The 'horrible experience' driving Payne's Bathurst redemption

Matt Payne doesn’t want to live out that feeling ever again.

As his rivals flew around the Mountain chasing the Peter Brock Trophy, Payne had to walk back into his deflated garage, forlorn looks spread across the faces of his crew.

Minutes earlier, Payne dumped his Penrite Mustang into the concrete at The Cutting, the Kiwi becoming the first — and only — victim of a rare incident-free race with his shock crash on lap 132.

The crash was one thing, but the aftermath was another. You think crashing a race car is tough? Try going back to face your team after the crash.

“Just a simple mistake”

Running in eighth place, Payne was circulating all by himself when he made an unforced error and slid into the outside wall at The Cutting.

From a position of relative comfort ahead of the final stops, it was game over in an instant.

“That was certainly a heartbreaking way to go out. You never want to crash, especially at Bathurst, where it can happen easily,” Payne recounted to Supercars.com.

“We just made a simple mistake last year. The car probably wasn't quite on the right side in terms of balance, and I was probably trying to make up too much to counter it.

"It was just one of those things where you just push so hard. It's so easy to make a small mistake. If that was at any other track, you would've just dropped a wheel and carried on.

"But unfortunately at Bathurst, you just can't just drop a wheel and carry on. You’re either not making a mistake or you're in the fence somewhere. That's just how it is there.”

Risk versus reward

Payne was heading into the final stages of just his third Bathurst, and second as a main driver.

As it turned out, a "missed downshift" was all it took for the #19 to become the only casualty of an intense race.

It had already been a tough day, co-driver Garth Tander making an uncharacteristic error and running up the Murray's Corner escape road in his first stint.

Looking back, Payne admits it was his responsibility to manage the risks, and that he returns in 2025 a more complete package.

"It probably comes with its own risk during the race,” Payne said.

"As a driver, it's your job to manage that. Heading back this year, I think I've definitely got a better picture of where that stands and how hard to push during the race."

“It was a horrible experience”

Getting out of the car, getting whisked off to the medical centre, and returning to the garage. It comes with the territory of crashing.

Payne had to slide his way through a small gap between his driver side door and the wall, before getting in the Medical Car. As the race pressed on, he had to get the mandatory checks before making the tough trek to his garage.

There, he swallowed his pride and commiserated with his crew, which was set for another hammer blow. On the final lap, Richie Stanaway ran out of fuel, and dropped down the order.

Then aged just 21, Payne had to let it be known he had made a mistake, which helped him move on on the spot.

“It was a horrible experience. I went to the medical centre and after getting cleared, just seeing everyone in the garage was tough,” Payne said.

“It was a difficult day for us. It started out pretty difficult and ended that way. I just felt so bad for all the guys, because everyone knows how much work goes into it. I hate that feeling.

“But you're better off owning up to it quicker than you are sort of putting it off. So, I made sure I got around to everyone and said sorry. We're all pretty good at picking someone up and if they're a bit down.

"It was obviously tough, but I saw the light at the end of the tunnel pretty quickly.”

No growing pains

12 months on, Payne is among the favourites to win the Great Race, and should things go his way, he could even head to the Gold Coast as top seed in The Finals.

Having suffered the ignominy of being Bathurst’s only DNF last year, Payne has regrouped in 2025 to manage his races, something which has propelled him to an impressive second overall behind Broc Feeney.

“We always go into Bathurst with a new picture and being positive about the car and hoping it rolls out good,” Payne said.

“There's no reason why we can't go to Bathurst and have a really good run and wrap up the Enduro Cup.

“We're not that many points off the lead and there's so much on offer at Bathurst, the championship table can swing around quite a bit. You saw it with the #88 having a bad day at The Bend, it does impact the points table a lot, and it can happen so quickly as well.

"I felt like this year we've done a really good job of managing our bad days and our risks, and having a fast car a lot of the time to make something of a race. I just hope that rolls into Bathurst and we can have a chance at the win at the end.”

Track action at the Repco Bathurst 1000 commences on Thursday October 9.