Grove racing young gun Matt Payne announces himself as Supercars title threat after home race win
Brodie Kostecki is yet to claim his maiden win with his new team as Grove Racing’s young gun Matt Payne claimed his home track title and announced himself as a serious championship challenger.
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Grove Racing young gun Matt Payne thrust his name forward as a potential title threat after “showing what we are capable of” when he claimed a second win at his home round in New Zealand in the Taupo finale on Sunday.
After his victory in the opening sprint race on Saturday, the Kiwi rising star backed up to claim Sunday’s 200km battle and clinch the Jason Richards Trophy as the round winner.
Taking advantage of early drama for the two drivers starting on the front row of the grid – Dick Johnson Racing’s Brodie Kostecki and Team 18’s Anton De Pasquale – Payne seized the lead on lap eight from Cameron Hill and controlled the race from there.
The win was the fourth of Payne’s career and moved the Ford driver from fourth in the championship standings to third, jumping ahead of Broc Feeney.
Payne steered his Mustang home more than three seconds clear of Matt Stone Racing’s second-placed Hill, who grabbed his third podium for the year.
Walkinshaw Andretti United star Chaz Mostert backed up from his win in Saturday’s second sprint race to finish third.
The fifth New Zealand driver to win a Supercars race on home soil, Auckland-born Payne, 22, said it was a special result to win in front of his home crowd.
“It’s pretty incredible, I’m lost for words really,” Payne said.
“That was a really long race, a really time out in front. I managed to get the lead pretty early on and I knew I had to do that, but absolutely lost for words.
“The No.19 Penrite Racing Mustang was a rocket ship today, it’s been a rocket ship all weekend, so credit to the guys.”
Payne, sixth in the standings in his second season last year, was not getting too excited about his championship position, saying the team needed to ensure it backed up the results.
“It’s good that we’ve had two wins in one round, it has definitely helped our championship progress,” Payne said.
“We’ve had one good round, I think for us now it is really important for us to make sure that we really store this in the bank and learn from what we did this weekend.
What a performance Matt Payne!#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/F2JVvWYy1R
— Supercars (@supercars) April 13, 2025
“I know there are a couple of tough tracks coming up for us, so we just really need to knuckle down and make sure that we are on the front foot for both of those tracks to make sure it wasn’t like last year when we were a little bit inconsistent.
“But for sure, being third now (in the standings) and showing what we are capable of this weekend, it’s a good show.”
Payne said he was humbled to win the JR memorial trophy, named in honour of the late former New Zealand Supercars driver.
“I watched a lot of Jason (Richards) when I was growing up,” Payne said.
“So it’s really cool for myself to get it done and being a Kiwi on home soil, it’s pretty special.”
Hill’s podium followed his win in the second race at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and he said the team had its sights on becoming a more of a regular frontrunner.
“We are trying to make it a regular thing, but it’s pretty tough in this game,” Hill said.
“We felt like we left a few points on the table yesterday … so we made a few changes this morning and that probably made it a top three car and the seas parted for me at the beginning of the race, which probably helped.
“We couldn’t quite keep Matty at bay, but it was a good way to finish the weekend.”
Mostert finished the round with two podiums and remained fifth in the standings, but said his Sunday result had been unexpected.
“I didn’t expect to be sitting up here today starting ninth. The crew did an amazing job, they executed the strategy really well,” Mostert said.
“It was a really nice weekend where we felt like we were a bit behind the eight-ball … but in that last race I felt like (car) 25 took a massive step in the right direction.”
It was a disastrous start for both cars parked on the front row of the grid with De Pasquale, who was starting in second place, running wide at the first turn.
Pole sitter Kostecki then got bumped down the order to seventh after being forded wide off the track in a lap one skirmish with Ryan Wood, for which the young Kiwi copped a five-second time penalty.
Kostecki fought his way back to finish fourth to go with his pair of poles for the Taupo round, having earlier blitzed the top-10 shootout. The 2023 champion had been on track for a podium before Mostert passed him for third with 12 laps to go.
The title frontrunners were all left with work to do after poor qualifying results, but Triple Eight’s Will Brown retained his series lead after finishing eighth, having started 12th.
