PAYNE WINS THE ADELAIDE 500 ON DOUBLE PODIUM DAY FOR PENRITE RACING
Penrite Racing has finished the Supercars season in style with Matthew Payne breaking through for his maiden win on a double podium Sunday at the Adelaide 500.
Starting on the front row of the grid after securing provisional pole earlier in the morning, Payne left Championship winner Brodie Kostecki in his wake on the start line, as he lept into the lead on lap 1 of 78 in the 250km encounter.
The 21-year-old Kiwi put on a clinic, as he drove a faultless race, finding his rhythm on the unforgiving streets of the Victoria Park circuit as his crew delivered two faultless pit stops that saw him drive to victory untouched.
Meanwhile in his final race with the team, David Reynolds showed his class to slice through the field from 10th on the grid up onto the podium in 3rd, sealing a truly memorable result for Penrite Racing.
In the closing rounds of the season the team showed it will a force to be reckoned with in 2024 by securing two wins, four consecutive podiums, shootout appearances in all of the last 5 races, 4 consecutive podiums for Reynolds, Payne’s first podium and win and 3 straight front row starts.
ADELAIDE 500 DRIVER COMMENTS
Matthew Payne, Driver Car 19, said: “I always set out to win. We’ve shown the last five or six rounds we’ve had really good pace.”
“Even after making a mistake in the race yesterday we were still fast, so I was confident we were in with a good shot of winning today. Qualifying went well this morning and that set us up to attack for the win from the front row of the grid.
“I found a really good flow in the race and we were making lap speed all the way through. We did a great job as a team all weekend, all the pit stops were good, we nailed all set up and that’s what got us the result today.
“It’s a really good feeling to finish the year on a high get my first Supercars win.”
David Reynolds, Car 26 Driver, said: “I can’t believe Matt won! He’s been threatening to do that for a while now and he’s been so fast all weekend so he thoroughly deserves it.”
“I’ve seen all the effort he puts into his job from behind the scenes, he may not seem very outward on the surface but he lets his talent do the talking and today he showed everyone that.
“It was a magical performance by the whole team today, I started 10th and finished 3rd so really happy with my race.
“A huge thank you to everyone in the Penrite Racing family for the last three years. I’m so glad I could repay them today with a podium alongside Matt and go out on a high.”
