A Full Course Yellow was called on lap 68 of the 161-lap contest after Allen, co-driver to Will Davison, and Nick Percat’s co-driver Dylan O’Keeffe made contact.

Allen spun at the final corner with a flat right-rear tyre, clipping the left-rear of O’Keeffe’s Matt Stone Racing Camaro on the way through.

The hit launched the Camaro into the air and caused significant damage to both vehicles.

“Dylan made a bit of a mistake at the top of the hill. I passed him at Dandy Road and then coming out of there, for some reason, we had awkward contact, which was all fine,” Allen explained. 

“It was really light, I didn’t think anything of it. Heading into the last corner then the car started moving around. I could see there was something seriously wrong with the right rear and it’s just a right-rear puncture. 

“I tried to get out of everyone’s way and it’s just a bit unfortunate. Sorry to Will, sorry to Shell V-Power Racing. It’s not really our day.”

Car #17 and car #10 head into their garages after a big hit at Turn 12/13!

Follow all the action on our Live Feed here 👉 https://t.co/qyu6AAgclo#RepcoSC #Supercars #Sandown500 pic.twitter.com/5ZZ32ckeas

— Supercars (@supercars) September 15, 2024

O’Keeffe returned to the track eight laps down after a frantic fix. Percat was among those involved in the repair effort and hopes to salvage some points from his afternoon.

“Dylan was on the radio saying the guys behind weren’t watching and drove him straight up the back of Kai, who was trying to get to the pits,” said Percat.

“Some of the co-eys need to have their eyes up sometimes. It’s part of the game, they’re not in these cars all of the time.

“At least the car’s out there circulating. We’ll try and get some team points and stuff like that.

“It’s a bit disappointing because when I got out I was like ‘oh, the car’s good enough to be on the podium’.”

Brodie Kostecki’s race was compromised when Todd Hazelwood suffered a puncture as a result of contact with Jamie Whincup.

A solo spin for Lee Holdsworth put championship contender Chaz Mostert on the back foot, while Andre Heimgartner’s car copped a five-second penalty after Declan Fraser made contact with David Russell.