Down to the wire: The tightest Super2 title nailbiters

The 2024 Dunlop Super2 Series will be settled by a three-way shootout at the VAILO Adelaide 500 next weekend, in one of the closest title fights in development series history.

Zach Bates, Aaron Cameron, and Kai Allen are all separated by just 42 points with two races and 300 points left in the season, with Bates and Cameron surging past Allen at the Repco Bathurst 1000.

If margins were to remain the same, the current gap of 39 points between Bates and Cameron would be the fifth closest Super2 title fight in the series' 25-year history.

However, previous years have shown that nothing is certain in Dunlop Series title deciders, with the series lead changing hands at the final round on more than one occasion.

Supercars.com takes a look back the six tightest title decider nailbiters in Super2 Series history.

2006: Adam Macrow vs Shane Price (192 points in play)

After a dominant start to the season saw him win the first five rounds of 2006, Adam Macrow entered the Phillip Island finale with a 120 point advantage over Perkins Engineering rookie Shane Price. However, what could've been a straightforward weekend for Macrow started on the back foot with a practice crash and was only made worse when he was excluded from qualifying and started rear of grid for Race 1. Meanwhile, Price continued his strong late season form to claim pole position, and duly claimed his second win of the season to do everything he could to close the gap. However, Macrow charged from 34th to ninth in 19 laps to maintain a health buffer with 160 points on the line in the final race of the season. 10th in Race 2 for Macrow was enough to wrap up the 2006 title, whilst Price finished second in both the race and championship was promoted to Perkins' main game squad with teammate Jack Perkins for 2007.

2000: Four drivers (60 points in play)

The first running of the Super2 Series saw a four-way fight for the inaugural title heading into the final round at Mallala in South Australia, with Dean Canto heading Matthew White, Ryan McLeod, and Wayne Wakefield with 60 points on offer. Canto had a comfortable lead in the standings, and sealed the crown with a race to spare having claimed two podiums and a win from three races, whilst David Besnard took two wins as he continued his highly successful late season cameo with Stone Brothers Racing. White also claimed three podiums to wrap up second, whilst Wakefield jumped McLeod for third. White maintains a Dunlop Series presence to this day running two Nissans in Super3, whilst the McLeod name returned to Super2 this season with Ryan's son Cameron debuting in a PremiAir Racing-backed Commodore.

2005: Dean Canto vs Warren Luff (192 points in play)

After an initial ill-fated initial stint in the main game, Canto returned to the development series with Dick Johnson Racing in 2005, and was a dominant force. However, two non-starts at Wakefield Park following a start line accident saw Warren Luff enter the final round just 21 points back despite having won zero races to Canto's 10. Two runner-up finishes at Phillip Island saw Canto become the first dual winner of the development serries, as Luff recorded finishes of fourth and third. Both would secure main game berths for 2006 with Garry Rogers Motorsport and Britek Motorsport respectively.

2023: Kai Allen vs Zak Best (300 points in play)

Last year's VAILO Adelaide 500 Super2 decider was always bound to be a dramatic affair with just 30 points separating Zak Best and rookie Kai Allen after Bathurst. Having finished runner-up in 2021 and 2022, Best was aiming to shake his bridesmaid tag from his Tickford Super2 tenure, and got off to a good start by qualifying three places ahead of Allen for the first race of the weekend. However, a clumsy collision saw Best pinged 15 seconds and demoted to 13th having finished fourth on road behind Allen, who was promoted to the series lead for the first time all season with a 66-point swing. A mature Sunday drive saw Allen claim fifth, whilst Best couldn't stop Ryan Wood from claiming a clean sweep of the weekend, with Allen being crowned the youngest ever Super2 champion at 18 years and 153 days old.

2007: Tony D'Alberto vs Michael Caruso (72 points in play)

A rejigged points system for 2007 rewarded consistency and strong performances, with only the top 15 scoring points in each race. Two disqualifications at Oran Park saw D'Alberto slip back into the clutches of Michael Caruso after a strong start to the season with 12 podiums from the first 13 races. D'Alberto and Caruso lined up together on the second row of the grid, and whilst Caruso scored a dominant win, D'Alberto looked set to do everything he needed until contact with Dale Wood pitched him into the wall at the exit of Siberia whilst battling for fourth. However, D'Alberto managed to salvage a ninth place finish, although Caruso halved the deficit. Caruso swept the weekend on Sunday, however fifth for D'Alberto was enough for him to scrape home with a 5-point advantage.

2004: Three drivers (192 points in play)

The tightest points battle in Supercars and Super2 history occurred in 2004, when three drivers entered that year's Mallala finale separated by just 15 points. All representing main game outfits, Luke Youlden (Steven Ellery Racing), Andrew Jones (Brad Jones Racing), and Owen Kelly (Dick Johnson Racing) were the class of the field in 2004, having won all bar four races to that point between them. Kelly's season unravelled in the first race, finishing a lap down in 24th whilst Youlden and Jones finished third and second respectively. Jones then starred in the reverse grid Race 2, going from 24th to third and closing to within two points of Youlden, whilst Kelly ran off the road all by himself whilst in a comfortable lead. Whilst Greg Ritter claimed the Race 3 and round wins in a cameo start for Speed FX Racing, Jones and Youlden once again rounded out the podium, with both drivers ending up tied on 945 points. Youlden had not claimed a round win all season, whilst Jones claimed round honours at both Winton and Sydney, handing him the title on a countback.