Delivering under pressure in Taupo

It was a whirlwind weekend at Taupō Motorsport Park for the opening round of the New Zealand doubleheader, with the Penrite Racing duo of Matt Payne and Kai Allen continuing their strong start to the season.

With just two 25-minute practice sessions on Friday, and Sunday’s schedule ultimately cancelled due to Ex-Tropical Cyclone Vaianu, the bulk of the action was condensed into a high-intensity Saturday.

Both Payne and Allen showcased consistent speed across the SuperSoft and Soft tyre compounds, securing top ten starts for both races. Payne, racing on home soil, qualified third and eighth, while Allen lined up sixth and ninth.

In the opening race, Payne held position in the early exchanges before settling into fourth, applying sustained pressure before reclaiming third place on lap 16 with a decisive move.

Allen avoided opening-lap chaos, however contact on lap two resulted in damage to the left-front steering arm, forcing an unscheduled pit stop. The Penrite Racing crew worked quickly to return him to the track, allowing Allen to finish the race and gather valuable data for the second encounter.

Payne opted for an overcut strategy, pitting on lap 20, but a delay in pit lane dropped him to a net sixth. Demonstrating impressive pace, he recovered an eight-second deficit, making two on-track passes. However, a five-second penalty for an unsafe release ultimately saw him classified fifth.

The 200km finale became a strategic contest, with the Penrite Racing team executing well across both cars. Payne made an immediate impact, climbing two positions from eighth on the grid, while Allen settled into 10th.

A decisive move on lap nine elevated Payne into the top five, before he committed to an undercut strategy with his first stop on lap 16. A strong middle stint and consistent execution through the second pit cycle ensured another hard-earned fifth-place finish.

Running an alternate strategy, Allen converted a long first stint into a late-race charge, applying pressure in the battle for seventh before securing eighth position at the flag.

The double top-five result sees Payne climb back to third in the championship standings, while Allen holds 11th. Penrite Racing also strengthens its position in second place in the Teams’ Championship.

Payne remains firmly in contention to defend his 2025 Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, currently sitting sixth and just 56 points adrift with four races remaining at next weekend’s ITM Christchurch Super440.

Matt Payne – Driver #19 Ford Mustang

“It was a solid and consistent weekend, and to come away with strong points and move up to third in the championship is really positive. We just lacked a bit of speed to take the fight to the front, but it’s a great effort from the team. Excited to go again next weekend in New Zealand.”

Kai Allen – Driver #26 Ford Mustang

“Taupō done and dusted. It was a tricky weekend for everyone with the schedule reduced to two days due to the incoming cyclone. We still managed to come away with some solid results, despite a tough first race where we got caught up in some chaos. I think we recovered well and had a strong final race, so credit to the boys for their effort. It’s been a challenging few days, but we’ll reset and be ready to go in Christchurch – bring it on.”

Brenton Grove, CEO, Grove

“Pretty wild couple of days here, the weekend got shorter than it already was unfortunately so the round was very compressed. We did a good job overall, we have identified some improvements we are keen to make to help us progress. That last race was tough, the boys moved forward and at the end of the day that’s all we can ask for. Great points for the team but we are ready to come out swinging for the extended Christchurch round and move back up the order.”