zak did well in that race, which shows he knows what he’s doing. He’ll be tough to beat."

Also over the weekend, Mount Gambier product Allen was linked to a Great Race debut in a Dick Johnson Racing-run wildcard.

Allen tested a DJR Gen2 Mustang at Queensland Raceway last May as part of an evaluation day with the Ford team.

The teenager would become one of the youngest drivers to start the Bathurst 1000, something the driver was well aware of.

“That’d be cool,” he replied when queried about a possible Bathurst debut.

“It’d be pretty cool to do that this year. I'd pinch myself that I’d get to race at Bathurst in the 1000 at 18 years old.

“The pressure will be on, and if that happens, that’d be unreal.”

Best leads Allen by 66 points, with Cooper Murray 129 points down in third.

Eggleston rookie Murray was previously 84 points down, but was penalised over his Race 2 clash with Blanchard Racing Team's Aaron Love.

Walkinshaw Andretti United's Ryan Wood is fourth, 147 points behind Best.