Finals acid test for Waters/Payne rivalry
Finals acid test for Cam Waters/Matt Payne rivalry
Waters and Payne rekindled on-track tension in Darwin
Ford stars clashed in Melbourne 2024, Sandown 2025
Mark Winterbottom isn’t expecting niceties between Ford rivals Cam Waters and Matt Payne should they cross paths again in the Supercars Finals.
The Waters/Payne rivalry took on its latest twist at the betr Darwin Triple Crown, courtesy of dramatic battles in the Saturday and Sunday races.
The flashpoint came in the Saturday race, when Payne labelled Waters’ defensive moves as “dangerous” over team radio as the latter emerged from pit lane.
Waters rejoined the race and was handed a bad sportsmanship flag over a block on Payne into Turn 1, leading to divided opinions between the Mustang pair.
The Waters/Payne rivalry exploded into life at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, when they collided disputing the lead. Waters sprayed Payne trackside as their busted Mustangs lay stricken.
Last November, a controversial clash at Sandown eliminated both drivers from Finals contention, leading to another war of words.
While they raced on the limit in Darwin, 2015 Supercars champion Winterbottom expects more fireworks should Waters and Payne share the same piece of road at the end of the season.
“What they learned [in Darwin], I wouldn’t take into the Finals,” Winterbottom said on Supercars’ The Run Home podcast.
“The Finals are a completely different ball game altogether.
“Darwin was very hard racing and respectful, but come Finals, I wouldn’t take anything I learned from the year.
“Effectively, 10 becomes seven, seven becomes four, four becomes a champion. If someone’s there and they’re in that Sandown situation again, I wouldn’t take any of what happened at Darwin into Sandown.”
Payne is just 15 points behind Triple Eight’s Broc Feeney heading to Townsville, with Waters jumping Brodie Kostecki.
All four Ford drivers are in contention for the Repco Sprint Cup, which earns the winner an automatic berth into the 2026 Finals.
Winterbottom — who will race with Waters in the enduros — is a big fan of the rivalry, but doubled down on his opinion that it could lead to tears in the sudden-death nature of Finals racing.
“They do race each other hard, and that’s good to see. You want to see cars banging door handles but not crashing each other off the track,” Winterbottom continued.
“We’ll talk about this moment, I don’t think it’s as friendly come Finals time."
