Surprised Payne keeps cool to clinch provisional Finals spot

A "slog" of a weekend at Queensland Raceway was still good enough for Matt Payne to clinch a provisional Finals berth, even if he was surprised to hear the news.

Just 15 points behind Will Brown in a fierce battle for second in the standings heading into the weekend, Payne was a good chance of securing his passage to the Finals on points.

The Kiwi needed to gain 28 points on ninth exiting the weekend to be a mathematical lock into the Finals.

Payne qualified 18th, 11th and 12th, but kept his cool to fight through to finish 12th, sixth and fourth to get the points required to race into the post-season.

Crucially, Payne also jumped Brown for second after the reigning champion was slapped with a post-race penalty.

It has been a superb season for the New Zealander, who won twice at Taupō in April and held off Broc Feeney in a Tasmania photo finish.

Since then, Feeney has won nine of the last 12 races, and looks to be the one to beat. What we do know is that Payne and Brown will both be there come Gold Coast.

What's more, is Allen is now only 20 points behind Ryan Wood in the chase for 10th position.

 When asked he had clinched a Finals spot, a shocked Payne replied: "Is it really? Oh, well that's pretty good!

"That's pretty cool, that's awesome. Look, we've had some really good results this year, we've worked really hard to get to this point.

"Not gonna lie, it's a bit of slog this weekend. We probably just weren't quite on the A-game with the car.

"It was a bit tough, but good to come back in that race and be close to a podium."

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