Kiwi rookie Matt Payne has pipped new Supercars champion Brody Kostecki to take his first career win in Adelaide. Today we will discuss about Matt Payne: Supercars| Motor racing driver| What happened to
Matt Payne: Supercars| Motor racing driver| What happened to
Matthew “Matt” Payne (born 3 October 2002) is a New Zealand racing driver from Auckland, New Zealand. He currently competes in the Supercars Championship with Grove Racing, driving the No. 19 Ford Mustang GT.
| Super2 Series career | |
|---|---|
| Debut season | 2021 |
| Current team | Grove Racing |
| Car number | 10 |
| Starts | 7 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 3 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Best finish | 17th in 2021 |
| Previous series | |
| 2021 2021 |
Toyota Racing Series Porsche Carrera Cup Australia |
Supercars
Shane Van Gisbergen’s Supercars career has ended with a shock, being forced to retire from the second race of the Adelaide 500 at the end of the season, while compatriot Matt Payne took his first win racing in Australia.
Passing the torch moment in an almost poetic manner, 21-year-old Payne comfortably took the checkered flag to end his first season in Supercars with Penright Racing.
To make things even sweeter for the Aucklander, the win also doubles as his first podium finish since moving to Supercars.
Starting from second on the grid, Matt Payne overtook newly crowned champion Brody Kostecki on the opening lap and never let up, belying his youth to take his first win.
“It’s so cool, I have no words,” Payne said. “this is amazing.
“I want to thank the entire Penright Racing team. We have worked very hard to get to this point.
“It’s been great. Special thanks to Groves, he believed in me when he first put me in Super 2.
“Now it’s definitely paid off.”
While this was gratifying for Payne, van Gisbergen was denied the dream farewell he had hoped for.
In his final race before moving to NASCAR, the former champion was denied a chance for one last win in Australia, as damage to his Camaro ended any chances of victory.
After pitting for the second time on the 46th lap, Van Gisbergen returned after only two laps due to a wheel requiring tightening.
As the three-time championship winner was going in and out in the coming laps, he retired from the race in the closing stages of the race and was potentially unable to complete his last Supercar appearance.
Motor racing driver
Young New Zealand driver Matt Payne racing career will take another step forward this weekend when he competes as a lead driver in the Bathurst 1000 for the first time.
Matt Payne, who turned 21 on Tuesday, is in his first full season in Supercars and although it took him some time to get used to racing in this category, he has finished in the top seven in three of the last four races.
It is that form, combined with his Penright-sponsored Grove Racing, newfound speed in the Ford Mustang and having a quality co-driver in Frenchman Kevin Estre, that makes him feel optimistic about his chances at Mount Panorama on Sunday.
“I think it’s going to be really good,” Matt Payne said of this weekend.
“We’ve got two amazing Penright cars with new liveries that look really good.
“This week, it’s exciting to share the car with Kevin. He is a very skilled driver. We did well at Sandown and hopefully we can do a little better here.”
What happened to
Pukekohe’s Matt Payne is one of six Kiwi drivers racing in Sunday’s Bathurst 1000, but he was lucky enough to be selected to take part in this week’s Back Chat. Here’s hoping he has the same luck around Mount Panorama.
You finished sixth with Lee Holdsworth on your first Bathurst appearance last year, not bad, what did you take away from the experience?
It was really nice sharing the car with Lee. When he qualified second and (due to bad weather) there was no Top 10 Shootout, we were going to be on the front row, it felt like it was important and getting real. I couldn’t have been happier finishing sixth. We didn’t have the fastest car, but we did a good job of trying not to make mistakes during the race. So it was a really good experience.
The difference is huge. Even last year with Super2 and the main game car, it was different. Certainly, with Gen3 this year, it is completely different to what we have seen here in the past and it will be a test for many teams to put what we have learned into the cars in practice. Can you see yourself wanting to make the switch from Supercars to racing in America like Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen once did? I will never say no. It’s really cool that he’s been given opportunities like this and he’s gone and done it. Certainly, if something like this came up I don’t think I would be able to say no. But that’s where my focus is right now and I’m trying to do the best job I can for the team and try to do a really good job next year as well.
