Kiwi young gun Matt Payne has secured his second pole position of 2024 as he eyes a win in front of home fans in Supercars’ return to New Zealand.
A day after fellow New Zealander Andre Heimgartner saluted in the first race of the Taupo 400, Payne is well placed to give local supporters a golden weekend.
Payne claimed the first top-10 shootout win of his burgeoning career on Sunday, pipping Red Bull Ampol star Broc Feeney to pole spot.
“it’s unbelievable, isn’t it?,” said Ford driver Payne, who collected his first, and so far only, Supercars race win at last year’s Adelaide 500.
“We managed to do a good job there, we put together a pretty clean lap.
“The margins are so close but what a way to start our Sunday.
“Even on the shootout lap I saw everyone on the fence clapping and I’ve never experienced something like it.
“It’s something that means a lot to me; all the fans wearing our merchandise, supporting me and the team. It’s something you dream of.”
Defending Supercars series champion Brodie Kostecki made a promising return to form by qualifying third after starting off the weekend nowhere near the top.
It is Kostecki’s first appearance of the season after he sat out rounds at Bathurst and Melbourne due to a messy dispute with Erebus.
Ford star Chaz Mostert finished ninth in the shootout following a disastrous race on Saturday when a rear wheel came off as he was in second position.
After the closure of Pukekohe Raceway in 2022, the touring car series stayed solely in Australia last year.
But Taupo, about three hours south of Auckland, has put on a good show.
The second race of the Taupo 400 will start at 3.05pm local time (1.05pm AEST) on Sunday.
That race will decide the winner of the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy. New Zealander Richards raced for Brad Jones before his death due to cancer in 2011.
SUPERCARS TAUPO RACE TWO GRID
1. Matt Payne (Grove Racing)
2. Broc Feeney (Red Bull Ampol)
3. Brodie Kostecki (Erebus)
4. Anton De Pasquale (Shell V-Power)
5. Will Brown (Red Bull Ampol