Legend's advice reaping benefits for Allen

Kai Allen had never raced at Taupō International Motorsport Park before last weekend, but you wouldn't have guessed it after his impressive New Zealand debut.

Allen's only experience of Taupō came following the Melbourne SuperSprint, when the teenager jetted to New Zealand to familiarise himself with the layout at the helm of a Toyota 86.

Taupō proved especially challenging to find a good set-up for this year, with the demands of the new construction of Soft tyre giving teams a big headache on the mixed surfaces.

Whilst Allen's Penrite Racing teammate Matt Payne stole the headlines by taking the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, the 19-year-old also made the most of a strong weekend for the Grove operation.

On a weekend where fellow rookies Cooper Murray and Aaron Cameron struggled, Allen shone, flying through the field from 22nd to seventh in the chaotic opening race of the weekend.

Allen's opening qualifying effort was compromised by a mistake, which he duly atoned for in the final two qualifying sessions of the weekend, qualifying in eighth and seventh.

The 2023 Super2 champion contested his first career Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout on Sunday, but wasn't able to convert in the race after being tagged into a spin at the first corner.

Allen's first Shootout appearance came in just his 14th career Supercars race, with Allen impressively beating Chaz Mostert with his lap despite used tyres being used.

The Penrite Racing prodigy has relished the opportunity to lean on the likes of 2007 Supercars champion and five-time Bathurst winner Garth Tander, who is employed by the team as their Strategic Advisor and enduro co-driver for Matt Payne.

Coming off a weekend where he picked up his career best race and qualifying results, Allen is eager to get back behind the wheel and build momentum throughout the remainder of his rookie Supercars season.

"I'm getting better and better,” Allen said on Supercars' Cool Down Lap podcast.

“I’m more comfortable in the car now. This league is full on."

On his first Shootout, Allen said: "Yeah, so cool. I think even just the way I executed the lap, it felt like home.

"The car's been really good this weekend and the team has been really good. I had a good chat to Garth before I went out and went through what I needed to expect from my first Shootout.

“Obviously we didn't have green tyres, but we still did a really good job and put the car in seventh. I think we had a lot of positives this weekend. just can't wait to go again.”

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship continues at the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440 from May 9-11. Tickets for the event are on sale now.