Grove impressed by Payne progress

Penrite Racing owner Stephen Grove is impressed by the progress which rookie Matt Payne is making in the Repco Supercars Championship.

With half of the 12 events this season now done, the 20-year-old is 18th in the drivers’ standings, ahead of fellow rookies Cameron Hill in 22nd and Declan Fraser in 25th.

Payne burst onto the scene in 2021 in Carrera Cup Australia before signing on as a Grove Junior and making a mid-season Dunlop Super2 Series debut.

At one point, he was in the frame to race full-time in the Repco Supercars Championship in 2022, if Superlicence dispensation could be obtained.

However, while the New Zealander was certainly fast, he also had a propensity for incidents and was ultimately held back for a full season in Super2, with Lee Holdsworth called up as a stop-gap for Grove Racing’s Championship squad.

This year, though, Payne has largely kept his nose clean.

Asked if it was fair to say that was a sign of increasing maturity, Grove told Speedcafe, “It’s very fair. I mean, this game’s also built on accumulating points, so he has to look at that.

“He’s got a bit more experience now but it does take so long to get that experience, but we’re really happy where he’s at.

“He’s staying out of trouble and making good decisions.”

Night racing is on the cards this weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park, something which is foreign to Payne in a Supercars context.

However, he is hardly unfamiliar with racing in the dark, having contested last year’s 24 Hours of Spa.

“Obviously, last year, I did quite a bit of endurance stuff and Europe, and I’ve probably done three or four meetings now where I’ve been driving in the dark,” he said in the team’s SMP preview video.

“The first time it was a bit like, ‘Oo, this is hard.’

“It’s harder to hit your marks, but it’s obviously really cool at night with all the lights flashing past you.

“It makes it a little bit more exhilarating and I think probably one of the coolest memories I have of racing in general is when I did Spa last year.

“We qualified and it was pitch black, qualifying as fast as you can go, sparks everywhere, and it’s chaos.

“I do really enjoy night racing.”

Support categories are on-track tomorrow, with the headline act rolling out for Practice 1 at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight on Saturday at 12:15 local time/AEST.

VIDEO: Penrite Racing SMP preview