Matt Payne, Cam Waters focusing in on finals ahead of Townsville Supercars return

Townsville was good to Matt Payne and Cam Waters last year, and they’re looking to repeat the success and leapfrog some of their rivals in their 2025 return.

Matt Payne and Cam Waters aren’t being shy about their aims this weekend - looking to knock off front-running stars Broc Feeney and Will Brown at the head of the Supercars Championship table.

Ford drivers Payne and Waters sit right behind the Red Bull affiliated duo in the third and fourth spots on the ladder, hoping to repeat their success from last year on a tough Townsville track after splitting the chocolates in 2024.

“This was definitely one of the tracks where we were really strong last year - not particularly strong in qualifying - definitely been something that we’ve worked on this year, but our race pace was really good,” Payne said.

“It’s going to be interesting to see where everyone rolls out and what the pace is like.

“The racing here was definitely one of the best races I’ve seen - the Saturday race here was really good to watch back, I think it’s one of the best races we’ve ever had.
“The style and the layout of the circuit presents a lot of opportunities.”

Payne noted that regardless of the result this weekend, Feeney would still likely sit clear at the top of the ladder, but the closeness of the competition presented a chance to leapfrog Brown and position themselves for a further push.

Matt Payne and Cam Waters are looking to repeat their success last year in Townsville at the 2025 NTI 500 Supercars.

“We’ve had a pretty good run so far this year, the points have been pretty close - Broc’s definitely skipped away a bit in the last couple of rounds, but we’re just behind Will, so we’ll be looking to jump ahead this weekend,” Payne said.

“There’s going to be a few mix-ups from the 5 to 12 positions, those guys will be racing pretty hard - we just have to try and stay ahead of that and score some good points.”

Waters has his eyes on another trophy, after beating Chaz Mostert in Townsville in last year’s Saturday race, nailing a late pass to soar past his rival and claim the bragging rights.

“Hopefully this weekend the cars are fast and we can go get some of those trophies,” Waters said.
“We’ve just got to not make any mistakes, and roll out a consistent car across the weekend. We’ve been more consistent than previous years, but we probably still need to be a little bit better than that - but I think we’ll have a decent weekend.

“We’re still pretty close to second, Broc’s down the road a little bit compared to us now, but this year’s going to be very different with the finals system.

“We’ve just got to make sure we’re not making mistakes and that we’re fast and we’re in the finals, and we’ll have a dip at the end of the year.”

Originally published as Matt Payne, Cam Waters focusing in on finals ahead of Townsville Supercars return