Awesome Allen survives Kostecki attack for first Supercars win

From fourth on the grid, Allen rose to the podium places during a chaotic opening lap before taking two tyres during his pit stop while his primary rivals elected to take four.

Kostecki was second, unable to make the most of his newer rubber. Meanwhile, Walkinshaw TWG Racing’s Ryan Wood completed the podium on a similar strategy.

“I’m a bit lost for words, honestly,” said Allen.

“I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I can remember when I was a little boy watching it on TV.

“To stand here with the number one in front of my car, Stephen and Brenton [Grove] to give me a shot at a young age last year, it was coming and I had to be patient.

“I know I’ve got the best team around me, I know that I’ve got the best guys, that’s why I’m here for a long time. Hopefully that’s many more.

“I knew that the two-tyre stop was going to be pretty powerful. We just played it by ear.

“Obviously the star there was a little bit disappointing to see Matty [Payne] lost out a fair bit with that weird Safety Car scenario, but we just took it into our own hands.

“With about five laps to go I thought, ‘Oh here we go. Brodie is coming’.

“He got to me but obviously we’ve done a lot of study on this track.

“It goes to show if you put the car in the right spot, it’s very hard for the guy behind to pass.

“That’s why the undercut was so powerful. At a normal track, I probably would have been P4 and the guys up the road.

“I know if I fought hard and put the car in the right spots I would end up where I am and here we are.”

It took just a few seconds for the chaos to kick off deep into the field as Reynolds found himself in a Supra sandwich.

Macauley Jones spun off the nose of Reynolds and took Brad Jones Racing teammate Cameron Hill with him.

It was a premature end to Reynolds’ 500th race, who suffered damage to his right front. Hill, meanwhile, also suffered significant damage that resigned him to the pits.

At the front, pole position winner Matt Payne bogged down and gave Kostecki a free kick to take the lead into the kink.

Moments after the madness at the start, there was mass confusion as yellow flags flew and what appeared to be a Safety Car board at Turn 4.

Some cars appeared to slow, and amid the melee Payne lost positions to Wood and Allen.

At the end of Lap 1, it was Kostecki who headed Wood, Allen, Payne, and Anton De Pasquale fifth.

On Lap 7, Mostert tried to lunge Brown into Turn 2 and blew past the apex.

That gifted James Golding sixth place and just moments later bowled a wide at Turn 3 to give another place away to Waters.

At third-race distance, Kostecki led Wood to the tune of 1.3 seconds while Allen was 2.3 seconds in arrears in third. Payne, meanwhile, was 3.3 seconds adrift.

De Pasquale was a distant fifth, 10 seconds back of the lead while Brown was another four seconds back leading a pack including Golding, Cameron Waters, Chaz Mostert, and Thomas Randle.

Golding was the first top 10 driver to pit on Lap 14 from seventh.

Waters and Motert pitted on Lap 19, line astern, while Wood and Payne followed suit a lap later.

Allen’s decision to pit early paid dividends massively, undercutting Wood to the tune of a second and a half.

Brown’s hopes of a potential top five finish were dashed when he pitted for tyres and had to wait an additional 20 seconds for repairs to his rear diffuser.

On Lap 21, Kostecki pitted from the lead to take four tyres and lost the effective lead to Allen.

Wood ranged up on the rear of Kostecki on cold tyres into Turn 4 but got hung out wide mid-corner, thwarting the New Zealander’s efforts.

Once it all shook out, the #17 was four-and-a-half seconds behind the #26 who had the effective lead of the race.

Allen began to pay the price of only taking two tyres. As the laps wore down, so too did his tyres.

With 10 laps to go, Allen’s advantage over Kostecki came down to 1.7 seconds.

Kostecki got to Allen’s rear bumper with six laps remaining and rattled the rear of the #26 at Turn 4.

Their battle brought Wood into the picture and Payne began to take chunks out of the leaders too.

Try as he might, Kostecki couldn’t find a way by Allen and had to settle for second while Wood was third.

Payne finished fourth while De Pasquale was 20 seconds in arrears of Allen in fifth.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship ITM Christchurch Super440, Race 1