Kai Allen\u2019s rise in Australian motorsport has been meteoric and in just his third season of racing, the 19-year-old is set to debut in the Repco Supercars Championship as a full time driver.<\/p>\n
The reigning Dunlop Super2 champion, who is well placed to secure back-to-back titles in the category, has joined forces with Grove Racing to drive Car 26 alongside Matt Payne, which will see the duo line-up in 2025 as the youngest driving team on the grid and the youngest full-time driver line-up in 18 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so glad to have pinned down a contract for next year to get into the main game,\u201d Allen said. \u201cDriving Car 26 is pretty surreal too. It\u2019s a number that I\u2019ve raced with since karting, so I guess it\u2019s meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen is Kai Grove Racing\u2019s second Dunlop Series signing in recent years following on from the success of Payne\u2019s promotion to the Repco Supercars Championship.<\/p>\n
Payne\u2019s progression through the ranks is testament to the philosophy of Grove Racing\u2019s investment in young talent. After renewing Payne\u2019s contract at the end of last year, this partnership with Payne and Allen will usher in a new frontier for Grove Racing, with youthful talent a key ingredient.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrove Racing were really proactive in looking for the next new kid on the block and I am that next kid coming through and I am really looking forward to it,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n
Allen has already had cause to interact with Payne and believes they share the same laid back personality, underlying their drive to succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is pretty cruisy and I think we\u2019ll get on really well \u2013 hopefully we\u2019ll be successful,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n
The new contract will see Allen relocate to Melbourne as the sport he has loved since he started competing in karting as an eight-year-old becomes a full time career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be working out a brand new facility that they (Groves Racing) have redone \u2013 it is a second to none workshop,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is now a job so I will be knuckling down and spending a lot of time in the workshop, getting to know the team and building relationships. It is a new challenge and I am looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u201cIt\u2019s pretty surreal\u2026I\u2019m super grateful to finally be in a position that I\u2019ve worked towards my whole life. It still hasn\u2019t sunk in, but I\u2019m sure come Round 1 next year that will all change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t thank Stephen and Brenton enough for the opportunity. I feel like I\u2019m joining a team that\u2019s really on the way up and there\u2019s some really great personnel on the team with so much experience. David Cauchi, Shippy [Grant McPherson], Garth [Tander], who are all massive names in this sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, I\u2019m here to learn as much as possible. Matt\u2019s a really talented driver so I\u2019ll be doing my best to keep the team up the front and absorb as much as possible from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while Allen has secured his supercars championship drive for 2025, he is focussed on getting the job done for Dick Johnson Racing in this year\u2019s Dunlop Super2 Championship. If he does secure successive titles, he will be the first driver to achieve that feat, only adding to a short career thus far, that has already seen Allen set many benchmarks.<\/p>\n
Alongside his Super2 program, he will once again team up with Dick Johnson Racing for the 2024 Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal for the rest of this year is to tick Super 2 off,\u201d Allen said. \u201cThat\u2019s really important. It will also be valuable to do Sandown and Bathurst in the Gen 3 car, just so I can be as comfortable as possible with that style of car before I join the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it really is important to finish off on a high for Dick Johnson Racing because they have been such a great support to me \u2013 they have been there from the start.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey invested heavily into me and given me the opportunity to show my skillset.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kai Allen\u2019s rise in Australian motorsport has been meteoric and in just his third season of racing, the 19-year-old is set to debut in the Repco Supercars Championship as a full time driver. The reigning Dunlop Super2 champion, who is well placed to secure back-to-back titles in the category, has joined forces with Grove Racing […]<\/p>\n