Surfs Up; Penrite Racing looking to ride the wave on the Gold Coast.
Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 Preview.
Grove Racing return to the scene of their first Repco Supercars Championship race win as an independent team this weekend at the Gold Coast. Penrite Racing was victorious in the Sunday race last year, with the team also starting on the front row for both legs.
Penrite Racing arrive at the Surfers Paradise following a treacherous endurance season where the team slipped to sixth in the Teams Championship. Matt Payne sits in sixth place in the drivers championship, with Richie Stanaway sitting in 17th.
However, Penrite Racing was one of the most consistent outfits across the endurance races, with bad luck contributing to their ailments.
This weekend will mark a return to single-driver events, with Saturday and Sunday hosting a single 250km race each. Preceding each race will be a Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout, deciding the grid positions for the Top Ten on the grid.
As mentioned, the 2023 event was one of Penrite Racing’s strongest.
Matt Payne locked in his first front row start of the season following P2 in Saturday’s Shootout, before David Reynolds replicated that result on Sunday.
Both races were equally strong for the team with Reynolds claiming a P3 surfboard on Saturday and Matt Payne securing a strong top ten finish. Sunday was a red-letter day for the team, with David Reynolds securing an inspiring first race win for the team despite unbelievable pressure from then-championship leader Brodie Kostecki.
Rounding out a successful weekend, Matt Payne secured his best result (before eclipsing that in Adelaide) finishing fourth.
Penrite Racing have form on street circuits, with Matt Payne securing pole positions, podiums, and a race win at Melbourne and Townsville respectively.
Track action begins on Friday with a pair of 40-minute practice sessions. The weekend’s qualifying sessions are ever-important, being only 15 minutes in length, as the field will look to progress to the Top Ten Shootout. Both Saturday & Sunday will host a single qualifying session each, then followed by a Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout. Each day will then be rounded out by a high-octane 250km race lasting 85 laps.
The Repco Supercars Championship will be supported by the Tyrepower V8 SuperUte Series, Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Cup, and the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars.
The weekend’s action will be televised via Foxtel, Kayo, and the Seven Network, with Penrite Racing fans encouraged to follow along on the Penrite Racing social media channels for exclusive content and behind the scenes coverage of the Gold Coast weekend.
