Matt Payne came to Queensland Raceway with the 2026 Repco Supercars Sprint Championship all but…
2026 SUPERCARS RACE 20 TOWNSVILLE REPORT
It was an all-ford front row, with no bull for Race 20. No Red Bull Ampol Racing to be more precise. Brodie Kostecki and Cameron Waters lined up on Row 1, though it didn’t stay that way for long.
Kostecki appeared to be a little slow away after the initial launch and was surrounded by Chaz Moster and Matt Payne on the run towards Turn 2. Mostert held second behind Waters with Payne third, just ahead of Kostecki and Allen.
The order at the front remained unchanged for the opening three laps before Payne forced a move on Mostert on the entry to Turn 11. That sent the Toyota Supra wide and Kostecki was quick to seize the opportunity. One lap later and Kostecki moved into second at the same corner, whilst a small love tap from Mostert reminded Payne that he was still there.
The Shell V-Power #`17 then looked to bridge the 1 second gap to Waters. Payne meanwhile was losing ground in third and radioed through to his team that he felt the power on his Penrite Racing Mustang was beginning to wane. He was soon re-assured that the telemetry was fine.
By Lap 10, Matt Payne was in a lonely place, two seconds shy of the lead and a further two seconds clear of the battling duo of Mostert and Allen. That dice quickly developed into a five car freight train with Randle, Wood and LeBrocq all within striking distance of each other.
The Red Bull Ampol Racing duo of Brown and Feeney had made strong progress through the field with Brown up eight places to sit just outside the Top 10. Teammate Feeney was next up four places from his starting position.
Allen looked for the undercut when he was the first of the lead group to pit on Lap 14 of 35. Matt Payne and Mostert followed three laps later as Allen lapped almost half-a-second quicker than the leaders. Allen leapfrogged both cars as they returned to the circuit for an effective third place at the time.
Waters responded on Lap 19, whilst Kostecki forged on, hoping to storm to the finish on newer tyres. The Shell V-Power Racing driver was the last to stop on Lap 24, emerging from the pitlane in fourth behind Mostert, Payne and Allen. Kostecki claimed third before the end of Lap 25 and set out after the leaders some five seconds down the track with ten laps left.
It seemed a tall order, given he has changed to another set of used tyres. With three laps left to run the top 3 remained unchanged, though Kostecki sat 2.3 seconds from the lead and just over 1.5 second from Payne. He moved into second as lap 33 came to a close, giving just two more laps to catch Waters. The gap was half-a-second midway through the final lap with all eyes on Turn 11.
The Shell V Power Mustang latched onto the rear bumper of the Monster Mustang under brakes, but couldn’t draw alongside. From there Waters held his line through the final corner to take the win by 0.3 seconds. Payne finished third from Allen, Mostert, Randle, Brown, Wood, Ojeda and Feeney,
“It didn’t feel great, Waters said of his start, “But Brodie got a bad one,” he added.
“I was pretty excited to get down to Turn 1 first and that really set up our race. I didn’t have the outright pace, but I did have really good tyre life”
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