Payne unfazed by height difference

Matt Payne is unbothered by a sizeable height difference to Lee Holdsworth ahead of his Bathurst debut.

Kiwi teen Payne will share the #10 Penrite Racing Ford with Holdsworth in October.

Payne was only confirmed alongside Holdsworth on Wednesday.

He was initially slated to race alongside David Reynolds, who will race with Matt Campbell.

The lanky Payne comes in at 190cm, some 20cm taller than Holdsworth.

Holdsworth himself had to deal with a height difference last year, with Chaz Mostert also 190cm.

Payne got behind the wheel of Holdsworth’s car in Additional Driver practice on Friday, and wound up 15th.

It came after he ran 17th and 15th in Friday’s two Super2 sessions.

Payne cited running in GT cars as reason behind his comfort in a compact cabin.

He is also competing for Earl Bamber Motorsport in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS.

“It was good to get my confidence up before we get to Bathurst with some laps in Lee’s car,” he said.

"I ran on Super Soft tyres which was a first for me.

"I didn’t really have any expectations coming into the session but it’s good just to get laps in a main game Supercar.

"Lee is a little bit shorter than me so my legs are bent slightly in the car.

“It doesn’t bother me at all because I’ve become used to having different seating positions across all the endurance racing in GT that I’ve done.

"I’m looking forward to racing in the Bathurst 1000 for the first time.

"I watched every race on TV at home in New Zealand as a kid, so to compete in it will be very cool."

Payne will qualify for the first Super2 race at 11:05am on Saturday morning.

The first Super2 race of the Sandown weekend will commence at 3:25pm local time.