The incredible green flag spell came to an end when Matt Payne crashed his Grove Racing Ford Mustang at The Cutting.

Payne had been running in eighth place when he lost the rear into the double-apex left-hander and slid into the right-side concrete.

It marked an unfortunate end to a weekend in which the Kiwi scored provisional pole position.

The incident interrupted a tense race at the front as Broc Feeney gradually closed in on race leader Brodie Kostecki.

Feeney had the deficit down to four seconds before the yellow flags flew, triggering a 25-second countdown to the new 80km/h speed limit.

The field took the opportunity to complete their final scheduled pitstops under the yellow.

Kostecki leads Feeney, Will Brown, Cam Waters, Richie Stanaway and Chaz Mostert with less than 30 laps remaining.

The Safety Car was a gift for a number of drivers who were elevated back onto the lead lap under the wave-by rules.

They were Mark Winterbottom, Andre Heimgartner, Nick Percat, James Courtney, Tim Slade, Bryce Fullwood, Jaxon Evans and Aaron Love.

THE SAFETY CAR IS OUT!

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— Supercars (@supercars) October 13, 2024