Payne pips Feeney to Taupō pole by 0.0126s

MATT Payne has put himself in the box seat to become the Sunday Supercars homeland hero at Taupō Motorsport Park.

After Andre Heimgartner stood tall yesterday to delight Kiwi fans with the Race 1 victory, Payne secured pole position for this afternoon’s encounter.

It continues a strong weekend for the New Zealand contingent, with Ryan Wood and Jaxon Evans yesterday recording career-bests and Richie Stanaway having gained 17 positions during the 60-lapper.

Payne in fact was the only Kiwi to miss out on a top 10 Saturday finish, but that is now history and it’s full steam ahead for Race 2 after he pipped Broc Feeney in the Top 10 Shootout by a mere hundredth of a second.

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Thomas Randle was first out on the now completely dry track, and his 1:27.3073s was solid enough to help him ultimately gain a few places on where he’d qualified this morning.

Jack Le Brocq eclipsed Randle’s effort before Erebus Motorsport teammate Brodie Kostecki banged in an excellent lap to go more than four tenths clear at the top of the timesheets.

Kostecki was beaten by a miniscule margin by Feeney and then Payne, with just 0.0306s separating that trio at the front with only Chaz Mostert and lead qualifier Anton De Pasquale to come.

Mostert struggled dearly and was noticeably deflated to sink to ninth, only ahead of teammate Wood who made a mistake at the final corner.

So, De Pasquale was all that was standing between Payne and pole position, and the #11 Shell V-Power Mustang driver didn’t quite have enough in the tank to upstage the Kiwi.

Payne, Feeney and Kostecki remained the top three while De Pasquale slotted in fourth.

Championship leader Will Brown will start fifth, ahead of Le Brocq, Randle, Tim Slade, Mostert and Wood.

The Sunday race at Taupō starts 1:05pm AEST (3:05pm local).

RESULTS: Top 10 Shootout for Race 2, 2024 ITM Taupō Super400