Top 10 Supercars drivers of 2024: Matt Payne
As 2024 winds down, Supercars.com is ranking the top 10 drivers of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship, continuing with Matt Payne, who comes in as our #8.
The sophomore slump has struck down many athletes across sport after successful rookie seasons. Matt Payne bucked that trend in 2024.
Although he didn't have the statement victory like he did last year at the finale in Adelaide, it was still a highly impressive season for a driver only completing their second full-time season in Supercars.
Whilst there were still some high-profile mistakes made that cost him crucial ground in the championship, 2024 was still an eight-place improvement on his rookie season.
The young Kiwi continued to prove that he isn't just a future superstar, he's a current star who is arguably the leading light for the legion of New Zealand drivers.
Matt Payne's season stats
Championship position: 6th
Best finish: 1st (Townsville)
Average finish: 9.09
Race head-to-head with teammate: 13-9
Podiums: 4
Best start: 1st (Melbourne, New Zealand)
Average start: 9.33
Qualifying head-to-head with teammate: 17-6
Why we picked him
After a rookie season that ended with a spectacular Adelaide 500 victory, a lot of hype surrounded Matt Payne heading into 2024. For the most part, the 22-year-old Kiwi delivered, with an aggressive pit strategy in Townsville paying dividends with a win in Townsville, before nearly repeating the treatment the following race in Sydney on another bold strategy. Payne's raw speed and talent also shone in Boost Mobile Qualifying, with two pole positions early in the season and a provisional pole at the Repco Bathurst 1000. However, there were still some big mistakes that cost him good results in Melbourne and Bathurst, with the #19 Mustang ending up in the fence on both occasions. Inconsistency also proved to be a weakness for Grove Racing as a whole, with performances in Darwin and Tasmania particularly poor.
What we expect next season
Though he is only 22-years-old and entering his third season in the category, Payne will be the elder statesman at the Grove operation next year, with highly-touted teenager Kai Allen making his full-time debut. Payne's ability to turn on devastatingly brilliant performances, as seen in Adelaide last year, could potentially bode well for the Finals next year. If the Finals were in play this year, Payne would have been one of the four drivers in contention for the 2024 championship. If he wants to be better positioned to make a championship charge in the Finals, the bad weekends need to become ok weekends. Finishing well outside the top 15 will be punished in such a competitive series, whilst DNFs, especially in the Enduro Cup, would be catastrophic. With more experience under his belt, the silly mistakes should disappear, and Payne could definitely become a real championship threat year in year out.
