Kai Allen returns in 2024 as the champion, and is running the #1 as a warning shot to his rivals. Can the Eggleston teen go back-to-back?
Kai Allen returns in 2024 as the champion, and is running the #1 as a warning shot to his rivals. His rookie season was superb, with Allen outlasting Zak Best in a dramatic year to emerge victorious.
Allen began his career in karting at eight years old, winning 12 state titles and becoming the Australian Karting Champion in both the Cadet 12 and KA2 Junior classes plus racing overseas across a six-year span.
He began his graduation to car racing in 2021 with a move to the Gold Coast, Paul Morris taking him under his wing at the Norwell Motorplex.
Initially looking to race Formula Ford, mentor Morris instead guided Allen towards competing in Hyundai Excels ahead of making a handful of appearances in the Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia 86 Series, finishing on the podium on debut in Townsville and turning heads with second-row qualifying performances at Sydney Motorsport Park and Mount Panorama.
A move to Super3 with Eggleston Motorsport last year led to Allen rewriting sections of the series' record book: he claimed 11 out of 12 pole positions, set a new record for the largest pole-winning margin (over five seconds at Bathurst), four new lap records and tied the record for the most race and round wins in a single season. However, a crash at Adelaide's infamous Turn 8 in the final race of the season led him to finish second in the final standings.
Allen is also not the only sportsperson in his family: older sisters Sienna and Nyah are elite-level netballers who last year both played for the Collingwood Magpies in the Super Netball league.
He also made his Great Race debut last year aboard a Dick Johnson Racing Mustang with none other than Simona De Silvestro.