His teammate Feeney charged his way through the field from 20th to finish seventh, while Tickford’s Cam Waters finished 12th (from 18th).
The next round of the Supercars championship is at Symmons Plains in Tasmania next month.
Kostecki claims pole in hunt for first win with DJR
Brodie Kostecki will again be in prime position to chase a maiden win with his new team Dick Johnson Racing after claiming a second pole for the weekend for Sunday’s finale in Taupo.
The 2023 Supercars champion continued his hot qualifying form in New Zealand to blitz the top 10 shootout with his 1:25.70 lap as the title frontrunners all missed the cut.
Kostecki has qualified second and on pole twice for three races in Taupo and finished third in Saturday’s second sprint race after an entertaining battle with Chaz Mostert.
The Bathurst 1000 champion edged out Team 18’s Anton De Pasquale and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s New Zealand young gun Ryan Wood in the shootout.
“This means a lot to everyone in the whole group,” Kostecki said.
“I think everyone is just starting to gel. We have been battling a few balance issues, but we have slowly been getting on top of them and I think we saw that towards the end of the grand prix, we had both cars in the top five.
“We are slowly getting there, but really looking forward to the race this afternoon and I’m just really happy with my lap.
“It’s going to be an exciting race this afternoon and hopefully I can get it off the line this time.
“Hopefully Chaz (Mostert) stays away from me today.”
But the top three drivers in the championship standings will all have work to do in the final race after Triple Eight’s series leader Will Brown (12th), Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters (18th) and Broc Feeney (20th) all missing the top-10.
Sunday’s finale will be raced over 200km.
‘Racing half-baked’: Kostecki hits out after rival triumphs
Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki hit out at the “half-baked” adjudication of the rules after coming off second-best in a dogfight with Chaz Mostert in Taupo.
In a heavyweight battle in New Zealand, Walkinshaw Andretti United star Mostert survived an entertaining scrap with Kostecki in the second sprint race to storm to his first win of the season and energise his 2025 championship.
Powering to his first win since Sydney Motorsport Park last July, Mostert brought up the 25th win of his career after finishing more than six and a half seconds ahead of Dick Johnson Racing pair Will Davison and Kostecki, who nursed his damaged car home into third.
Mostert and Kostecki, who started the race on pole, locked horns in a mid-race tussle after pitting before Mostert got the edge and pulled away for the win in the 37-lap sprint.
Bouncing back from the opening race when he finished 13th after getting turned, the win pushed Mostert up from seventh in the championship standings up to fifth.
After his win on home soil earlier in the first sprint race, Kiwi Matt Payne backed up with fourth place after being hit with a five-second penalty for a false start.
The podium was the first for Kostecki with his new team DJR, but he revealed after the race he had suffered damage in his battle with Mostert which compromised his race.
While Kostecki said he loved the fierce racing, he took aim at the adjudication of the rules, which he said were “different every time” this season.
Chaz Mostert claims his first win in New Zealand!#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/NDCtSlww3q
— Supercars (@supercars) April 12, 2025
“Boxing has three judges for a reason,” Kostecki said.
“If it looks good for TV, they just let it play on. It’s just different every time in my opinion.”
He later added: “I think we are just racing half-baked at the moment in some cases.
“The rules are still there and you know we have people that choose when to adjudicate - at least one person.
“It was interesting. It was front-to-rear and then it turned into a big tank-slapper and I was trying not to spin out and then we interlocked wheels.
“I think Chaz was missing two spokes and my wheel was missing three spokes and the whole wheel edge, so it becomes a bit of a safety concern.
“The fans want to see races like that, (racing) that’s really hard. I’m fine to race like that, it’s just that the rules need to always be consistent and just because it’s great for TV there is plenty of good racing that happens further back, but some people just get penalised for it.”
Several drivers met with driving standards advisor Craig Baird in Taupo on Thursday to discuss the racing standards and this year’s leaning towards more of a “play-on” approach.
Mostert said he had committed to the turn when he made contact with Kostecki.
“Obviously Brodie is on the wrong end of this one. Was it my intention to hit him in the rear and purposely do it? No. Did I feel like I had a run in (turn) three to four? Yes,” Mostert said.
