By Lachlan Onions
YOUNG Mount Gambier racer Kai Allen is set to take on a mountain of a different kind in October, with the announcement this week he will be driving in the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s first ever wildcard entry for the Bathurst 1000.
Allen will take on Mount Panorama for the holy grail event in Australian motorsport alongside the experienced Simona de Silvestro, who was the first full-time female driver in V8 Supercars history.
Allen spoke with The Border Watch this week about his excitement to fulfil a lifelong dream of his.
“It is pretty much a dream come true,” he said.
“It has been a dream for as long as I can remember, I used to always watch Bathurst back in the day on the couch with my Dad.”
Allen said the opportunity to drive for one of the strongest teams in Supercars alongside such an experienced driver could not be better for him.
“It is going to be phenomenal,” he said.
“I obviously couldn’t ask for a better co-driver for my first ever Bathurst 1000.
“I haven’t done too many laps around Bathurst, but with the right team around me – which I have – and a very experienced co-driver in Simona de Silvestro, I am sure they are going to make sure that I am up to speed.”
The 18-year-old recently made the trip to Queensland to visit the Dick Johnson Racing workshop and will also travel with the team to Sydney for this weekend’s round of V8 Supercars.
“The car is being built at the moment,” he said.
“I went up to meet the team in Queensland at the workshop last week, saw the car in progress and met all of the guys and girls who run the show and make it all work, so that was a very cool moment for me to see where the car is now.”
Allen also praised the professionalism of the Shell V-Power Racing Team and said it was “massive” for his development.
“It is massive, to work with a team that is running in the main game and is so professional is just the best thing for my career and I get to go to Sydney with them this weekend and go behind the scenes,” he said.
“It is going to push me forward in my career and develop me as a driver and a person as well by understanding all the procedures that go into racing.
“Going to the workshop the other week was so cool to see the effort and passion that goes on behind the scenes, which a lot of people do not get to see.
“I can’t wait to keep developing with the team and keep progressing in my career.”
Allen does have some experience at the Mount Panorama circuit and this will be his fourth time racing there, but his first in the Supercars Championship.
“Getting to drive a supercar around Bathurst for the first time last year in Super 3 was pretty surreal,” he said.
“I just can’t wait to get into the main game and to go around for the Bathurst 1000 on the Sunday, it is going to be a really cool experience.”
Having grown up watching V8 Supercars, Allen is excited to have the chance to race alongside some of his idols.
“It is going to be unreal to race against guys like Lowndesy (Craig Lowndes), (Jamie) Whincup, there are so many names that have been doing it for so long that are legends of the sport and to share the track with them is going to be cool,” he said.
“Even Simona, it is going to be so cool to share the car with her but there are so many names with the co-drivers and main drivers that have been doing it for so long who I have idolised ever since I was young.
“So to race against and with them, it is going to be so cool.”
Allen’s meteoric rise through the motorsport world has continued as he finished second in the Super 3 Championship last year and more recently, became the youngest ever round winner in Super 2 history.
“This is my second year in a supercar, so I am still learning every time I drive it, but hopefully I can keep progressing and learning,” he said
“I am just like a sponge at the moment, just absorbing all the information I can, writing notes and all that.
“Every time I come home from a race, I got my little notebook and it is just full of things that I could have done better with positives and negatives to take away from each race.
“So by the time Bathurst comes, I have a few test days, I have got Sandown in the Super 2 so I am sure that I will have a lot more information to take into the weekend.
“I am just superpumped to have this opportunity and I am sure that I will take a lot from it.”
