Matt Payne reveals personal promise from heartbreak
Payne was eliminated from 2025 Finals after Cam Waters clash
Penrite Racing driver heads to 2026 title decider as leader
Championship leader Matt Payne says he made a promise to himself he would learn from the Cam Waters clash that ruined his 2025 championship.
The Penrite Racing driver banished the memories of a 2025 Semi Final meltdown to claim top seed honors for the 2026 title decider in Adelaide.
Payne fell short of the 2025 Grand Final altogether after a collision with Ford rival Waters wiped both cars out of contention within sight of the finish.
Both drivers were at odds with each other, while New Zealander Payne fought back tears, labelling the move by Waters as “dirty.”
A year on, Payne delivered victory in the corresponding race to formally seal passage to Adelaide, although such was his buffer to his closest rival, that he has halfway there anyway.
Speaking on the broadcast post-race, Payne explained: “It was a pretty bad day in my books, really felt that one for a long time, and I really promised myself that I would learn from it.
“I think the last two rounds I have leant on that as much as I could, and it has certainly helped.“The highs and lows of motorsport, it’s only a year on, but I feel we’ve made so much progress.”
Speaking to media after Sandown, Payne was clear in what it will take to get over the line: “It’s just gonna come down to what we've been doing this year, and that's just execution.”
It was execution on Sunday that delivered Payne the top seeding he so sorely craved, although dual pit stop fumbles on Saturday did deny him a shot at a clean sweep.
Critically, courtesy of revised seeding points, Payne has additional breathing room over his rivals than what 2025 leader Broc Feeney had.
“It's all I really wanted all season, to be honest, and especially to be top seed,” the 24-year-old said.
“After the adjustment of the points, last year it was kind of anyone sort of first to third or fourth, in that top four really kind of had a shot.
“Whereas, if you're fourth now, you’ve got to have a really good weekend and you've got to hope someone at the front has a bit of a shocker. So it's definitely worth being in front, as a points perspective.
“I worked really hard throughout Sandown, to make sure that we were going to be going in there top seed. Luckily we had the speed this weekend to do that.”
Track action in Adelaide commences on Thursday November 26.
