Mount Gambier racing young guns Kai Allen and Jobe Stewart will take to the track at the Adelaide VAILO 500 this weekend for the Dunlop Super Series2 season finale.
Reigning Super2 Series champion Allen, 19, has topped the leaderboard for most of the season but dropped to third place with 1095 points after a tough weekend last round at the Repco Bathurst 1000.
Allen’s main rivals this weekend are Zach Bates who is in the top spot with 1137 points and runner up Aaron Cameron who is a mere three points ahead of the Limestone Coast local.
Meanwhile, Stewart sits in 7th position and said while he is looking forward to competing at his favourite track, he does not feel pressured to win the Dunlop series championship.
“Adelaide has been my favourite track that I have been to so far just because it is a street circuit and I love how technical it is, having the walls so close and stuff adds a little bit of risk but when you get it right it is definitely rewarding,” he said.
“I am a little bit excited like I love driving around the track at Adelaide and I am just more looking forward to it in the sense that I can probably do pretty well going off the last round with heaps good speed and winning that first race.
“I think there is a fair bit of confidence coming into this one knowing that we probably have the speed to try and win it.
“The championship does not really matter [to me], I am kind of out of the picture now so just trying to do my normal thing and I will try to win both races if I can; that will be the goal.
“I can just go into it like any other weekend and focus on purely the racing and not have all the points and stuff in the back of my mind.”
Stewart said he will compete in Super2 again next year with a potential co-driver seat with Erebus Motorsport on the horizon.
“I am probably just looking at doing Super2 again because this was just my first year and obviously I have had some good results and some bad results this year,” he said.
“If we go again next year, that will probably be another year to go again and … try and win the championship.
“I will obviously still drive the same and try to build on my techniques coming from this year.
“I think starting the year fresh, having this year already under my belt and two years in basically what’s the same car in Super3 and Super2, I will just do my same process and should be a lot faster from the get-go.
“I have had a little chat with the guys at Erebus and they have mentioned me co-driving here and there, but we just have to see how it plays out with their drivers and stuff.
“Obviously, they are letting go of Brodie Kostecki this year so they might be looking for a co-driver but nothing has been confirmed yet.”
The Erebus Motorsport driver will be supported in his home state by his parents, sponsors and friends from Adelaide.
Stewart predicts the race will be a close one this weekend especially due to the hot weather forecast.
“It is honestly hard to say, Kai looked like he had it in the bag and then that was pretty unfortunate for him what happened up there [at Bathurst] in both races but I think he is still definitely in the fight like there’s only 30 or 40 points between the top three,” he said.
“It will be good for the town if Kai won but they are all great drivers in those top three so we will just have to wait and see what happens.
“Especially around Adelaide, there will probably be a few crashes and what not which might cause a few safety cars and bunch the field up.
“It will definitely be close the whole way and everyone will be pushing as hard as they can given it’s the last race of the year and they will try and prove a point going into next year.”
Meanwhile, local speedway drivers Glen Sutherland and Scott Enderl will also compete at the Adelaide VAILO 500 as part of the NAPA Sprintcar Invitational showcase.
