Kai Allen looks to create finals shake up at Gold COast 500 debut

The Penrite Racing young gun narrowly snuck into 10th place by three points to book his place in finals in the dying stages at Bathurst.

The finals ticket was not earned without adversity as he needed to put in an all-time courageous effort to finish after being hit by rival drivers three times throughout the race.

Now with a finals place booked, Allen has nothing to lose and is eager to claim revenge on the drivers who hit him on the mountain by making a sustained finals push.

“I’ve got nothing to lose, I can’t go any further back in the championship – I’m 10th,” he said.

“So for me I’ll go out there give it my all and if I get some really good points and move up in the championship, it could really play out my way.

“I think there’s going to be some really loose guys in the finals and also some really conservative guys.

“I’ve had some rough runs with a few of the other drivers so I think they’d be a bit scared of me coming up.

“It’s exciting to see how we go, I’m gonna give my all and if we can some really good results and get up the front, I’m sure we’ll have a good finals.”

Allen is the youngest driver in the championship hunt and also the least experienced, having never raced on the streets of Surfers Paradise but that proved no issue for the young gun as he set the third-fastest time in Friday practice.

With pressure and attention firmly focused on the drivers higher in the standings, the 20-year-old hopes to continue flying under the radar and catch out a few rivals in the process.

“I’ve been to a few tracks this year I’ve never been to and had a bit of success but this one’s a lot different to that, you’ve got a lot of walls and chicanes like nothing I’ve ever been to,” he said.

“I’ve done a lot of laps in the sim and that can prepare you as much as it can but obviously it’s nothing compared to the real world.”

Allen said there were lessons to be learned from the tumultuous Bathurst where he was hit by Brodie Kostecki, Will Brown and Jack Le Brocq and intends to get his elbows out this finals series.

“I probably did the best I could in those situations but still I could look back and go if I put myself in a different spot I would have played that better so it’s all learning for me,” he said.

“There’s some big boys in here that have been doing it for a while and they like to push you around but if you fight back it’s good to always get a bit of credit but it’s not as easy as that.

“You’ve really got to mark your territory and go as hard as you can.”

‘Underdog my whole career’: Mostert eager to cause finals upset

Chaz Mostert has embraced the underdog tag in this year’s new-look Supercars finals series and hopes to find form when it matters most.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver will have his strongest chance at a championship push yet with the points tally for the top 10 drivers reset ahead of this weekend’s Gold Coast 500.

Mostert has claimed third place in the drivers standings in three of the last four years but with the sudden-death nature of the finals series means the 33-year-old could claim a breakthrough title with a strong run of form through the final three rounds of the championship.

“I’ve probably been an underdog my whole career so it’s right up my alley coming into these finals and having a chance which is cool,” Mostert said.

“I think last year we came into Gold Coast still in championship hunt but probably a little further back that we would have liked.

“This year we haven’t had that consistency but with the new format, we’re still in the mix. “We’ll see what we’ve got, the pressure’s all on the guys that normally feel comfortable because one slip-up and the day’s over.”

Mostert heads into this weekend expecting the unexpected as he predicts drama to unfold across both days with such high stakes on the line on an unforgiving circuit.

“I think it’s going to be story after story all weekend,” he said.

“This time (of year) in our normal championship you have got a little bit of a runaway leader, you work out who’s in the mix all the way to the last round.

“But with the reset in finals there’s still that little bit of points stagger but it’s all to play for.”

A two-time winner on the Gold Coast, Mostert is hopeful he can find consistent pace to claim his first win on his home track since 2018.

“It’s a home round for me, I live on the Gold Coast so lucky to be here but it’s always a special one,” he said.

“I think it’s probably one of the toughest street circuits we go to … it’s so chaotic here, you watch the cars on back-to-back chicanes and got all four wheels in the air.

“I’m looking forward to getting out there and seeing how our car is and hopefully we’re in the mix.”

‘All offence’: Why new-look finals series won’t stop Feeney’s title charge

Supercars championship leader Broc Feeney is unfazed by the new finals format which he believes won’t stop him from winning the series.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver has rarely put a foot wrong throughout the 2025 campaign, winning 12 of the 27 races this year but will be back to almost square one for finals that begin at this weekend’s Gold Coast 500.

“It certainly is different to what it would have been 12 months ago, I probably would have had close to 1000 points over 10th but now I got 150,” the Gold Coaster said.

“So the pressure is on, there’s high stakes this weekend, one small mistake means you’re pretty much out of this championship race.

“You could win every race of the year and have a DNF here on the Gold Coast and not be in the championship fight.

“For me it is a bit of balance, you need to go out and win races because that automatically gets you through to the next round but at the same time you need to make sure you do get through with a clean car.”

Feeney, 23, is excited for what awaits him in the finals despite the fact he would be in the box seat to claim the title in previous years under the old format.

“Going back 12 months you would be trying to manage that championship and just finish the year with good points to finish it off,” he said.

“This year you’re going to have to win in the next few rounds to even make it to the grand final. Then come Adelaide you’re going to have to go out and win the races.

“For me it’s certainly not defence at this time of year which maybe it could have been a couple years ago.

“It’s all offence, you’ve got to be on the front foot, you’ve got to win races and have a fast car.

“We’ve had a great year, had plenty of speed and have been able to win 12 races.

“We need to try and get that momentum again and get a few trophies in.”

Now into his fourth full season on the grid with Triple Eight, Feeney has experienced first hand what it takes to win a championship and is confident he can step up throughout the do-or-die rounds.

“I think I learned from Will (Brown) last year, at the end of the day he did the better job and scored the most points,” he said.

“For myself I won more races, I got pole positions but he was very consistent over the year.

“In a way I think this series probably favours me a little bit more.

“I’ve been able to get a lot of wins and pole positions this year, so I’ve learned lots from Will and Shane (van Gisbergen) my previous teammates.

“I’ve had great teammates to go up against and learn off, also got Jamie Whincup in my corner which is a huge hand come this end of the year.

“He’s certainly a usual suspect to these high pressure situations.”

Originally published as Kai Allen looks to create finals shake up at Gold COast 500 debut