Ryan Wood and Jobe Stewart clashed in part one of qualifying for Race 1 of the Perth Super440 at Wanneroo Raceway.
Payne, who set a session-best 54.0483, led an all-Ford top three ahead of Tickford Racing drivers Cameron Waters and Thomas Randle.
“We went on with it for the second push and it felt like it was going to be a little bit better,” he said.
“I sort of said ‘tighten them (belts) up and I’ll send it down’ and didn’t quite pull it up.
“But I had a crack and it’s good to be on pole anyway.”
Qualifying for Race 1 at Wanneroo Raceway was a frenetic affair, punctuated by two red flags in the first leg.
The session had barely begun when Matt Stone Racing driver Zach Bates went off at Turn 1 and bogged his Chevrolet Camaro in the sand.
Red flag 🚩
Zach Bates is beached at Turn 1, triggering a stoppage in @BoostAus Qualifying in Perth!
Catch all the action in the Live Feed here: https://t.co/7dJ4PB7Dba #RepcoSC #Supercars pic.twitter.com/liVAnsGeT0
— Supercars (@supercars) August 1, 2026
The drama continued just two minutes after the session resumed.
Walkinshaw TWG Racing’s Ryan Wood, who was on a hot lap, drilled the back of Jobe Stewart at the final turn and tipped the Erebus Motorsport Camaro into a spin.
Wood’s Supra escaped serious damage while Stewart’s Camaro lost its front splitter in the gravel trap and missed the rest of the session.
“I was just about to start a lap. I had no idea they were on laps,” said Stewart.
“I thought everyone was on out-laps because half the people were in pit lane when I drove through.
“It’s just silly. It happens at this place, but it’s pretty disappointing.”
Another red flag 🚩
Jobe Stewart and Ryan Wood have made contact at the final corner in @BoostAus Qualifying!
Catch all the action in the Live Feed here: https://t.co/7dJ4PB7Dba #RepcoSC #Supercars pic.twitter.com/EN7AR1lAhT
— Supercars (@supercars) August 1, 2026
The session restarted with five minutes to go – and still, the madness continued as Erebus Motorsport’s other young gun Cooper Murray nearly collided with Jayden Ojeda.
Ojeda was weaving and warming up his tyres when Murray tried to go around the outside of the PremiAir Racing Camaro. Murray squeezed by and got loose into the first turn, but escaped a spin.
Ojeda and Stewart were each given two-place grid penalties for their respective incidents. Bates was also penalised for impeding Chaz Mostert.
When everything was said and done at the end of part one, Wood led the cars that made it through to part two.
Brodie Kostecki was second ahead of Anton De Pasquale, Kai Allen, Matt Payne, Cameron Waters, Thomas Randle, Andre Heimgartner, Rylan Gray and Cameron Hill.
Chaz Mostert was the first driver on the outside of the top 10 looking in. Worse still were Triple Eight duo Will Brown and Broc Feeney, who were 12th and 13th respectively.
“The biggest thing for me was just communication for us in our car. For whatever reason, our radio worked all fine yesterday and then today it’s doing really weird stuff,” said Mostert.
“Didn’t know how long I had left in the session or how many laps to go. Did my best lap, but my car kept getting quicker and quicker.
“I didn’t know there was one to go at the end, so I bailed on it and it probably cost us a bit.
“A little bit we need to tune up for the soft tyre. Hopefully that’s a bit better balance for a super soft car.”
Only Heimgartner, Hill, De Pasquale and Wood elected to go out early in part two while the Ford sextet stayed in the pits.
De Pasquale fired the first shot to go to the top but was quickly usurped. All told, Payne led an all-Ford top three ahead of Tickford Racing pair Waters and Randle.
Wood was fourth and Allen fifth. The top 10 was completed by Kostecki, Heimgartner, Gray, De Pasquale and Hill.
Post-session, Kostecki was given a two-place grid penalty for impeding Heimgartner. That dropped the Dick Johnson Racing Mustang to eighth, while Heimgartner and Gray moved to sixth and seventh respectively.
Qualifying for Race 2 at the Perth Super440 gets underway at 10:35 AWST.
Results: Repco Supercars Championship Bosch Power Tools Perth Super440, Qualifying Race 1
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Lap
Diff
Gap
1
19
Matthew Payne
Grove Racing
Ford Mustang GT
54.0483
2
6
Cameron Waters
Tickford Racing
Ford Mustang GT
54.0853
0.037
0.037
3
55
Thomas Randle
Tickford Racing
Ford Mustang GT
54.1494
0.1011
0.0641
4
2
Ryan Wood
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
54.1688
0.1205
0.0194
5
26
Kai Allen
Grove Racing
Ford Mustang GT
54.1894
0.1411
0.0206
6
17
Brodie Kostecki
Dick Johnson Racing
Ford Mustang GT
54.2094
0.1611
0.0200
7
8
Andre Heimgartner
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
54.2579
0.2096
0.0485
8
38
Rylan Gray
Dick Johnson Racing
Ford Mustang GT
54.3006
0.2523
0.0427
9
18
Anton De Pasquale
Team 18
Chev Camaro ZL1
54.4251
0.3768
0.1245
10
14
Cameron Hill
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
54.5547
0.5064
0.1296
Q1
11
1
Chaz Mostert
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
54.4207
0.3724
12
888
William Brown
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang GT
54.4297
0.3814
0.0090
13
88
Broc Feeney
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang GT
54.4480
0.3997
0.0183
14
96
Macauley Jones
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
54.4489
0.4006
0.0009
15
4
Jack Le Brocq
Matt Stone Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
54.4649
0.4166
0.0160
16
11
Jackson Walls
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang GT
54.4747
0.4264
0.0098
17
777
Declan Fraser
PremiAir Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
54.4981
0.4498
0.0234
18
20
David Reynolds
Team 18
Chev Camaro ZL1
54.5429
0.4946
0.0448
19
7
James Golding
Blanchard Racing Team
Ford Mustang GT
54.5684
0.5201
0.0255
20
31
Jayden Ojeda
PremiAir Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
54.6479
0.5996
0.0795
21
99
Cooper Murray
Erebus Motorsport
Chev Camaro ZL1
54.669
0.6207
0.0211
22
3
Aaron Cameron
Blanchard Racing Team
Ford Mustang GT
54.6772
0.6289
0.0082
23
10
Zach Bates
Matt Stone Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
54.8153
0.7670
0.1381
24
9
Jobe Stewart
Erebus Motorsport