Grove Racing Ford driver Matt Payne used a three-stop strategy to take his second career Supercars win and his first of the 2024 season at Townsville.
The 21-year-old was the first of the drivers to make a pitstop, committing him to a three-stop strategy, and hit the front with 22 of the 88 laps remaining to win by 6.06s.
“We've had a tough couple of rounds lately and I knew we had a good race car yesterday,” said Payne, who started from 10th on the grid after a messy Shootout lap.
“We tried to replicate that with a different strategy from the team.
“We were pushing the whole way, tough work but very rewarding. To get a win here boosts the morale half-way through the season.”
The battle for second place saw a replay of Saturday's fight for the win, with Cam Waters (Tickford Ford) and Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford) duking it out with different strategies.
Waters pitted twice while Mostert followed the Payne plan with three stops, picking his way past six cars (from eighth on the grid) to move to second within a dozen laps.
The two ran line astern over the last 15 laps, but Waters held to take second.
“It was a great day for us and a great weekend for the team, but no chance we were going to match Matty on the three-stop,” said Waters after a consistent weekend.
“I knew a few people would roll the dice and try it, but we stuck to our guns and stayed with [a two-stop strategy].
“It's always Chaz and I! I wish it was someone different, it was cool to battle Chaz again.”
Mostert said: “It was a good fightback. The first stint was a lot of fun and that put us into a position to fight for a podium. To get two podiums here is awesome, a big turnaround for us from Darwin.”
In a race dominated by Fords, the sole Chevrolet to mount a challenge was surprise pole sitter Jack Le Brocq, who qualified fastest for the first time in his career, on his 32nd birthday. The Erebus Motorsport Camaro ran a two-stop strategy but in race pace he lacked the speed to challenge for the win.
Fifth was the consistent Thomas Randle, whose Tickford Mustang made a blinding getaway to run second early, ahead of Ryan Wood (Walkinshaw Andretti United), who drove a steady race to be the second Chevrolet driver on the road.
The disappointing weekend for Triple Eight continued. On the back of Will Brown's stellar recovery on Saturday, hopes were high on Sunday morning, but the points leader qualified four places lower than he did on Saturday, and started the race from 17th on the grid.
On the opening lap he tangled with David Reynolds (Team18 Chevrolet) and had to pit with front damage. He lost a lap and battled on to finish 24th and last, in a race with no retirements and no Safety Cars.
Team-mate Broc Feeney qualified in sixth place but dropped back after brushing a wall on the opening lap, and he struggled home in seventh place, more than 30 seconds behind the winning Ford.
As a result, the 141-point lead Brown carried into the race has been slashed and he now leads the title race by 78 points from Feeney, 1515-1437. Mostert remains in third on 1341 while Waters moves up to 1126 points, but stays in fourth place. Payne is up to fifth on 1065 ahead of James Golding (PremiAir Chevrolet) on 980.
The next round for Supercars will take place at Symmons Plains in Tasmania on 17-18 August.
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Source: Autosport