Grove Racing was tipped to take up the challenge to Triple Eight this year, and so it is that the Braeside-based Ford squad is second in the teams’ championship.

Matt Payne has scored two pole positions in this, his second full season in the Repco Supercars Championship, including in the most recent Top 10 Shootout of the season at Taupo.

A win remains elusive in 2024, which is somewhat down to misfortune at Albert Park, although there is no doubt that Triple Eight is again the benchmark team after extending its championship lead from 448 points to 481 over the course of the Taupo weekend.

For Grove Racing, which counts former Triple Eight engineers David Cauchi as Team Principal and Grant McPherson as Technical Director, small, continual improvement is key.

“I think we’ve probably come into our own a bit this year,” said Brenton Grove.

“We’re not fighting as hard to be up the front but that doesn’t mean it’s not hard to be there, and the gap to Triple Eight is certainly larger than we’d like.

“But, every weekend, we bring something different, whether it’s software procedure, process… and we’re still a young team; we’re only in our third year.

“So, for us, we’ve got a long way to go to grow as a team, and our mindset is to improve one little thing each weekend and the gap will continue to close.

“We’re not looking behind per se; we’re trying to close the gap to Triple Eight, as everyone in the field is, because it’s a big gap to them at the moment.”

Team owner Stephen Grove was typically forthright in his assessment of the team’s showing at Taupo, where Payne faded from pole position to fourth over the course of the final race.

He had finished 13th on a wet Saturday after spinning on the outside of a three-wide run around the first corner, while Richie Stanaway’s race results over the weekend were sixth and 10th.

“It was a solid weekend, but I wouldn’t say more than that,” said Stephen Grove.

Stanaway is fourth in the drivers’ championship in his first year back racing full-time, with Payne one position and four points behind his team-mate.