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The Ford team let an option on the teen sensation lapse back in June in a firm indication that it was looking elsewhere in terms of drivers for next season.
That prompted Allen to sign with DJR’s ambitious rival Grove Racing, which will field a youthful line-up of Allen and Matt Payne into the future.
The move is seen by many as a bold one from DJR, particularly as the team invested heavily in Allen’s development, including a wildcard entry at the Bathurst 1000 last year.
However ex-AFL coach Noble says it was a simple case of timing that negotiations couldn’t continue.
“My background has strongly been entrenched in development and youth development, and it’s great to see a young guy getting an opportunity,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t with us, just [the] timing didn’t work out for us.
“But look, he’s a cracking driver, I’m super excited that he’s got the drive with Grove. I was talking to [Grove Racing technical director Grant McPherson] yesterday, they’re very excited about him being on board.
“And I think it’s great for the category to have some more youth coming through to put some pressure on some of the older guys.”
Noble explained that once not in a position to offer Allen a deal, he was encouraged to look elsewhere so that he didn’t miss out.
“There was constant dialogue with myself and [Allen’s manager] Dave Ellis in regards to where the timing was,” he said.
“I mean, we all sign up our guys on contracts and time frames and bits and pieces, and we just weren’t in a position where we could legitimately stall, and felt like we had to do the right thing with Kai that if he did have other options….
“And I had that open conversation with Dave to say, ‘look, have you got any other offers on the table?’. And it’s like, ‘no, but there’s interest’, and it’s like, ‘well, we can’t put an offer in front of you by the end of the timeframe that we had’.
“So yeah, [Allen] goes with our blessing. We invested heavily in him last year. We did a wildcard, which is a fairly heavy resource and financial commitment, to give him an opportunity to get into the category.
“We’re happy we’ve been able to support but slightly disappointed that we couldn’t continue that journey.
“There’s no harsh feelings from our side of things. We just couldn’t commit at the right time frame for them, and so they take the opportunity, and we wish him well.”
DJR continues to be a major talking point in the silly season with both of its current drivers Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison off contract.
While the risk of an Allen deal is now gone, there is consistent chat that Brodie Kostecki is in DJR’s sights.
When asked if there is a timeline on making a decision on drivers for 2025, Noble indicated that it would likely be the end of September, with current negotiations hampered by majority owner Brett Ralph being in the US.
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “I mean, there’s one of our owners overseas at the moment, he’s back this week.
“It’s been a little tricky just narrowing down some conversations and bits and pieces, but probably by the end of the next month, I would think. That’s probably where we’re at.
“We’ve just got to do our due diligence and I understand that everybody keeps looking at us, but we’ve just got to do the right work and make the right decisions. And when the time is right we’ll let everyone know.”
