{"id":554131,"date":"2026-08-01T04:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/554131\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T04:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:10:11","slug":"supercars-news-matt-payne-scores-perth-pole-position-three-drivers-penalised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/554131\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars news: Matt Payne scores Perth pole position, three drivers penalised"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Payne\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRyan Wood and Jobe Stewart clashed in part one of qualifying for Race 1 of the Perth Super440 at Wanneroo Raceway.<\/p>\n

Payne, who set a session-best 54.0483, led an all-Ford top three ahead of Tickford Racing drivers Cameron Waters and Thomas Randle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went on with it for the second push and it felt like it was going to be a little bit better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of said \u2018tighten them (belts) up and I\u2019ll send it down\u2019 and didn\u2019t quite pull it up.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I had a crack and it\u2019s good to be on pole anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qualifying for Race 1 at Wanneroo Raceway was a frenetic affair, punctuated by two red flags in the first leg.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Red flag \ud83d\udea9<\/p>\n

Zach Bates is beached at Turn 1, triggering a stoppage in @BoostAus<\/a> Qualifying in Perth!<\/p>\n

Catch all the action in the Live Feed here: https:\/\/t.co\/7dJ4PB7Dba<\/a> #RepcoSC<\/a> #Supercars<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/liVAnsGeT0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Supercars (@supercars) August 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The drama continued just two minutes after the session resumed.<\/p>\n

Walkinshaw TWG Racing\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Wood\u2019s Supra escaped serious damage while Stewart\u2019s Camaro lost its front splitter in the gravel trap and missed the rest of the session.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just about to start a lap. I had no idea they were on laps,\u201d said Stewart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought everyone was on out-laps because half the people were in pit lane when I drove through.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just silly. It happens at this place, but it\u2019s pretty disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another red flag \ud83d\udea9<\/p>\n

Jobe Stewart and Ryan Wood have made contact at the final corner in @BoostAus<\/a> Qualifying!<\/p>\n

Catch all the action in the Live Feed here: https:\/\/t.co\/7dJ4PB7Dba<\/a> #RepcoSC<\/a> #Supercars<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/EN7AR1lAhT<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Supercars (@supercars) August 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The session restarted with five minutes to go \u2013 and still, the madness continued as Erebus Motorsport\u2019s other young gun Cooper Murray nearly collided with Jayden Ojeda.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Ojeda and Stewart were each given two-place grid penalties for their respective incidents. Bates was also penalised for impeding Chaz Mostert.<\/p>\n

When everything was said and done at the end of part one, Wood led the cars that made it through to part two.<\/p>\n

Brodie Kostecki was second ahead of Anton De Pasquale, Kai Allen, Matt Payne, Cameron Waters, Thomas Randle, Andre Heimgartner, Rylan Gray and Cameron Hill.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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\u2019s doing really weird stuff,\u201d said Mostert.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know there was one to go at the end, so I bailed on it and it probably cost us a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cA little bit we need to tune up for the soft tyre. Hopefully that\u2019s a bit better balance for a super soft car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only Heimgartner, Hill, De Pasquale and Wood elected to go out early in part two while the Ford sextet stayed in the pits.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Wood was fourth and Allen fifth. The top 10 was completed by Kostecki, Heimgartner, Gray, De Pasquale and Hill.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Qualifying for Race 2 at the Perth Super440 gets underway at 10:35 AWST.<\/p>\n

Results: Repco Supercars Championship Bosch Power Tools Perth Super440, Qualifying Race 1<\/p>\n

Pos
\nNum
\nDriver
\nTeam
\nCar
\nLap
\nDiff
\nGap<\/p>\n

1
\n19
\nMatthew Payne
\nGrove Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.0483<\/p>\n

2
\n6
\nCameron Waters
\nTickford Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.0853
\n0.037
\n0.037<\/p>\n

3
\n55
\nThomas Randle
\nTickford Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.1494
\n0.1011
\n0.0641<\/p>\n

4
\n2
\nRyan Wood
\nWalkinshaw TWG Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n54.1688
\n0.1205
\n0.0194<\/p>\n

5
\n26
\nKai Allen
\nGrove Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.1894
\n0.1411
\n0.0206<\/p>\n

6
\n17
\nBrodie Kostecki
\nDick Johnson Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.2094
\n0.1611
\n0.0200<\/p>\n

7
\n8
\nAndre Heimgartner
\nBrad Jones Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n54.2579
\n0.2096
\n0.0485<\/p>\n

8
\n38
\nRylan Gray
\nDick Johnson Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.3006
\n0.2523
\n0.0427<\/p>\n

9
\n18
\nAnton De Pasquale
\nTeam 18
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n54.4251
\n0.3768
\n0.1245<\/p>\n

10
\n14
\nCameron Hill
\nBrad Jones Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n54.5547
\n0.5064
\n0.1296<\/p>\n

Q1<\/p>\n

11
\n1
\nChaz Mostert
\nWalkinshaw TWG Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n54.4207
\n0.3724<\/p>\n

12
\n888
\nWilliam Brown
\nTriple Eight Race Engineering
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.4297
\n0.3814
\n0.0090<\/p>\n

13
\n88
\nBroc Feeney
\nTriple Eight Race Engineering
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.4480
\n0.3997
\n0.0183<\/p>\n

14
\n96
\nMacauley Jones
\nBrad Jones Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n54.4489
\n0.4006
\n0.0009<\/p>\n

15
\n4
\nJack Le Brocq
\nMatt Stone Racing
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n54.4649
\n0.4166
\n0.0160<\/p>\n

16
\n11
\nJackson Walls
\nTriple Eight Race Engineering
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.4747
\n0.4264
\n0.0098<\/p>\n

17
\n777
\nDeclan Fraser
\nPremiAir Racing
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n54.4981
\n0.4498
\n0.0234<\/p>\n

18
\n20
\nDavid Reynolds
\nTeam 18
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n54.5429
\n0.4946
\n0.0448<\/p>\n

19
\n7
\nJames Golding
\nBlanchard Racing Team
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.5684
\n0.5201
\n0.0255<\/p>\n

20
\n31
\nJayden Ojeda
\nPremiAir Racing
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n54.6479
\n0.5996
\n0.0795<\/p>\n

21
\n99
\nCooper Murray
\nErebus Motorsport
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n54.669
\n0.6207
\n0.0211<\/p>\n

22
\n3
\nAaron Cameron
\nBlanchard Racing Team
\nFord Mustang GT
\n54.6772
\n0.6289
\n0.0082<\/p>\n

23
\n10
\nZach Bates
\nMatt Stone Racing
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n54.8153
\n0.7670
\n0.1381<\/p>\n

24
\n9
\nJobe Stewart
\nErebus Motorsport<\/p>\n

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