The Italian was a left-field recruit for Grove Racing at the end of 2025 following his split with the Ferrari Formula 1 team, where he’d worked with Lewis Hamilton.
Corte had been eager for a new adventure and, after being put in touch with Brenton Grove through a mutual connection, made the commitment to move Down Under.
The engineering vacancy on Allen’s car had come up as the team promoted Alistair McVean into a new head of performance role.
While being paired with a first-time Supercars engineer could have stunted Allen’s second-season progress, it’s now yielded a well-earned first win.
“Riccardo’s a very funny character and he’s definitely adapted to the Australian way very well,” said Allen in the aftermath of his Friday triumph.
“Obviously coming from Ferrari, it’s quite a different place over there, the way they operate, it’s very different to us, especially Penrite Racing, so he’s done really well, I think.
Take the short survey.
“The biggest thing for him and I was to bond with each other and to understand, not the language, but to understand each other.
“I think that’s where Al and I got towards the end of the year, and I think now it’s getting really good [with Corte], we’re becoming really good mates.”
Allen revealed he had taken Corte to his hometown of Mount Gambier, South Australia, over Easter.
“I showed him where I grew up, so he understands my family and how I operate and sort of where I’ve come from,” Allen said.
“I actually got him in a go-kart, got him driving, it was pretty funny. He’s definitely not going to drive my Mustang because… oh my God!
“But that bond is what I’m trying to build with him. I think we’re slowly getting better and better and he’s understanding the car more, the team more, working with all the operations.
“This championship is so tough at the moment, it’s ridiculous how close everyone is and, you might be good one day and the next day you’re not.”
Allen made the inaugural Supercars Grand Final last year with a series of steady drives that defied his rookie status.
Cracking a victory was priority number one for 2026, but has only come after a series of frustrations – including costly clashes with rivals.
“Towards the end of last year was quite good, and I sort of set out on a bit of a ‘don’t try and aim for a race win, just aim for top-five results’,” he said.
“That attitude got me some really good results last year and then at the start of this year I had a bumpy road.
“Obviously with Riccardo, it was very challenging for him him to come in and be on the game straight away, which impressively, he was, it was just little procedural stuff.
“I think now he’s really getting a gist of it and for me, I’m just trying to be patient.
“Not getting that first race win last year was a pretty tough pill to swallow with the speed we had and the results that we had.
“We set out on a bit of a hunt this year trying to get it and had a bit of reality check after Sydney and the Grand Prix and went, ‘just be patient, calm down a bit’.
“Obviously my peers were there for me and helped me get through and now I’m pretty happy. I’ve just got to keep chipping away and not rush the process.”
Discussion about this post