Thrown in the deep end: Assessing Murray, Allen's early debuts

Adelaide's season finale was, in some ways, ‘race zero’ for Cooper Murray and Kai Allen, who got an early look at 2025.

Erebus Motorsport jumped at the chance to hand Murray a cameo after Jack Le Brocq departed for the birth of his first child. Then, Allen was given a belated run following Richie Stanaway’s concussion.

For both drivers, it was the culmination of weeks of readying for the big time, with Allen and Murray both announced at their new teams before the enduros.

Allen and Murray had plied their trade in Super2 since the start of 2023, and were arguably the fastest two drivers for the length of that period. Allen had more results to show for it than Murray, but the latter had more than proven enough as well.

Still, thrown into the deep end in Adelaide, there was a year’s worth of car development for both drivers to unpack over a single weekend, but there were big glimpses of what they are capable of.

Friday

News of Le Brocq’s departure saw Murray drafted in, with the Victorian getting acquainted with the #9 Chevrolet Camaro before Friday morning practice.

Brodie Kostecki was sixth and Murray 17th, with the rookie logging 17 laps with a best lap of 1:20.1077s, ending up just 0.3781s behind his champion teammate.

There was a big wait to Boost Mobile Qualifying that evening, but Turn 8 drama ultimately masked the true order of the field. A string of crashes brought the session to a halt, and wall repairs saw the action end early.

Kostecki was 12th and Murray 17th, locking both drivers in for midfield starts on Saturday.

Saturday

Stanaway was the first to crash in qualifying, and withdrew from the day’s action after feeling poorly after morning practice. In that session, Kostecki was fourth, with Murray 0.4944s behind his teammate in 12th.

From there, as Murray got up to speed, drama swirled around Penrite Racing, with Allen initially drafted in to replace Stanaway, only to miss out after being ineligible to race. The move required approval from Super2 teams, and there wasn’t enough time.

Dale Wood got the call-up, with Murray set to make his first Erebus start. It looked promising for the reigning champions early; Kostecki was up to seventh by lap 7, while Murray was 13th by lap 9.

However, Murray’s race quickly unravelled due to bodywork damage, which dropped him down the order and laps down after he copped a mechanical black flag.

From there, it was a learning mission, although a clash with Mark Winterbottom attracted a 15-second penalty. All told, Murray was 24th and last, two positions behind Wood.

Sunday

Come Sunday, and Allen finally received approval to race. However, neither Murray or Allen were able to show their true pace in qualifying again, as a heavy crash for Jaxon Evans ended proceedings.

Kostecki was eighth to Murray’s 13th, the pair split by 0.2726s. Allen was 19th, 0.4255s behind teammate Matt Payne, who was unlucky in 11th.

The race was a pair of hard luck stories for both drivers, Murray and Allen 18th and 22nd respectively. However, both drivers managed to accrue crucial knowledge, and even found pace across the duration of the race.

Despite their troubles, Murray and Allen set the ninth and 10th fastest laps of the race; only winner Will Brown, Chaz Mostert, Anton De Pasquale, Broc Feeney, David Reynolds, Cam Waters, Kostecki and Tim Slade went faster. Murray had worked his way to lap 9 before being sent into the barriers at the hairpin on lap 10 by Waters, who was penalised. In a bizarre moment, Murray jagged left and hit the wall head-on, and plummeted down the order.

Allen, meanwhile, suffered the same fate as Murray on Saturday, picking up panel damage. Allen was forced to pit three times, and despite sitting as high as fifth on lap 27, was ultimately unable to make an impression on the race.

The verdict

On pace alone, with just a handful of laps under their belt, Murray and Allen were both able to lay down some fast times. It was never meant to be a race-winning exercise; rather, it was a chance to help both teams, and gain crucial experience.

Murray had already gained plenty of experience in his Darwin and enduro wildcard appearances, making a Shootout at Hidden Valley and running in the top 10 at both enduros. Tasked with finishing both enduros, Murray was superb.

There was little doubt he would go out swinging in Adelaide, and given the chance, got amongst the big names. Coincidentally, the driver that got into him at Sandown — Waters — hit him again in Adelaide.

It was a far more crucial outing for Allen, though, who only had three Gen3 starts to his name across the 2023 and 2024 enduros. Had he started Saturday’s race, he could have made an even greater impression on Sunday.

Regardless, setting race laps good enough for the top 10 proved they can turn it on, and with more testing under their belt, don’t be surprised if one, if not both, are sitting in the top 10 come the end of the Sydney season opener in February.