Penrite Racing swings chassis change for Payne
Penrite Racing shifts Matt Payne into spare Mustang
Bathurst winner to start new season in spare Penrite chassis
Bathurst winning Ford retired after 2025 season
Matt Payne will return to familiar machinery for the start of the 2026 Supercars season following the retirement of his Bathurst winning Ford Mustang.
For the fourth time in as many years, Penrite Racing will start the year with a chassis shuffle, with Payne to reacquaint himself with an old car.
Payne stepped into GR-01 for the 2025 season, a year after the car was parked up after it was campaigned in 2023 by David Reynolds.
In a standout season, Payne raced GR-01 to five wins, headlined by his stunning triumph at the Repco Bathurst 1000 with Garth Tander.
Grove Racing moved quickly to retire GR-01 after its historic Bathurst win, with Payne finishing the 2025 season in the car and winning in Adelaide before the Bathurst winning panels were reapplied.
It set Penrite Racing on a path to debut a new car for Payne in 2026. However, Penrite Racing confirmed to Supercars.com that the New Zealander will step back into an older chassis, GR-02, which he raced in 2023 and 2024.
GR-02, which was the team’s spare chassis in 2025, was raced to victory by Payne at the 2023 Adelaide 500, and 2024 Townsville 500.
The team will continue building up its new car ahead of a possible mid-season debut.
Kai Allen, who reached the bp Adelaide Grand Final last season, will remain in chassis GR-03.
GR-03 debuted in 2024 with Richie Stanaway, and was fully rebuilt ahead of 2025 after Stanaway’s 52G accident at the 2024 Adelaide 500.
A number of teams are also set to debut new chassis in 2026, including but not limited to Triple Eight Race Engineering, Walkinshaw TWG Racing, Tickford Racing, Dick Johnson Racing and Brad Jones Racing.
The 2026 Supercars season commences in Sydney on February 20-22. Tickets are on sale now. International viewers can watch on SuperView.
