Payne explains mid-race scare

Matt Payne regained the lead of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship with a Friday podium in Townsville, but for a few heart-stopping laps, he feared he wouldn't greet the chequered flag.

For something didn't feel right in the #19 Penrite Ford, and the diagnosis from the driver's seat wasn't encouraging.

The Kiwi reported that his Ford V8 was off song, and on the verge of dropping a cylinder inside the opening 10 laps, only for engineer Jack Bell to reassure his charge that everything was in perfect order, and that the engine was healthy.

Bell's words rang true, as Payne ran a largely quiet race to third, whilst Broc Feeney could only muster 10th from a lowly grid position of 16th. The net result? A 15-point deficit turning into an eight point lead for Payne.

"I just sorta picked up a little bit of a vibration early on after the first couple of laps, which isn't really normal," said Payne post-race.

"I feel like we've done a few races this year, so my bum's got pretty good sensitivity.

"It just didn't get any worse throughout the race which was good, so we managed to finish well and strong.

"Not far off those guys, but need a little bit more."

It wasn't the only close call Payne had, as he was lucky to get away with contact with a slow-starting Brodie Kostecki in the opening metres of the race.

Payne was running second late, closing on leader Waters in the final laps despite a one-lap tyre offset in the Monster Mustang's favour.

However, it was Kostecki who stole the show late, roaring by Payne with little more than two laps to go, before all but passing Waters at the finish, falling just two tenths short after 100km of racing.

"I was really hoping, he just needed a lap or two more and I think it would've been a great battle between those guys," said Payne of the Waters/Kostecki battle.

"Once they started passing, I'm sure Cam would've had a go back at him, that's what I was hoping for.

"But good racing, cool strategy between Brodie and Cam, obviously turned out to be pretty close, so really cool."

Regardless, Payne is relieved to return to the lead of the championship with just eight races remaining in the Repco Sprint Cup, the winner of which gains automatic Finals entry and 25 bonus points ahead of the Gold Coast.

It marks the first time that Payne has led the championship since the end of Race 5 at Melbourne back in March, which was also the last time Penrite Racing led both championships simultaneously.

"It's awesome, I knew starting up the front here that we had a good chance of scoring some good points, and managing to convert that into a podium, we're all pretty happy," Payne added.

"It's pretty cool to have the orange numbers on it."