“But did I expect him to move slightly at the last second and I couldn’t get out of the way or get out of it at that point for the closing speed? No, I couldn’t.
“I didn’t go out there intentionally to race like that … I’m glad from my side of things it got left as play on.
“I raced as hard as I could, I knew I had better pace so I had to be super aggressive at the opening start of that stint or I wouldn’t have a chance to sit here today.”
Veteran Davison broke a year-long drought to put his Mustang on the podium with his last one coming at the same event in Taupo last year.
He said he had relished Kostecki’s arrival at the team and the 2023 champion was “keeping him on his toes as the old boy”.
Defending Supercars champion Will Brown finished seventh to pinch back the title lead from Cam Waters, who had earlier put himself on top with his second place in the opening race
Costly mistake for Kostecki and Feeney jumps up to P2!
— Supercars (@supercars) April 12, 2025
Follow along this weekend with our Live Feed and new Live Insights feature 👉 https://t.co/mDWXIwVczr#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/1oGTZxrMwB
HOME RACE HERO
Kiwi rising star Payne earlier triumphed on home soil to take his first win of 2025 in the opening sprint battle.
After putting his Mustang on pole position for the first of two Saturday sprint races, the Grove Racing driver converted from the front to take the third win of his Supercars career.
The 22-year-old became the fifth New Zealand driver to win a Supercars race at home, joining Greg Murphy, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Andre Heimgartner.
Payne controlled the 37-lap battle to lead home a Ford 1-2 ahead of Waters.
Payne’s good mate and fellow Kiwi Ryan Wood broke through for the first podium of his Supercars career after he passed Anton De Pasquale late in the race to take third place.
Payne withstood fierce early pressure from Kostecki, safety car intervention and a late challenge from Waters to take his first win since Townsville last year.
Payne and Wood (Walkinshaw Andretti United) shared a moment in the pit lane after their double-Kiwi podium.
“It’s pretty special here today, we had really good qualifying and I knew we had really good speed for the race, I just needed to get the start and we did that,” Payne said.
“Seeing the crowd on the in-lap, everyone is clapping, it’s so special to be here and the Penrite Ford Mustang was pretty quick today and let’s see what we’ve got in the next one.
“It’s super special for (Wood). I knew he had to get past Anton. I saw him with a couple of laps to go and I thought ‘Good on him’. I’ve known him for a long time and it’s really cool to see us both on the podium today.”
Wood said it was a “monkey off his back” to break through for his first podium.
“Kudos to everyone at WAU for sticking by me, it feels amazing to get a podium,” Wood said
“A little bit of a monkey off the back …. I’m just stoked, it’s a pretty special moment here at home.”
There is one final 61-lap race on Sunday to complete the New Zealand round.
Mostert wins dogfight to kickstart Supercars campaign - sprint race 1 recap
- Rebecca Williams
Ford star Chaz Mostert survived a Taupo dogfight to storm to his first win of the season and energise his 2025 championship in the second sprint race in New Zealand.
Powering to his first win since Sydney Motorsport Park last July, the Walkinshaw Andretti United ace brought up the 25th win of his career after emerging on top after a heavyweight battle with 2023 Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki.
Mostert and Kostecki, who had started the race on pole, were engaged in an entertaining battle midway through the race before Mostert got the edge and pulled away with the win.
Bouncing back from the first race when he finished 13th after getting turned, Mostert finished more than six and a half seconds ahead of the Dick Johnson Racing pair of Will Davison and Kostecki, who nursed his car home into third.
After his win on home soil earlier in the first 37-lap sprint race, Kiwi Matt Payne backed up his opening race win with fourth place after being hit with a five-second penalty for a false start.
The win moved Mostert from seventh in the championship standings up into fifth place as defending Supercars champion Will Brown (seventh) pinched back the title lead from Cam Waters, who had earlier put himself on top with his second place in the opening race.
“It was a super-tough tussle,” Mostert said.
“I had pace at the start of the stint and the middle stint, but just kind of ran out of tyres a little bit, so probably a little bit aggressive on our strategy coming out of qualifying into the race.
