Supercars: Rookie Matthew Payne wins final race in Adelaide A disappointing result for SVG

The final race of the Supercars Championship was a victory for New Zealander Matthew Payne, who has only been active in motorsport for a relatively long time. In 2021 he won the Toyota Racing Series and New Zealand and was also part of the Porsche Junior program. Last year he competed for the title in the Dunlop2 series (the entry class for supercars) and made his debut at the Bathurst 1000 alongside veteran Lee Holdsworth. The Penrite Racing (Grove Racing) team had indeed seen enough and taken on the young New Zealander. Under contract for this season. During the season finale in Adelaide, he fully fulfilled his promise by winning his first Supercar race. One New Zealander arrives, another leaves. This will be his last race in the series for SVG after a year in Supercars. Unfortunately, it was a disappointing farewell as Shane pulled out due to technical issues.
A great end to a season of amazing supercars. Like last year, a rookie wins the final. Matt Payne, we’re going to be hearing a lot more from him. He is high on the Porsche list.

Text: Willem J. Stat
Photos: Supercars, Ford Performance Racing, Red Bull Ampole Racing, Brad Jones Racing, Penright Racing, DJR Shell V Power Racing/PR
Brock Feeney finished his second season in Supercars in second place. “The team bosses have to give the youngsters a chance,” Broc said after Matthew Paine’s win.

Rookie Matthew Payne won the final in Adelaide. A disappointing result for SVG
Rookie sensation Matthew Payne started from second with pole sitter Brady Kostecki but left the brand new champion behind after a few corners. After that, the Penrite Racing Ford Mustang driver dominated the entire race, except for the pit stops. Brock Feeney finished second for Triple Eight Racing in 8.5483 seconds. Cons. With third place, Penwright Racing driver David Reynolds secured a double podium for the season. Newly crowned champion Brody Kostecki finished eighth, with his teammate Will Brown in 14th. This meant the team title also went to Betty Klimenko Sanders’ Erebus team. In the final stages of the teams championship, Red Bull Ambol Racing and Brad Jones Racing finished second and third respectively. With sixth place, Andre Heimgardner took P3 for the team after a race with many fights.

Before the Senna Chicken, Payne took the lead, followed by Kostecki and Mostert. Waters, slowed by Brock Feeney. From a starting position of 15, SVG was able to quickly make four positions. On lap 11, Feeney and Mostert made contact in Turn 6, pushing the #88 of Brock Feeney clear. Mostert was given a five second time penalty which was recovered during a routine pit stop. A little later, a similar incident occurred between SVG and Thomas Randle. Despite Randle’s grumbling over the on-board radio, race management decided to take further action.

SVG, the most famous driver in Supercars, unfortunately couldn’t gift his fans a spectacle today. “One day I’ll be back,” he promised.

At the end of the 30th round, the first stopping cycle was stopped. Matthew Payne took a 3.8 second lead over Kostecki, Reynolds, van Gisbergen, Davison, Randle, Brown, Waters and Courtney. After suffering his time penalty, Mostert found himself in 14th place. On lap 45, SVG made his second stop. Two laps later the #97 came back in, but at the pit lane entrance SVG gave way to approaching teammate Brock Feeney for his routine stop. Suspected something was loose due to taking up a lot of rubber. As a last resort, the Triple Eight team attempted to install new shock absorbers and springs. in vain

SVG unfortunately retired twice in his last appearance in Supercars. Disappointment for fans. Behind the top 4 there was a lot of fighting for position. In the 63rd round, champion Kostecki attacked Heimgardner. An attack completely failed and the Erebus Champion fell back on the tail of the battle group. In the end, Heimgardner had to give up his fifth place to the WAU Mustang of Chaz Mostert in the closing stages. Sixth place was good enough for Heimgardner for P3 in the team title battle for Brad Jones Racing. Macaulay Jones’ BJR Racing Chevrolet Camaro returned to the pit lane due to James Goulding’s unsafe launch. Golding was duly punished for this.

Andre Heimgardner gave Brad Jones Racing third place in the battle for the team title. A rider who has improved a lot in recent years.

Penright Racing has two wins in the last three races. For rookie Payne, it was his first Supercar victory after an impressive performance. It’s clear that Mustangs lag behind Camaros technically. Rounding out the top 10 are seven Mustangs and three Camaros.

Anton de Pasqaule finished seventh. With seven Mazdas in the top 10, Ford is no longer complaining about homologation issues.