Supercars, Townsville 500: Young gun Matthew Payne claims first race win of the year
Matthew Payne has underlined his status as a rising Supercars star with victory in Townsville. The 21-year-old’s eye-catching performance came on a poor day for the championship leader.
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Rising Kiwi Supercars star Matthew Payne claimed his first win of 2024 in dramatic style on Sunday, perfectly executing a risky plan to take Race 14 at the Townsville 500.
Payne threw caution to the wind with a three-stop race, using his light fuel loads to zip past other racers and climb from 10th to the front of the pack.
The 21-year-old Grove Racing driver carried a 10-second gap to second-placed Cam Waters with 10 laps to go and raced clean enough to maintain his advantage to the chequered flag.
Payne’s incredible race denied Waters a perfect weekend in North Queensland after the Tickford Racing star claimed Saturday’s race.
Eight of the last 13 races in Townsville have been won by drivers who come from across the ditch, following Shane Van Gisbergen’s legendary success at the event.
The young New Zealander said he would ride the momentum of his win to Sydney in a fortnight’s time.
“Everyone’s stoked and I think they’re going to carry this momentum forward for the rest of the year,” Payne said.
“We’ve just got to figure out what really makes our car tick and try to apply that to any different style of circuit that’s on the calendar.”
Birthday boy Jack Le Brocq – who turned 32 on Sunday – claimed pole in the top 10 shootout by the slimmest margin in the history of the Townsville 500, just 0.002s ahead of Waters.
But it mattered little when Waters blitzed his front row companion at the jump, beating Le Brocq to turn 1 to snatch pole position.
Chaz Mostert clinically picked his way through the field during the first 12 laps to move up six places from P8 to challeng Waters for the front and the two former teammates engaged in a thrilling battle throughout.
Le Brocq settled into the race and finished fourth as the fastest Camaro.
Birthday boy Jack Le Brocq – who turned 32 on Sunday – claimed pole in the top 10 shootout by the slimmest margin in the history of the Townsville 500, just 0.002s ahead of Waters.
But it mattered little when Waters blitzed his front row companion at the jump, beating Le Brocq to turn 1 to snatch pole position.
Chaz Mostert clinically picked his way through the field during the first 12 laps to move up six places from P8 to challeng Waters for the front and the two former teammates engaged in a thrilling battle throughout.
Le Brocq settled into the race and finished fourth as the fastest Camaro.
TOP DOGS’ LEAD CUT
Supercars drivers’ championship leader Will Brown started Sunday’s race from 17th after a poor qualifying session and things quickly went from bad to worse for the Queenslander.
A tangle with Team 18’s David Reynolds between turns 2 and 3 on the first lap spun Brown into the wall and forced him into the pit early.
Although his car was cleared of major damage, it was impossible for the star of 2024 to repeat his Saturday efforts – when he climbed from 13th to third – and Brown finished the race last.
💥 David Reynolds and Will Brown have come together on the opening lap, putting the championship leader at the back of the field! 😦
— 7Sport (@7Sport) July 7, 2024
The Townsville 500 is LIVE & FREE on @Channel7 & @7plus 🚗💨 https://t.co/KPAjd6zNxp#7Motorsport#RepcoSCpic.twitter.com/pZmTdKAGaK
Triple Eight teammates Broc Feeney languished in the middle of the pack for most of the race and finished seventh.
Mostert, who sits third in the championship standings, is now only 96 points behind second-placed Feeney.
He said the podium would have felt more satisfying if the Triple Eight drivers had performed better.
“I know Browny had a tough one so I don’t know where he actually finished,” Mostert said.
“But you don’t want people to have bad days, you want to beat people at their best and for us I think we’ve still got homework to do so that’s really the only focus for us.”
MUSTANG MAGIC
It was a weekend to remember for Ford fans with the Mustangs dominating the Townsville track at Reid Park with two race wins.
It was an all-Ford podium on Sunday as Payne, Waters and Mostert celebrated great races and Mustangs made up five of the top six cars.
Waters was electric from the first practice, setting the fastest times during both sessions on Friday before winning back-to-back podiums on Saturday and Sunday.
Waters took Race 13 on Saturday for Ford’s third race win of the year as four of the top five cars were Ford Mustangs.
Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Ryan Walkinshaw said it testament to the work Supercars had done on the cars between seasons.
“Supercars did a lot of testing to try and fix the clear and obvious issues that we had last year,” Walkinshaw said.
“People from Chev are complaining that there’s still parity issues, so when you’ve got both sides complaining equally, you’ve probably got something right.”
Matt Payne and @PenriteRacing are victorious in Race 14 on the streets of Townsville! Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert finish second and third to make it an all @FordMustang podium to round out the weekend!#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/pWXFK8J8hT
— Ford Australia (@FordAustralia) July 7, 2024
Waters claims thrilling win in Saturday’s race
Teammates Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert produced the finest racing of the Supercars season to finish first and second in an epic race one at the Townsville 500 that thrilled all the way to the finish line on Saturday.
The Mustang racers traded the lead multiple times but it was Waters who fought back from fourth place by leapfrogging Will Davison, Thomas Randle and then Mostert in the space of nine laps to salute.
Compounding the late drama was a sudden tropical downpour that soaked the southeastern corner of the track, leaving teams with a major tactical decision to avoid potential disaster in the final laps.
