Penrite Racing investigating costly Payne puncture
Matt Payne tumbled from third to 20th late in Sunday's race
Bathurst champion sits fourth in points, after taking lead on Thursday
Payne clashed with James Golding during Saturday race
For the second time in two days, Matt Payne’s Melbourne hopes again went up in tyre smoke. The second instance, though, left Penrite Racing scratching its head.
After being taken out of Saturday’s race in a clash with James Golding, who was penalised, Payne was again undone on Sunday. On Sunday, however, there was no clear contact or reason behind the puncture that took Payne out of third in Race 7, which was won by Brodie Kostecki.
Penrite Racing has confirmed to Supercars.com that the team is investigating the puncture, which prevented Payne rebounding from his Saturday DNF to score a fifth podium of the season.
Per the team, the initial verdict is that there may have been some remaining debris from the Turn 1 crash and Payne was just got unlucky to have collected some.
Speaking with Supercars.com, Cameron revealed that the issue in his tyre was in the sidewall, saying: “It wasn't like it was the main tread contact patch, it was in the sidewall, which is just odd."
Penrite Racing led the teams’ championship by 42 points over Tickford heading into Sunday, despite Payne and Thomas Randle both retiring from Saturday’s race.
At lap 8 on Sunday, when Payne passed Randle for third, Payne had jumped Broc Feeney — who crashed out — for third in the drivers’ standings, with Penrite still leading Tickford by a reduced 28 points.
However, when Payne slowed going through Turn 6, before coming in with a shredded front right tyre, the championship picture swung back towards Tickford.
Before the puncture, Tickford had only gained 14 points on Penrite, with Payne third, Randle fourth, Cam Waters eighth, and Kai Allen back up to 15th after being forced in with a puncture after contact with Ryan Wood.
By race’s end, Randle and Waters were third and sixth, and Allen ninth. However, the puncture sent Payne tumbling down to 20th.
The net result was Tickford outscoring Penrite by 59 points, retaking the teams’ championship lead — and with it, the front garages for the ITM Taupō Super 440 — by the slender margin of 17 points.
Payne sits fourth in points, 73 behind new leader Brodie Kostecki and 30 behind Feeney, heading to New Zealand.
