Closest Supercars finishes: Tassie thriller joins top three all-time

For the second time in four events, the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship has once again provided a thrilling photo finish to cap off another memorable race.

Race 13 at the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440 was a strategic battle that couldn't have played out better throughout the 78 lap affair.

Penrite Racing's Matt Payne drove a 48 lap final stint after making the most of a mid-race Safety Car, whilst Red Bull Ampol Racing's Broc Feeney utilised his superior car pace throughout a 20 lap stint to the finish.

It boiled down to a fierce last lap dice, and Payne was able to fend off Feeney's desperate move off the final corner to claim his third win of 2025.

So, where does it stand in ATCC/Supercars Championship history?

Just 4 races have been decided by less than 0.1s, with the Payne/Feeney result the third-closest ever at 0.0550s, just behind Cameron Waters' remarkable victory over Feeney at Race 2 of the season in Sydney.

Remarkably, Feeney has now featured on the wrong end of two of the three closest finishes in series history within three months of each other, losing by a combined margin of 0.08s.

Peter Brock and Allan Moffat's iconic finish at Adelaide International Raceway in 1983 remains the closest finish in ATCC/Supercars history.

Brock held out Moffat in a sensational finish, with the official margin coming in at 0.0s, when times were recorded to one decimal place. Various reports had the margin ranging from "a metre" to "half an inch," and even "the width of the front bumper."

Three decades before the Waters/Feeney finish in Sydney, John Bowe held off Craig Lowndes at the same venue. In Race 1 of the 1996 season, reigning champion Bowe held out rookie Lowndes by just 0.078s.

The following season, Larry Perkins charged from 12th on the grid to win in Perth, but only just.

In the opening race of the 1997 Perth round, Perkins beat Bowe by just 0.1164s. It remains the closest ‘racing’ finish in Perth Supercars history, and it was Perkins’ first and only victory in Western Australia.

Closest ATCC/Supercars Championship competitive race finishes*

*Correct to 2025 Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440

What about each 2025 circuit?

Of the 13 circuits on the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship calendar, four have seen their closest finishes come in the last five years.

Obviously, Taupō's closest finish came in its debut year last season, with Andre Heimgartner winning by just over a second. When it comes to New Zealand, Shane van Gisbergen beat Winterbottom at Pukekohe by 0.2896s in 2014.

Sydney's closest finish is also an obvious one, following Waters' staggering move in the final metres of the Saturday night race in Sydney on Feeney.

Remarkably, the Gold Coast record was broken twice in 2023, first by Waters and van Gisbergen on the Saturday, before David Reynolds edged out Brodie Kostecki on the Sunday.

There are some form finishes to take into account, which are official winning margins. Notably, Moffat beat Ford teammate Colin Bond in what remains the closest ever Bathurst finish in 1977. The closest 'competitive' finish in Bathurst history came in 2016, when Will Davison beat van Gisbergen by 0.1434s.

Eight of the 13 circuits in 2025 have seen a race decided by less than 0.2s; Sydney, Albert Park (1996 non-championship), Symmons Plains, Perth, Darwin, Bathurst, Gold Coast and Sandown.

Each 2025 circuit's closest race finish*

*Correct to 2025 Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440

^Form finish

**Non-championship round