The leaders gambled successfully by taking their worn super-soft tires to the finish line, where Waters’ superior pace secured his second crown in Townsville.
“I was loving every minute of it,” Waters said. “There was always something going in which made the race so cool from inside the cabin.”
“It was a great race. I tried everything to hang on at the end there,” Mostert added. “Hopefully it made for some great TV. It was like racing a p---ed off stepbrother out there.”
THE DUEL
Saturday’s racing hit fever pitch on the 52nd lap when Waters and Mostert traded the lead on five occasions in the space of a lap and a half.
“That exchange is absolutely as good as it gets, from both parties,” hailed veteran commentator and former Supercars star Mark Skaife on Fox Sports commentary.
“This is the best racing we have seen this year. They have absolutely turned it on, Waters and Mostert.”
The signs were there from the opening lap that a special contest was brewing between the former Tickford Racing teammates.
Waters and Mostert (Walkinshaw-Andretti United) were a mirror image as they drag raced down the opening straight and were never again separated by more than six seconds.
Waters, who dominated both practice sections and won the Top 10 shootout earlier in the day, commanded the race for the first 30 laps before Mostert found a gap to forge ahead.
Through the twists and turns of pit stops the pair resumed their battle in the 52nd lap with a breathtaking display of dogfighting.
It was the second time from 13 races this season the Mustangs finished on the top two steps of the podium, with Mostert and Waters repeating their achievement from Perth.
THE FIGHTBACK
Triple Eight’s fairytale love affair with Townsville appeared to have gone stale when series leader Will Brown failed to qualify for the Top 10 shootout but the flame was rekindled by the finish line.
Brown began from 13th on the grid and showed extreme patience and belief in his Camaro to steadily climb throughout the race.
By the midway point of the race the Red Bull-Ampol racer had fought back six positions to sit seventh, with six seconds separating Brown from the lead.
As the heavens opened Brown made his push, leapfrogging Thomas Randle and Will Davidson in the final laps to deny Ford a clean sweep on the podium.
“For the first half of the race I didn’t think I’d get that high up,” Brown said.
“I definitely didn’t think I’d get on the podium.”
DÉJÀ VU FOR DPQ
Defending champion Anton De Pasquale’s Townsville 500 defence ended inside three laps in a cruel collision with Nick Percat and Brodie Kostecki.
Dick Johnson Racing’s pit crew battled for 25 laps to save the No.11 car from a DNF but ran out of time as major issues to the right front tire and steering column wiped De Pasquale out of the race.
It was déjà vu for the Victorian native, who met the same fate in race one last year, before rebounding to break Chevrolet’s 13-race winning streak in race two on Sunday.
Kostecki and Percat survived the collision but finished 19th and 21st respectively.
Tim Slade reached the minimum 66 laps despite encountering power steering issues.
WATERS FASTEST IN PRACTICE
Two-time Townsville race winner Cam Waters saved the fastest lap of Friday’s two practice sessions for last, fine-tuning his car’s set-up to achieve a scorching 1:13.837 on his final lap of P2 at the Townsville 500.
The Tickford Racing star set the fastest time in each practice session and will be eyeing his first win in North Queensland since 2021.
Waters said starting the day with a car that was close to the finished product was “super important” to his success.
“It was a great day for us, we rolled out of the truck pretty good and had a good practice plan and stuck to that,” Waters said.
“It was great to be quickest both sessions so hopefully we can keep this momentum rolling.
“We’ve been kind of up and down a bit this year trying to find what works everywhere. We’ve got it right at times, we’ve got it wrong at times, so when you do roll out (ready) it really does set up your whole weekend.”
Jack Le Brocq held the fastest lap for most of P2 before Waters snatched the lead by the finest of margins: just 0.0590s.
Veteran Supercars driver Mark Winterbottom also had an impressive finish, jumping half the field with his final lap to finish with the third-fastest time.
It was a great day for Ford fans, with Mustang drivers claiming three of the fastest times in P2 and four of the best five in P1. Waters said his team’s next goal was to be the premier Ford team.
“Tickford has changed massively over Christmas, going back to two cars,” Waters said.
“We’re kind of finding our feet with some things but we’re definitely improving. I feel like we’ve got all of the ingredients, it just hasn’t come together properly.
“That’s always the goal, you want to be the best team in your make and then you want to be the best team overall, and that’s the goal for us.”
Unpredictable conditions meant most teams spent plenty of time tinkering with their set-ups to give their drivers the best chance of success come race time.
A splattering of rain created headaches for drivers on Friday but precipitation is unlikely to eventuate over the weekend.
Ford’s Tickford also claimed the two fastest times in Practice 1, with Waters followed closely by teammate Thomas Randle.
One of the first people to ever win a race on the Townsville street circuit, James Courtney, was flying in the first practice session to finish with the fourth-fastest lap, but his pace went missing later in the afternoon when he finished 21st.
Courtney won a race at the inaugural Townsville Supercars event in 2009.
Racers hit the track early on Saturday for qualifying before the top 10 shootout for starting positions begins at midday before the Race 13 at 2.40pm.
Saturday’s on-track action will be followed up by a concert starring Tones & I, G Flip, and Cyril, with Race 14 scheduled for 2.40pm Sunday.
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Originally published as Supercars, Townsville 500: Young gun Matthew Payne claims first race win of the year
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