David Reynolds lashes "silly" Matt Payne Conrod Straight
Payne handed five-second penalty over wild moment on lap 32
Reynolds/James Courtney Camaro battling power steering issue
Drama between two Bathurst champions on Conrod Straight earned Matt Payne an early Bathurst penalty, and the ire of David Reynolds.
Payne and Reynolds emerged in a battle for seventh after the early stops, with Payne charging through the field after taking over from Will Davison.
The 2025 Bathurst winner already had his hands full, colliding with Jayden Ojeda's PremiAir Chevrolet on Pit Straight after the stops. Ojeda was crossed up in the clash, but kept off the wall.
Payne caught Reynolds' #48 Snowy River Chevrolet, which was carrying a suspected power steering issue.
On lap 31, Payne went down the inside of Reynolds into Forrest's Elbow, and almost completed the move at corner exit. Reynolds, though, had the slightest overlap.
As they rounded the kink onto Conrod Straight, Reynolds was forced onto the grass at over 200km/h, and saved a major moment. Reynolds was then picked off by Lochie Dalton and Broc Feeney at Murray's Corner.
Officials noted the incident, which was then investigated, before Payne was hit with a five-second penalty.
"He didn't lose any ground," Payne remonstrated to engineer Jack Bell, when advised of the penalty.
When asked about the incident on the broadcast, Reynolds said of his former teammate: "Matt's not the sharpest tool in the shed, isn't he?
"I don't know what he was doing. It's too early to start playing silly buggers like that. He had a lot more pace.
"He had the faster car, so I don't know why he was doing that. Seems really silly."
The power steering issue was something Reynolds knew would make for a difficult afternoon.
"The tyres came off the car with massive blisters, so, like, it's gonna be a really long day for us," Reynolds said.
"We're gonna try and trim the car down as much as we can and just drive to the rear tyre.
"It's very, very, very bad news for us at the minute."
