Kai Allen turned the Darwin Triple Crown into a personal showcase on Saturday, chasing down Cameron Waters to win the second race of the weekend at Hidden Valley Raceway and lift Grove Racing to the top of the Supercars teams' championship. The 20-year-old started fifth, but by the flag he was nearly nine seconds clear of Friday's winner.
It was Allen's second race victory of the season and his first at Hidden Valley, all the more striking given it was only his fifth start at the Darwin circuit. The decisive moment came on lap 41 of 70, when Waters got loose and ran wide entering Turn 7 in the #6 Tickford Mustang, handing the lead to the #26 Grove entry that never looked back.
"Me and this place just gel - it suits my style and (race engineer Riccardo Corte) made that thing a jet," Allen said on the broadcast. "I knew I had something early in the race ... and then when I came out on those fresh tyres and got past Cam (Waters) I knew we were on for a good race. Hard work pays off ... this Mustang was absolutely lit."
The flashpoint of the race came earlier, and it involved Allen's Grove teammate Matt Payne. Having taken a five-second penalty for jumping the start, Payne emerged from his stop in clear air and hauled himself back onto the tail of Waters. Running at 280km/h down Hidden Valley's 1.1km main straight, Payne lined up a move only for Waters - weaving to warm his tyres - to squeeze him onto the inside kerb under braking into Turn 1.
"Man that was so dangerous!" Payne fumed over team radio. Commentating for Fox Sports, former champion Garth Tander, who partnered Payne to victory in last year's Bathurst 1000, said he understood the frustration. The stewards agreed to a point, issuing Waters a bad sportsmanship flag - effectively a warning - for moving under braking, but stopped short of a penalty. Payne later collected the same warning for his own defence against Brodie Kostecki.
Conditions were brutal after Friday's record-cold race. With ambient temperatures around 32C, cabin temperatures pushed well beyond 50C. Kostecki, who finished third, drove much of the race without a drink bottle following a pump failure and was tended to by medical staff afterwards, electing not to climb onto the podium. Tickford's Thomas Randle was also seen by medics, reportedly for burns to his feet.
It was a miserable afternoon for the Toyota Supras. Ryan Wood suffered a power steering failure in the #2 Walkinshaw entry on lap five and dropped oil across the circuit before retiring. The spill caught out his teammate, defending champion Chaz Mostert, who slid off the road on what happened to be his 400th start and tumbled down the order.
"It's pretty frustrating - we're battling for 13th, and it felt like the world championship," Wood said. "It's the story of our day because it seems like (Mostert) ended up slipping on all our stuff, so sorry for that side and sorry to the team. It's really gutting."
Allen's win carried wider significance. It propelled Grove Racing to the teams' championship lead, edging Triple Eight, whose driver Broc Feeney remains the overall points leader but saw his advantage trimmed after side-to-side contact with Allen exiting Turn 1 early in the race. Waters and Kostecki completed the podium, with Payne fourth.
Supercars closes out the Triple Crown with another 200km race on Sunday afternoon, with Allen suddenly the man to beat and the teams' title fight wide open.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/allen-beats-waters-for-second-darwin-win-as-payne-fumes). Visit for full coverage.*