Penrite Racing moves up in Supercars standings following solid visit to Townsville
Penrite Racing has moved to 2nd in the Repco Supercars Championship standings after a solid weekend for Matthew Payne and Kai Allen in Townsville this weekend.
With the team heading into the NTI Townsville 500 in third place in the team’s championship, good results on Friday and Saturday contributed to a jump in position before Sunday’s result solidified the position.
Payne had a consistent weekend with a trio of top five finishes, which was highlighted by a podium on Saturday afternoon, temporarily lifting the New Zealander to second on the standings above Will Brown.
Payne’s weekend began with a busy four-session Friday, starting out with 11th and 5th in the two practice sessions, before qualifying on the 2nd row for the round’s first race that afternoon.
Despite a slow start where he lost a couple of positions early, Payne capitalised on some battles ahead of him to work his way into 4th where he remained for the rest of the 35-lap race.
On Saturday, Payne showcased his electrifying pace by topping the timesheets in Qualifying 1 before securing a front row start alongside David Reynolds in the Top 10 Shootout.
Payne managed to get the jump on the polesitter off the line and survived in the lead through two safety car periods, only to lose the top spot to championship leader Broc Feeney during the pit stops.
He remained in 2nd for much of the race, but fell to third with 19 laps to go where he stayed until the chequered flag. The result saw Payne move into 2nd in the drivers’ standings and helped Penrite Racing into 2nd on the team standings.
Another strong performance in Qualifying on Sunday morning saw Payne secure a front row start for the weekend’s final race, which was highlighted by a timesheet-topping run in Qualifying 2.
While Payne had a chance to claim the lead in the opening stages of the race, he fell to 3rd as a result. Some tough battles with Brown and some challenging moments throughout the 70-lap affair prevented the 22-year-old from regaining his starting position as he eventually settled for 5th, as well as 3rd in the standings.
For Allen, the youngster was unable to replicate his career breakthrough weekend from Darwin last month, but still picked up valuable points towards his charge to the Finals.
Notching up 5th and 11th during the weekend’s practice sessions, Allen qualified in 11th for Friday’s race and would have been hoping to make up some ground in the race but unfortunately lost multiple places early on and was unable to fully recover – eventually settling for 15th.
A strong start to Saturday’s race saw Allen make up four positions after starting from 16th and the rising star was one of the best performers in the opening stint of the race until he got knocked into the wall and lost positions.
The 20-year-old did his best to recover, but lost some positions late and ultimately finished 18th.
Sunday’s result proved the best for Allen as he started and finished inside the top 10, having made the top 10 shootout and qualified in 9th before ending the tough outing in 10th having run on his own for much of it.
Sunday’s finish keeps Allen within reach of the top 10 with three rounds to go before the Finals are decided.
The 2025 Supercars season continues next month with the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440 on 8-10 August.
Race
results
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Race 20
Repco Supercars ChampionshipP4 Matt Payne44:42.184P14 Kai Allen44:58.722 -
Race 21
Repco Supercars ChampionshipP3 Matt Payne1:37:22.789P19 Kai Allen1:38:15.428 -
Race 22
Repco Supercars ChampionshipP5 Matt Payne1:29:43.223P10 Kai Allen1:29:59.577
The circuit
The NTI Townsville 500 is a highlight of the Supercars Championship, bringing high-speed action to the tropical streets of Townsville. The team, with Matt and Kai behind the wheel, is eager to tackle the challenging Reid Park Street Circuit, aiming for strong performances in this prestigious event. The weekend also features support categories, including the Dunlop Super2 Series, enhancing the excitement for motorsport enthusiasts.
Driver
commentary
Matt Payne
Driver profile“We had a really good qualifying car which was strong, just seemed to fall short in the racing unfortunately, just did not quite have the car speed that we needed for the podium – especially today,” Payne said.
“It’s a little bit disappointing when we put a lot of effort into qualifying to make sure that’s an improvement year on year, and then we sort of don’t back it up for the racing – so that’s clearly something for us to look at. But definitely a good points haul this weekend – did not finish outside the top 5 which is really good for us.
“I think we can definitely hold our heads high after this one and be proud of what we achieved.
“I think it’s great to come out of this weekend still in third. Obviously we were pretty close to Will coming into this weekend. I think we did everything we could this weekend in terms of results with the car speed we had, but it’s certainly going to be hard going into Ipswich.
“That’s their test track so no doubt they’ll be pretty fast. It’s going to be tough to keep that third. It’s the final round as well so it’s all to play for – but we’ll come out swinging.”