Payne survives big scare after engine concern, De Pasquale near-miss

An engine “gremlin” in Saturday’s second Tasmania sprint nearly cost Matt Payne, who was lucky to avoid a last lap clash with Anton De Pasquale.

The #19 Penrite Ford fell into the clutches of De Pasquale’s #18 DEWALT Chevrolet late in Race 15, which was taken out by Andre Heimgartner.

After challenging for the lead in the early laps, Payne dropped behind Broc Feeney after the stops, and dropped back towards the fast finishing De Pasquale.

On the last lap, Payne defended from De Pasquale into Turn 6, with the latter locking up and spearing off the road. De Pasquale rejoined fifth behind Will Brown, with Payne getting home.

Speaking in the press conference, Payne explained that his Ford engine was “cutting out” exiting the hairpin, leaving him vulnerable to attack at the end of the straight.

“We had a little bit of a gremlin with the motor cutting out, coming out of Turn 4, which was giving me terrible runs, making wheels spin ridiculously,” Payne said.

“He was obviously right within a shot, and I chose to block really narrow, and make sure that there wasn't a car on the inside for enough room.

“I don't really know what happened exactly. It looked like he kind of got maybe his wheel on the grass, and then it went sideways, and then he locked up.”

Payne admitted he didn’t realise De Pasquale was as close as he was.

“I didn't know he was that close — when you're second in the queue, you kind of have a lot more time to judge it when you're behind someone,” Payne continued.

“Obviously, when you block, you're not quite threshold braking the whole way in because you don't know what the grip's like down there. So there's a little bit of margin there.

“But I’m just really glad to cross the finish line and getting that one done.”

Payne jumped Brodie Kostecki into second overall after the latter was hit by David Reynolds.