“But I knew I had to fight him really, especially after the pit stop.
“I’m glad to hang on for the win, we probably just didn’t have the car to those two guys behind us today.
“After the first race and getting turned, I was going to race this one to the death.”
The podium was the first for Kostecki with his new team Dick Johnson Racing and his first since the Gold Coast last year.
But the Bathurst 1000 champion revealed he suffered damage to his car as he locked horns with Mostert as he questioned whether their tussle should have been declared “play-on”.
“I didn’t quite get the start, Chazzy got me off the start and his car was a rocket for the first 15 laps,” Kostecki said.
“It was on afterwards, that’s for sure. It was a bit unfortunate, a bit of front to rear and then blew my right rear, so she is missing a few spokes and I am actually surprised that I hung on so far.
“It (the damage) happened with Chaz unfortunately. I’m a bit surprised (by) it, boxing has three judges for a reason. We’ll just have to see, if it looks good for TV, they just let it play on.
“It’s just different every time in my opinion. If it looks great on TV and both cars continue, it’s fine, but it sort of destroyed my car so it sort of took me out of the race.”
Veteran Davison broke a year-long drought to put his Mustang on the podium with his last one coming at the same event in Taupo last year.
Davison gives Feeney a bump but the #88 holds on!
— Supercars (@supercars) April 12, 2025
Follow along this weekend with our Live Feed and new Live Insights feature 👉 https://t.co/mDWXIwVczr#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/xTG6ZCGo7x
Another Kiwi driver triumphs on home soil in the Supercars - sprint race 1 recap
- Rebecca Williams
Kiwi rising star Matt Payne has triumphed on home soil to take his first win of 2025 as Cam Waters reclaimed the Supercars championship lead in the opening sprint race in Taupo.
After putting his Mustang on pole position for the first of two Saturday sprint races in New Zealand, the Grove Racing driver converted from the front of the grid in a busy race for the stewards to take the third win of his Supercars career.
The 22-year-old became the fifth New Zealand driver to win a Supercars race at home, joining Greg Murphy, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Andre Heimgartner.
Payne controlled the 37-lap battle to lead home a Ford 1-2 ahead of Tickford Racing star Waters, who jumped back to the top of the championship standings over Will Brown.
Payne’s good mate and fellow Kiwi Ryan Wood broke through for the first podium of his Supercars career after he passed Anton De Pasquale late in the race to take third place.
What a finish! Matt Payne claims his first New Zealand Supercars race win!#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/UPSRCeW7uN
— Supercars (@supercars) April 12, 2025
Payne withstood fierce early pressure from 2023 series champion Brodie Kostecki, who had started alongside him on the front row, safety car intervention and a late challenge from Waters to take his first win since Townsville last year.
Payne and Wood (Walkinshaw Andretti United) shared a moment in the pit lane after their double-Kiwi podium.
“It’s pretty special here today, we had really good qualifying and I knew we had really good speed for the race, I just needed to get the start and we did that,” Payne said.
“Seeing the crowd on the in-lap, everyone is clapping, it’s so special to be here and the Penrite Ford Mustang was pretty quick today and let’s see what we’ve got in the next one.
“It’s super special for (Wood). I knew he had to get past Anton. I saw him with a couple of laps to go and I thought ‘Good on him’. I’ve known him for a long time and it’s really cool to see us both on the podium today.”
Waters has trailed Brown, who finished fifth, by seven points leading into the New Zealand round, but is now 10 points in front.
“I’m happy to snag a podium … there are a few things we can make a bit better with our car, but it’s still fast,” Waters said.
“It’s obviously important after the grand prix (round) wasn’t the greatest for us. It was good to obviously qualify better today and we know we have a good race car.
“We just made the most of it then … it’s great to get some points and keep that championship ticking along.”
Wood said it was a “monkey off his back” to break through for his first podium.
“Kudos to everyone at WAU for sticking by me, it feels amazing to get a podium,” Wood said
“A little bit of a monkey off the back …. I’m just stoked, it’s a pretty special moment here at home.”
The stewards were kept busy with Cameron Hill, Thomas Randle and Kostecki all copping time penalties.
