Rookie Allen opens up on 'massive learning curve'

2023 Dunlop Super2 Series champion Kai Allen has recounted an up-and-down opening to his full-time Repco Supercars Championship career at the Thrifty Sydney 500 - Opening Round.

A high-profile signing in the 2025 silly season, 19-year-old Allen teams up with 22-year-old Matt Payne at Grove Racing this year, making for the youngest driver pairing on the grid, and youngest since 2007.

Allen graduated to the main game with two Bathurst starts under his belt at Dick Johnson Racing, and off the back of two highly impressive Super2 campaigns, finishing first and third in his two development series seasons.

It was a strong start to the weekend for Allen, who qualified 10th for Race 1 on Friday, but dropped all the way back to 19th after a poor start.

Saturday proved tough for Allen, who could only qualify 23rd before tangling with Aaron Love on the opening lap and copping a 15 second penalty, finishing 23rd.

Sunday was a positive end to the weekend for the #26 Mustang, qualifying and finishing 13th in a race that ended in tricky wet conditions.

"I think it's a massive learning curve for me,” Allen told Supercars’ Cool Down Lap podcast.

"Obviously, we've finished all the races, which is a big bonus. A lot of rookies don't get to do that. And I learned a lot, like yesterday, I started trying too hard.

“Today I went back to just backing myself, I've got a really good team around me. The biggest thing for me, every time I get out of the car, I've learned 120 things, so my brain is absolutely cooked.

“But it's really good, just learning that my notes are just absolutely full. I think I'm taking a step now in the right direction, I think yesterday I took a big step backwards. And today I went really far forward.

Uniquely, both of the rookies in this year's Repco Supercars Championship, Allen and Cooper Murray, have both made solo starts for their respective teams at last year's VAILO Adelaide 500.

Murray stepped into Erebus' #9 Camaro from Friday after Jack Le Brocq left for the birth of his first child, whilst Allen stepped in on Sunday as a concussion substitute for Richie Stanaway after his Super2 commitments prevented any Saturday running.

With a brief preview as to what to expect this year, Allen has also revealed that he is enjoying driving without the added pressure of a teams' championship battle: “That race was more just helping the team finish, we had to get fourth in the teams’ championship and we did that.

"I wasn't actually there racing for myself, it was more just to obviously get ready for this year, but just learning.

"I learned so much in that race, come out on cold tyres and had people to defend. The racecraft's so different to what I'm used to, every guy's as good as nearly anyone in that category.

“So, It's how you be smart and how you use your car to your benefits and just something that has caught me off-guard. But I'm really loving it and can't wait for AGP."

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Melbourne SuperSprint, which will feature at the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix 2025 on March 13-16.