He may not have the profile of Bathurst 1000 wildcard partner Simona De Silvestro, but Kai Allen has already caught the eye of the Shell V-Power Racing Team.

The 18-year-old has not yet finished his first Dunlop Super2 Series season but will make his Great Race debut this October, in a third Ford Mustang Supercar fielded by Dick Johnson Racing.

However, he is not entirely new to steering a Mustang out of the stable of the famous Stapylton-based outfit.

Allen participated in an Evaluation Day in May last year in one of DJR’s now superseded Gen2-spec Supercars at Queensland Raceway, and Team Principal Ben Croke liked what he saw.

“Kai Allen is a young talent we have had an eye on for over a year now,” said Croke.

“He drove the Mustang last year on an evaluation day and I was impressed with his speed, maturity, and work ethic.

“Simona brings a wealth of experience to the team. She will be a fantastic mentor for Kai through his first Repco Bathurst 1000, as she continues to be an inspiration for aspiring female drivers.”

Allen may be a first-timer in this year’s Bathurst 1000, but De Silvestro will make her sixth start in Supercars’ showpiece race in October.

The 34-year-old Swiss driver has also started the Indianapolis 500 on six occasions and is presently a test and reserve driver for Porsche in Formula E.

Allen remarked, “It’s unreal to be paired with Simona this year for the wildcard as she’s so experienced and raced so many things; three years of Supercars, now to IndyCar and all that.

“Her experience is going to be unreal and hopefully I can learn a lot off her. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of things I can take away from this experience.

“So, really looking forward to it, it’ll be cool to get some test days in, and see how we end up and hopefully we can work well together and just excited to see how we go.”

Allen is currently second in the Super2 Series, with one race win and one pole position so far this year in an Eggleston Motorsport ZB Commodore.