Qualifying improvements key for Allen's back-to-back quest

Reigning Dunlop Super2 Series champion Kai Allen has declared that qualifying will be his primary focus in this weekend's title decider at the VAILO Adelaide 500.

Allen has qualified on the front row in four of the 10 races held this season, and has gone on to win all of them, however has been struggling for consistency in qualifying trim since the second event in Perth.

The Mount Gambier product's qualifying struggles came to a head with a heavy crash in Friday qualifying at the Repco Bathurst 1000, which he admitted was a result of pushing too hard with a car that wouldn't tolerate it.

Allen's qualifying average of 7.4 pales in comparison to series leader Zach Bates' average of 4.6, the best of all Super2 drivers to have entered every event this season.

Having lost the series lead at Bathurst last month, the 19-year-old is confident that Eggleston Motorsport can make qualifying gains with his rebuilt Coca-Cola Commodore.

"We've just struggled a little bit with tyre phasing, pressures and all that stuff, it's something we really need to knuckle down on," Allen told Supercars.com.

"At the start of the year obviously we came out strong, and then it really started in Perth. We had a front row qualifying on Saturday, and then come Sunday we had a bit of traffic and didn't quite go our way, but we found ourselves 13th, and that started that roll of inconsistency. 

"Same again in Townsville, 13th on Saturday, and then P2 on Sunday, so we're a bit unsure with what was going on. I think we're starting to find some sort of leeway in what that is, just a bit of everything in not quite getting everything up to temp and phased right."

This weekend will see a unique format used for Dunlop Series qualifying, with qualifying sessions for both Races 11 and 12 of the season to be held on Friday afternoon before races on Saturday and Sunday.

As Allen knows all too well, any accidents in Race 11 Qualifying at 12:30pm local time/1:00pm AEDT will see teams enter a race against the clock with Race 12 Qualifying to take place at 4:55pm local time/5:25pm AEDT.

However, last year's Adelaide finale was a strong weekend for Allen, who showed solid qualifying pace to start out of sixth and fourth for the two races.

"I think Adelaide is a bit different, obviously [both qualifying sessions on Friday], which will be interesting to see how that goes," the South Australian added.

"We were decent there last year, we were just a little bit off from Ryan Wood who was super fast there last year, so we've just got to make sure we're on top of it. 

Whilst Allen's qualifying pace has been questionable this season, his race pace has always been strong, with two standout recovery drives from tough positions another highlight of his season to date to go with four wins.

Having started 13th for Race 4 of the season in Perth, Allen charged to a finish of eighth in a race punctuated by two red flags, whilst Bates claimed his maiden race and round wins.

Race 5 in Townsville didn't look like it would be much of an improvement after qualifying 12th, but once again he picked his way through chaos, this time on the opening lap, to finish fifth.

"We won't know until we get going, but I think we'll try and really knuckle down on qualy pace. Our race pace has been really good all year, even when we have a bad qualifying we race towards the front," Allen said.

"If we really focus on the qualifying car, the races should come a little bit easier to us." 

Practice 1 for the Dunlop Series begins at 11:40am local time/12:10pm AEDT tomorrow at the VAILO Adelaide 500. Tickets for the event are on sale now.