Matt Payne came to Queensland Raceway with the 2026 Repco Supercars Sprint Championship all but…
A SENSE OF DEJA VU AS FEENEY CLAIMS SPRINT CROWN
Race 28 in the Repco Supercars Championship produced plenty of the unexpected, with Broc Feeney claiming the Sprint Crown after mechanical issues sidelined Matt Payne during the final race of the Century Batteries Ipswich 440.
Payne all but held the coveted steering wheel themed trophy and with it a golden ticket to the finals going into the third and final race in the sprint season. For Broc Feeney, nothing less than a podium finish for the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver and Payne finishing no higher than 18th could send the title his way.
Feeney did everything right from his perspective. Starting on the front row with a re-invigorated Will Brown, he harried his teammate during the fist half of the opening lap before finally settling into the lead at Turn 3.
Kai Allen did his level best to take the fight to the Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers, keeping the pair honest in third place, while teammate Payne held a rather safe fifth behind Kostecki and ahead of Mostert.
Allen was looking for the undercut when he made his first stop, with Brown the next in on Lap 18. Brown maintained his position ahead of Allen, Mostert and Waters when he returned to the circuit, while Feeney sat well ahead of those first stoppers some nine places ahead of his teammate.
Mostert’s race came to an end in the pitlane on Lap 25, with the Optus Walkinshaw TWG Supra requiring intervention from his crew to make it back to the garage.
At half race distance Feeney was back in control of the race, 6 seconds clear of Brown in second. Allen, Kostecki and Payne all ran within 4 seconds of one another as differing fuel and tyre strategies played out.
One lap later and it was Matt Payne on the radio explaining to his team;
“I’ve got no power, I’ve got no power,” Payen radioed through as he entered the pit lane.
One in the garage, Payne was told to turn the car off, perform a complete power cycle and then turn the car back on.
Sadly that didn’t work as the team searched under the bonnet for some clue.
“Something’s gone wrong and we’ll keep working on it,” Payne’s engineer said.
As the Penrite Racing crew continued to work on the car, commentators drew parallels to Feeney’s own problems at the 2025 BP Ultimate Grand Final. It was a comparison that few failed to draw.
On Lap 40, the crew made the decision to retire the car, given that the car was unlikely to finish within the points, and that the problem had still not come to light.
Jayden Ojeda made contact with the side of Andre Heimgartner after the PremiAir driver had attempted a pass at Turn 4 and locked a front wheel in the process. Heimgartner continued as Ojeda spun down the order losing nine places in a matter of moments.
Brown and Allen headed to the pits earlier than Feeney and Kostecki for their second stops, with the lead duo some fifty seconds clear of Brown.
Kostecki was over five seconds clear of Brown when he completed his final stop, while Feeney waited to Lap 47 to complete his second compulsory visit.
The Shell V-Power driver closed to within 0.8 seconds of the lead before Feeney began to ease away in the final 10 laps.
Feeney cruised to a 1.6 second win over Kostecki with Brown a further 11.5 seconds behind.
In doing so, he turned a 100+ point deficit into a 30 point buffer over Matt Payne to secure a second consecutive Sprint Trophy and book his place in the final series.
“I’ve got to give a big credit to my Dad, because he’s been telling me all week that it wasn’t over,” Broc Feeney said.
“He said nah, you’ve still got a shot at it and you’ve got to be in it to win it.”
“I didn’t believe it.”
“Firstly a huge condolence to Grove and Matty because, to be honest, he probably deserved this. They’ve done such a good job all year.”
“Just like the JR Trophy, you’ve got to be there at the end.”
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