Kai Allen stands ground over Brodie Kostecki incident
Ford drivers collided in Race 23, Kostecki beached in sand trap
Allen avoids penalty over clash, Kostecki classified last
Kai Allen has stood his ground over the controversial incident that wiped Brodie Kostecki out of contention in Saturday's Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440.
Allen and Kostecki collided at Turn 1 disputing fourth place, sending the latter into the sandtrap. Kostecki's Shell V-Power Ford was beached, triggering the Shannons Safety Car.
Kostecki dropped a lap and was classified 24th and last, with Allen dropping to sixth after a wild Safety Car restart with Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters.
Per the Motorsport Australia stewards report, neither driver was wholly or predominantly to blame.
The report reads: "The Stewards reviewed broadcast vision in conjunction with the DSA. The vision showed Car 26 (Allen) attempting to overtake Car 17 (Kostecki) approaching Turn 1.
"Car 26 had overlap on the inside of Car 17 when Car 17 turned in to Turn 1 forcing Car 26 beyond the edge of the track, resulting in contact causing Car 17 to spin.
"The Stewards consider neither Driver was wholly or predominantly to blame and so elect to take no further action."
Speaking on the broadcast, Allen reaffirmed his position, saying: “I felt like I had a lot of pace on him. He obviously was blocking me for about 10 laps, which I didn't really like, was hurting my tyres and everything.
"I got an opportunity, he made a mistake at the last corner. I was up inside him, and threw it into Turn 1. Ultimately, he didn't want me to be up inside of him and turned in.
“So unfortunate, because in that situation, you don't wanna see a car go in the gravel trap and especially with his championship fight, I think it was pretty dumb.
"I probably wouldn’t have done that. I would've let him go, knowing who we're racing. I'm happy I stood my ground. I'm still learning out here.
"He actually used to mentor me, so it's funny that I'm racing him hard now, and it's unfortunate that he's gone into the gravel trap, ruined his race, but at the same time, I don't think I did anything wrong.”
Kostecki declined to comment on the incident.
Allen is now 89 points behind Kostecki heading into Saturday's second race, with winner Payne extending his championship lead over Broc Feeney from 92 to 118 points.
