Grove Racing’s Matt Payne during the Gold Coast 500. Photo: Rhys Vandersyde/InSyde Media
Seven drivers remain in contention to win the Supercars crown with Matt Payne leading the seeding on 4150 points.
He will carry a 30-point advantage over Broc Feeney, who won Sunday’s race on the Gold Coast, while Brodie Kostecki rounds out an all-Ford top three with a 54-point deficit to Payne heading to Sandown.
Chaz Mostert, who guaranteed a Sandown berth by winning Saturday’s Gold Coast race, will be fourth in the seeding on 4078 points.
Will Brown will head to Sandown under the cut line, sitting fifth on 4066 points. He will be joined in the drop zone by Cam Waters (4057) and Anton De Pasquale (4048).
De Pasquale’s inclusion in the final seven comes after a controversial Gold Coast finale that saw Ryan Wood, Kai Allen and Jack Le Brocq eliminated.
The latter struggled for speed all weekend and was left on the back foot by a Race 1 spin after being hit by Cam Hill.
Kai Allen had his own Saturday issues, finishing last due to an alternator failure, and couldn’t recover enough points on Sunday.
De Pasquale, meanwhile, looked to be in strife early in Sunday’s race when he was forced to pit at the end of the first lap due to a puncture.
That opened the door for Wood to put himself right in contention to snatch the seventh slot, particularly after teammate Mostert dropped back to hand him a crucial third position.
De Pasquale, meanwhile, managed to climb high enough to force a tie-breaker before making two more positions when Jarrod Hughes and Cooper Murray both made unscheduled stops for fuel from top 10 positions late in the race.
Pos
Driver
Team
Points/Diff
1
Matt Payne
Grove Racing
4150
2
Broc Feeney
Triple Eight Race Engineering
30
3
Brodie Kostecki
Dick Johnson Racing
54
4
Chaz Mostert (advanced)
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
72
5
Will Brown
Triple Eight Race Engineering
74
6
Cam Waters
Tickford Racing
93
7
Anton De Pasquale
Team 18
102
Eliminated
8
Ryan Wood
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
9
Kai Allen
Grove Racing