More details on Matt Payne’s engine failure have been revealed. Image: Richard Gresham
The Kiwi was cruelly denied the minor premiership on Sunday when his Mustang’s engine failed midway through the final race.
The early diagnosis was that it was an electrical issue, however a more detailed analysis at Triple Eight’s engine shop has since uncovered a more serious issue relating to the valve train.
“We were able to go out to Triple Eight last night (Monday) as they were pulling apart the engine, they kindly invited us into their shop to have a look and we’ve been able to discover there was a major mechanical failure in the valve train of the engine,” said Grove Racing’s head of performance Al McVean.
“Unfortunately, once that happened, there was no chance of proceeding any further, so there nothing we could have done to have prevented it happening or got ourselves back out onto the track at that stage.
“So obviously that was quite heartbreaking on Sunday to have that happen to us.
“We got the group together, we all sat down and debriefed for a couple of hours at the pub and now we’ve fully reset ourselves and we’re out here at the test day all eyes forward to the enduros, having another red-hot crack at Bathurst and the Enduro Cup and then looking ahead to the Finals where we’re well-placed for both drivers.”
Running a replacement engine, Payne and co-driver Will Davison ended today’s pre-enduro test at Queensland Raceway fourth fastest.
Valve train issues have been a big talking point in the Supercars paddock in recent weeks, although not related to Ford engines.
Instead it has been the Toyota Supras suffering from top-end unreliability, leading to a B-spec engine being introduced for this event.
A failure for Chaz Mostert on Sunday caused some concern among the Toyota ranks, however analysis on his failure pointed to a bottom end bearing issue instead.