Payne, Feeney react to last lap strategy epic

Matt Payne and Broc Feeney have reflected on their thrilling duel in a strategic thriller during Race 13 of the Repco Supercars Championship at the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440.

Feeney was unquestionably the fastest car of the race, as he had been all weekend, however a strategic masterstroke from Penrite Racing during the race's sole Safety Car period vaulted the #19 Ford to the effective lead.

Feeney was left to mow down a 15 second gap to Payne in the final 20 laps of the race, breaking the lap record on several occasions as he made light work of the gap.

Red Bull Ampol Racing had appeared to judge their strategy perfectly, with Feeney all over the rear bumper of Payne as they started the final 2.4km tour around Symmons Plains.

Payne's defensive line at the hairpin and at Turn 6 ultimately proved the difference, as the Kiwi was able to hang on for his third win in six races, in the third-closest finish in ATCC/Supercars history.

"We knew coming in that we were going to do the double stop if there was a Safety Car, and that that would be our play," said Payne.

"It was interesting, I thought there would be some others doing it, and I knew Will did it behind us, but the car just held on to it's tyres really good, and it's bloody hard to hold on to them around here when you need to use the rears so much.

"I was really focusing every lap, just trying to eek every little bit out of it and make no mistakes."

Payne drove an impressive race after his double pit stop under Safety Car, driving a mammoth 48 lap stint on he same set of Super Soft tyres, and setting a consistent pace throughout.

"I knew I could run high 52's all day, that was my pace, and I knew that I was going to cover off Will if I was running those times, so I knew we were clear of him, but I didn't think Broc was going to come that hard at the end.

"I was just trying to eek out, if we had a little more in the tyre, I was just trying to eek it out, and the last lap was everything it had, and I don't think it has much left on it now.

"That's definitely got to be one of the best races I've done, to do [48 laps] on the same set of tyres is unreal, and credit to the guys who gave me a quick Penrite Racing Ford Mustang.

"It's been tough this weekend to get it in the window, but I think we made some gains this race. It was tough starting 11th, but we played our cards right."

Despite today being the second time this season that Feeney has been on the wrong end of a photo finish, Feeney was happy with his performance, as he takes a healthy championship lead to the next round in Perth.

"Pretty wild, congrats to Matty, obviously a different strategy paid off for them," said Feeney.

"I think if everyone was in the same position they'd have probably done the same thing, but we were so fast, it was just qualifying laps from that Safety Car restart."

"The crew has done a fantastic job this weekend, we made a little mistake in the Shootout there, and to come back through and be three tenths a lap quicker than everyone else was pretty awesome."

Feeney was fully aware of the situation at hand thanks to engineer Martin Short, however the championship leader also admitted that his charge through the field also hampered his tyre life at the end.

"I knew it was going to be with a couple of laps to go, and Marty was giving me lap updates, telling me how close, and I'm like, 'Oh my god, maybe it's going to be with two laps to go.'

"Just towards the end, I started running out a little bit with rear tyre, but Matty did a great job. We came across some traffic as well, but you can't really be too disappointed about it.

"It's still great points on the board, another fastest lap. I would've loved to get the win and the sweep this weekend, but we've certainly bounced back from New Zealand.

"I hope Tassie enjoyed that, that was a pretty fun race."

The Repco Supercars Championship continues at the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440 from June 6-8. Tickets for the event are on sale now.