Kostecki will start from pole position for Saturday’s second 37-lap sprint race in Taupo.
Randle finds himself turned around in battle 🤯#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/TWTHslxIQH
— Supercars (@supercars) April 12, 2025
Kostecki in box seat for first win with new team after claiming pole - qualifying recap
- Rebecca Williams
Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki will chase his first race win with his new team Dick Johnson Racing after claiming pole for the second of Saturday’s two sprint races in Taupo.
Kiwi Matt Payne earlier secured pole position for the opening race of the Taupo 440 after edging out Kostecki - giving the 2023 series champion two shots from the front row - and Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters.
Kostecki secured the 14th pole of his career and his first with DJR to put his Ford Mustang at the front of the grid for the second of two 37-lap battles at the New Zealand circuit.
The Bathurst 1000 champion topped qualifying for the second race ahead of Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert, Triple Eight’s Broc Feeney and DJR teammate Will Davison as timing dramas plagued the session, leading to some confusion up and down pit lane.
Kostecki said he was now hoping to convert his strong qualifying into race wins.
“I’m stoked for the whole team, I’ve got a couple of good grid spots today so hopefully we can try and capitalise on those,” Kostecki said.
Pole for @BrodieKostecki! 🤩
— Shell V-Power Racing Team (@ShellVPowerRT) April 12, 2025
A front row start for Race 9 later today â˜ï¸ pic.twitter.com/uzN9ze7yvO
“Race one and race two are going to be forget what you know with the two different tyre compounds, but stoked to have the car on the front row for both races this afternoon.”
Triple Eight’s defending Supercars champion and series leader Will Brown will start from 13th and fifth for Saturday’s two races.
Supercars young gun ready to leave ‘rookie label’ behind - practice recap
- Rebecca Williams
New Zealand young gun Ryan Wood is ready to leave the “rookie label” behind and become a Supercars race winner after leading a dangerous Kiwi contingent to set the pace in Friday practice at the Taupo 440.
The Kiwi drivers fired a warning that they would be tough to beat on their home track this weekend as Wood upstaged the championship frontrunners to set the fastest time of the day in a Supercars practice lap record (1min 25.97sec) of the north island circuit in the second practice session.
Wood wasn’t the only NZ driver to impress as Andre Heimgartner (Brad Jones Racing) set the fastest time in opening practice.
The 21-year-old bounced back from a first-session “whoopsie” when he suffered steering trouble and ran off the track late in the session, sparking a red flag.
Wood led home an all-Ford top three in Friday’s final practice ahead of former series champion and Dick Johnson Racing’s Brodie Kostecki and Tickford Racing’s Thomas Randle.
In his second year in the Supercars championship, Wood is still chasing his first podium in the series but was confident he can make the jump this year.
“It’s always hard in year two because the rookie label gets left behind so you probably have a little bit more pressure on your shoulders,” Wood said.
“For me, I just need to put my best foot forward and I know I can get podiums and hopefully eventually win some races.
“We just need to get the package right at the right times and I just need to turn up on the day. It’s pretty hard to win in this championship and I’ll give it my best shot.
“At the end of the day, over one lap, we have been pretty good, so we’ll see if we can translate that into race pace.”
Wood, teammate of two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert at WAU, finished 16th in the championship in his rookie campaign last year.
Mostert didn’t enjoy as smooth a run in the final session as Wood, finishing sixth fastest after twice running off the track.
Triple Eight’s championship leader Will Brown and his title rivals Cam Waters and Broc Feeney were ninth, 10th and 11th fastest in the second session.
Heimgartner, who was also fourth in P2, and Brown were the race winners for the first event at Taupo last year.
Wood and Heimgartner are among five New Zealand drivers in the Supercars field.
Kostecki said he was “slowly” starting to adjust to his new DJR Mustang in his first season with the team.
“The team has been doing a great job of trying to bring fast race cars to the track and we showed up today a lot better than what we have in the past in practice one,” Kostecki said.
“I think we are slowly chipping away, but there is still a bit of work to do – I still don’t quite have the feeling that I want in the Mustang yet.”
The Supercars field will dive into back-to-back qualifying sessions on Saturday morning ahead of two 120 km races.
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