Supercars: Kiwi contender Matthew Payne targets Townsville bounce back to stay in title contention

Supercars racer Matthew Payne hopes to regain some championship momentum at Townsville this weekend. Photo / Photosport

Supercars racer Matthew Payne and his Penrite Racing crew know they have to turn things around this weekend at Townsville to get back in the hunt for a championship title.

After a solid start with a couple of poles and podiums, the past three rounds have not been as successful. Payne has fallen from fifth to ninth overall on 795 points, 558 behind series leader Will Brown.

“Yeah, it has been a bit of a roller coaster, to be fair,” Payne said. “It [the season] started off really strong. We were trying to take that next step towards the Red Bull cars and sometimes what happens when you take a step forward, you end up two steps back.

“That’s kind of what it felt like to me and we haven’t really recovered yet. We’re now trying to get ourselves back to where we were. We needed to try some things to get closer [to the Red Bull cars] and it didn’t work, so we’re trying to get back on the right track, which I think we have here.

“It’s been a struggle to get some hard-fought results recently, and hopefully this weekend, we can recover some points.”

A 558-point margin may seem a lot, but with 300 points on offer per round, it’s not an insurmountable championship mountain, especially with the drivers from fourth to 13th within 110 points of each other.

The Supercars category has always been close, with little time per lap separating the drivers. This year, however, the competition seems especially tight, with six winners after 12 of 24 races this season.

“It’s so close and it doesn’t take much to improve and hopefully me and [teammate] Richie [Stanaway] can improve in the drivers’ championship this weekend,” Payne said.

“Two really good races can make a big difference and I’m hoping we get them this weekend to start some momentum for the rest of the season.

“I’ve never seen margins [lap times] this close. It’s like a tenth [of a second] or two-tenths from first to 10th in qualifying and, man, sometimes you just don’t have those two-tenths, no matter how hard you try. It’s frustrating, and if you’re a whisker off, you drop places.”

The weather could throw a curve ball at Townsville this weekend, with rain forecast. Payne reckons that would make the racing even more interesting and he is a fan of Townsville’s hybrid track, part street circuit and part racetrack.

Matthew Payne is ninth in the Supercars championship but hopes to climb up the standings this weekend. Photo / Photosport

“This will be my fourth year coming to Townsville. I really like the track and it presents its own challenges, with lots of surface changes.

“The track flows quite well and you get a good rhythm going in the car. The town and the place have a good vibe, and it’s pretty cool. We’ve gone well here in the past and expect we will again.

“Hopefully – and I think we will – have a good weekend and get things back on track. I’m looking forward to it and can’t wait to get going.”

Brown leads the championship on 1353 points, with Broc Feeney second on 1245 and Chaz Mostert third on 1074. Below ninth-placed Payne are fellow Kiwis Stanaway (10th on 763), Andre Heimgartner (12th), Ryan Wood (17th) and Jaxon Evans (21st).