Mostert champion, Feeney heartbroken as Payne wins Adelaide finale

Chaz Mostert has clinched his maiden Repco Supercars Championship on a day of heartbreak for Broc Feeney, as Matt Payne took out the bp Adelaide Grand Final.

Walkinshaw Andretti United star Mostert cruised home to second in the 34th and final race of the season, while a lap 1 clash with Mostert’s teammate Ryan Wood and engine issues, which emerged on Saturday, put paid to Feeney’s hopes.

Mostert, who paced the maiden Repco Supercars Finals Series with three wins, beat Feeney, reigning champion Will Brown and rookie Kai Allen to the crown, while Payne emerged from the chaos with a second Adelaide victory.

It was a first championship for two-time Bathurst winner Mostert in his 13th season. It was final day devastation for Feeney, though, who claimed 14 race wins and 19 pole positions in a brilliant campaign.

All told, after leading Mostert by 23 points into Sunday, Feeney not only missed out on a maiden championship, but fell behind teammate Brown in the standings as the engine issue worsened. Mostert, meanwhile, clinched his team's first drivers' title since Mark Skaife in 2002, and sets sail for Toyota as champion.

"I can't believe it. I've been racing for so many years that you start to doubt it year after year," said the champion.

"I've driven for some amazing teams, Tickford, here at Walkinshaw Andretti United, and I knew that I could do it, but thank god for the Finals Series hey?

"I think the team did pretty good, they didn't tell me all the information, they kept me focused, and just keep trying to maintain that gap to Browny, and try and catch Payney.

"That whole last 38 laps was a blur to be honest, it was really weird. You read about Senna getting in tunnel vision, that's what it felt like."

Feeney got a poor start off the front row, with Payne rocketing off into the distance, Feeney was immediately forced into heavy defence from a fired up Wood.

In a major twist in the title fight ensued, as Wood attempted to fire up the inside at Turn 6, and Feeney was turned in front of the field, nearly collecting one of the Shell V-Power Mustangs as he tried to recover.

The field scattered further back in the pack, with Nick Percat riding over the right rear corner of James Golding's Camaro, and Jack Le Brocq picking up race ending damage in the melee. That led to an intervention from the bp pulse Safety Car, which was a blessing for Feeney as he was able to cruise back to the chasing pack, though all the way back in 21st.

Soon after the restart on lap 5, Wood was slapped with a 15 second penalty for the contact with Feeney, whilst teammate Mostert dived down the inside of Anton De Pasquale at Turn 9 on lap 10. Feeney began his drive back through the field too, picking up two positions on the first green flag lap, and made a constant climb until he got to the back of Will Davison in his final full-time start.

Feeney got bottled up behind the #17 Shell V-Power Mustang, but finally made his way by the two-time Bathurst winner on lap 19, but not before losing a bunch of time to Payne in the lead.

Of the title contenders, Allen was the first to pit on lap 16, with Brown the next to stop on lap 23 as he attempted to undercut Andre Heimgartner. Brown made hay with his fresh rubber, setting a new Gen3 lap record with a 1:19.6538 as he charged towards Allen. Wood also stopped on lap 23, and served his penalty.

Feeney was pushing hard in his efforts to claw back ground, and used up all of his kerb hops at the Senna Chicane before he had made his first stop. On lap 31, Feeney was brought in, and lost time with a slow right rear wheel. In clean air, Feeney remonstrated over engine issues, despite being in clean air.

Payne regained the lead from De Pasquale, who was 3.5s behind. Mostert was right behind in third, with Brown, Allen, Heimgartner, Hill, Randle, Wood and Kostecki rounding out the top 10. On lap 32, Mostert made his move at Turn 9, passing De Pasquale for second, before Brown moved past on lap 39.

A clash between Macauley Jones and James Courtney moved Feeney up to 14th, but still well down from a championship position. However, the engine issues persisted for Feeney, who remained down on speed through the trap.

Allen was first of the key runners to make his second stop on lap 47, and Brown stopped on the following lap. All the while, Payne's lead over Mostert approached five seconds. On lap 51, Penrite Racing brought Payne in, with the Kiwi retaining his race-winning position after Mostert stopped on lap 53.

Just minutes later, Wood slowed and crawled back to pit lane, with a suspected right front issue. All the while, Feeney's issues worsened, the #88 Camaro dropping behind Brown, Allen and De Pasquale before he'd even made his second stop on lap 60. Sadly for Feeney, the issues continued, the #88 falling to 20th with 15 laps to go. With 10 laps to go, Payne put Feeney a lap down.

With 13 laps to go, Mostert was told to "take it easy" and bring it home. In a seminal moment, Mostert lapped Feeney with nine to go. A spin for Percat at Turn 11 with six to go threatened to turn the race on its head, but the retiring driver got going again.

Payne won by 5.9772s, with Mostert second, Brown third, Allen fourth and Feeney 20th. Davison, Courtney and Percat finished their final full-time races in 13th, 14th and 22nd.

The 2026 Repco Supercars Championship will commence at the Sydney 500 on February 20-22. Tickets are on sale now.