MATT Payne has admitted to surprise at being penalised for his eye-opening beach chicane contact with James Courtney in Race 1 of the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
Payne was the first of two drivers handed five-second penalties for breaching protocols regarding overlapping cars at the 150m brake marker before Turn 6 (the first kink in the beach chicane), with Cameron Hill the other.
“Should two or more cars be overlapping at the 150m brake marker for T6, the car ahead has right of way. If side-by-side, the driver on the left has right of way,” reads a section of the drivers’ briefing notes.
For the incident in question, Payne was on the inside (left-hand side) but slightly behind Courtney, and the Ford duo proceeded to bang wheels on their way through the kerbs.
They managed to avoid a major incident, with Payne emerging ahead but duly being pulled up by Race Control.
“I just got a pretty good run out of Turn 4 there and I thought I could probably get up the inside,” the Grove Racing rookie explained.
“Then I thought ‘oh, the wall’s kind of coming out on the straight, and it’s going to be tight’.
Payne and Courtney clash through the beach chicanes!
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“Then I kind of thought I was in front based on where my reference was, and the car (on the) left has right-of-way into there, and I was surprised when he didn’t back out heading into the corner.
“It was pretty wild. We made contact and I sort of tripped over the kerb a little bit and carried on through.
“But I thought I was sort of in the right there and didn’t think I did anything wrong.”
Tickford Racing CEO Tim Edwards shared a different opinion on the matter.
“He (Courtney) knew what the rule was, whoever was in front at the 150, and he was waiting for Matt to back out, because he wasn’t in front at the 150,” Edwards told V8 Sleuth.
“When Matt didn’t it obviously put him in a pretty compromised position and you’re committed at that point, you’re waiting for the bloke next to you to back off.
“He got his penalty, rightly so.”
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It was a mixed day for Payne, who finished ninth after collecting a further five-second penalty for exceeding track limits too many times, having earlier starred in the Top 10 Shootout to book a front-row starting spot.
“At the start of the race we got a good start and was settling in there in second. Our car pace was actually pretty good,” said Payne.
“We just dropped off a little bit towards the end of the stint, which I think is something to do a little bit with myself and the car. Just need to tune ourselves up a little bit.
“I’ve had a pretty amazing day with qualifying and the Shootout. I was rapt to get in there, especially in P2.
“For the Shootout we did a pretty good lap and I thought I might’ve had a chance for pole there for a little bit, but it wasn’t meant to be. But for the pace in qualifying, it’s really, really positive.”
It was a good day all up for both teams, with Tickford first and fourth via Cam Waters and Thomas Randle, and third-placed David Reynolds putting Grove on the podium.
