Matt Payne and Penrite Racing have delivered a strategy masterclass to deny a rapid Broc Feeney in a stunning finish to the Tasmania Super 440.
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A second compulsory stop taken during a mid-race Safety Car set up Payne’s march to victory, with Feeney mowing through the field to challenge the Penrite Ford in the closing laps.
Ultimately, Feeney came up just short, Payne emerging a shock winner from 11th on the grid by 0.05s in a remarkable photo finish.
“That was a pretty cool race man, I knew it was going to be seriously tight there at the end,” Payne beamed.
“The car actually really held onto it’s tyres really well, we ran four greens which helped, so it’s just unreal. The battle at the end, once I got through the hairpin I knew I could cover him down the back here, but he still put up a good fight.
“It’s so good to win here, we’ve struggled here so much and it’s definitely hard work pays off.”
Feeney extended his championship lead with teammate Will Brown third, with early leader James Golding fourth ahead of PremiAir Racing teammate Richie Stanaway.
Tickford Racing star Cam Waters slumped to 12th amid the strategy race, with Payne jumping his Ford rival into third in the championship.
Brown looked to have the better of Ryan Wood off the line, but it was Golding with the slingshot, the PremiAir Racing driver a clear leader through Turn 2 after starting fourth. There, Cooper Murray and Kai Allen collided, with Anton De Pasquale also escorted off the road.
Waters pit leads to ‘INSANE’ battle | 01:05
Golding remarkably opened up a 1.9s lead by lap 6, as Brown wrestled for the minor positions. Waters held second, with Feeney getting past Wood at the hairpin. Brown picked off Thomas Randle after they both survived a stunning three-wide stoush down the back straight.
It kicked off down the order; Chaz Mostert got into James Courtney, who got into Davison at the hairpin. The concertina saw Le Brocq tipped into a spin, and Mostert hit with a 15-second penalty. Cameron was also hit with a 15-second penalty for hitting Jones, also at the hairpin.
Feeney caught Waters, with the Saturday winner getting down the inside at the hairpin on lap 12. Try as he might, Waters was unable to hold off Feeney, who sailed through into second. Golding, meanwhile, had opened up a three-second lead by lap 14.
Wood caught and passed Waters, who fell into the clutches of Brown. Behind them, Mostert was taken out of traffic on lap 19 and served his penalty. Feeney quickly reeled in Golding, with the margin 1.1s once Brown was brought in on lap 25.
On cold tyres, Brown locked up into the hairpin, with the pole-sitter narrowly missing the tyre barriers. On the following lap, as Randle was brought in, attention quickly shifted to Kostecki spinning around on the run to the hairpin. Replays showed Kostecki being tipped into a spin by Fullwood as they rounded Turn 3, with the latter earning a drive-through penalty. Fullwood’s day got worse, being handed another penalty over a Safety Car breach.
The bp pulse Safety Car was deployed with Kostecki stricken on the side of the road, with Golding and Feeney nose to tail and opting to stay out. Wood and Waters came in, with Feeney following Golding in on the following lap.
Feeney fires for clean sweep in Tassie | 01:10
Teams looked to strategy as the race remained under the control of the Safety Car; Payne, Brown, Randle, Reynolds, De Pasquale and Le Brocq all came in and took their second stop.
On lap 33, the race resumed with Feeney leading Golding, with Wood, Stanaway, Waters, Percat, Hill, Heimgartner, Payne and Courtney the 10. Brown was 13th, with Randle 16th. Mostert was 17th, but one lap down and third on the road.
As Feeney quickly opened a gap on Golding, Stanaway hit Mostert off the road at Turn 1. The Mobil 1 Optus Ford surfed through the grass and dropped down the field, with Stanaway avoiding penalty and taking his second stop on lap 56.
Feeney’s advantage grew to nearly eight seconds once Courtney stopped and emerged with Golding. On fresher tyres, Courtney challenged Golding, who was picked off for second by Wood through Turn 7. Feeney was then brought in with 21 laps to go, with the margin to Payne 21 seconds. Waters, Heimgartner and Evans also stopped, with Wood and Hill pitting on the following lap. Waters and Wood both encountered slow stops.
With all stops completed, Payne led Brown by 3.2s. Feeney was 13.7s from the lead, behind Reynolds and Randle, and immediately set the fastest lap on lap 61. Davison, Golding, Stanaway, Wood and Heimgartner rounded out the top 10, with Waters 12th behind Percat.
Feeney reeled off fastest lap after fastest lap, and caught the battling Reynolds and Randle. Randle got down the inside, and Feeney profited with a bump draft and superior grip. Randle, on the outside, was tipped into a spin by Reynolds at Turn 6, with the Castrol Ford dropping to 13th.
With seven laps to go, Brown moved aside for Feeney, who had 4.4s to find on Payne. Feeney, who comfortably had fastest lap bonus points locked away, rapidly caught Payne, setting up a grandstand finish.
On the final lap, Payne defended for all his might, and looked to have Feeney covered. However, the grip advantage helped Feeney draw alongside at the line, with Payne victorious in dramatic fashion.
The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440 on June 6-8.
This article first appeared on supercars.comand was reproduced with permission.