THE same car that took Andrew Thompson to victory in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series 11 years ago in Monster colours in 2011 with Triple Eight will introduce Supercar racing to 16-year-old Kai Allen this year.
Allen has signed to drive in this year’s Dunlop Super3 Series with Eggleston Motorsport and will drive the former Monster Commodore VE in this year’s series.
He has signed a two-year deal with the team and will step up into Super2 in 2023.
It marks a return to the category for EMS – it won the title (when it was known as the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series) in 2014 with Justin Ruggier and in 2015 with Liam McAdam.
The car it will run for Allen is chassis 888A-027, raced by Jamie Whincup in Vodafone colours in 2010. The chassis finished second in the team’s 1-2 form finish at Bathurst that year with Whincup and Steve Owen at the wheel.
Thompson used it to win what is now known as the Super2 Series in 2011 and Scott Pye finished runner-up in the series the following year in his debut season.
The car spent time in the Super2 category in the hands of Matt Hansen and then was secured by EMS to use in the Dunlop-backed series and then the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series.
The team will test at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria next week ahead of the opening round of the Dunlop Super3 Series to be held at Sydney Motorsport Park on March 4-6.