Grove Racing’s Matt Payne quietly went under the radar with his performances in Melbourne and Perth, now he heads to Tassie with some wind in his sails.
Heading to Symmons Plains, Payne sits 12th in the championship, with fellow rookies Declan Fraser and Cameron Hill in 23rd and 24th respectively.
Last year the Auckland born 20-year-old entered Supercars as a rookie with Grove Racing at the Bathurst 1000, with he and Holdsworth earning a P6 after the veteran qualified the #10 Mustang in P2.
Amidst a strong Super2 season where he finished third with two wins and four podiums in a Nissan Altima, Payne was clean at the mountain, and he’s also proved so in his rookie year.
After qualifying in P5, Payne took his first Supercars (solo-drive) top-ten at Wanneroo in Race 1. Image: EDGE Photography
He by no means disgraced himself in his single-race rookie debut at the Newcastle 500, promoted to P12 from fourteenth in Race 1 after the T8 DSQ’s, and again achieving a P14 in Race 2.
In that first ever Gen3 race, some fairly experienced Supercars drivers struggled to perform with the same composure as the rookie New Zealander.
He then qualified in the top-ten for three of the four races at the AGP, before qualifying in P5 and P8 in Wanneroo, converting those efforts into finishes of P6 and P9 for the first top-tens of his career.
With David Reynolds in good form in both race and qualifying, Payne is a big factor in Grove sitting third in the Teams’ Championship, and the highest of the Gen3 Mustang stables, with David Cauchi telling Supercars Cool Down Lap podcast that he’s rapt in his performances.
Holdsworth and Payne took out a P6 at the 2022 Bathurst 1000 after qualifying on the front row.
“It’s awesome to see Matt doing well, he’s really stepped it up in qualifying,” Cauchi said.
“He’s still working on his race craft, and there are a few things he’s struggled with, but he’s slowly getting better. I’m rapt from him, can’t ask for any more from him at the moment.
“He’s doing a great job. The cars are obviously fast, everyone at Penrite Racing is doing an awesome job…can’t be happier.”
Reynolds, who sits sixth in the championship, echoed those sentiments, saying that he has exceeded everyone’s expectations.
“He’s young and inexperienced, but he’s a very good driver,” Reynolds added.
“For someone his age, he’s quite methodical and quite calculated, he knows what’s going on with the car, and what he’s trying to do out there.
“His results have been really good so far…much better than we expected.”
Reynolds, Payne, and the Grove team head to Tasmania on May 19-21 on the back of a strong round in Perth, where they hope to distance themselves in the standing from WAU, whilst Payne is a chance to move into the top-ten, sitting just 29 points behind Jack Le Brocq in tenth.
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