Matt Payne says he should have been able to stand his ground in his wild chicane showdown with James Courtney on the Gold Coast.
Payne and Courtney were involved in a spectacular showdown in the beach chicane during today’s opening leg of the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
The pair bashed doors as they bounced through the chicane after neither yielded on the way into the single-lane complex.
Payne was later handed a five-second penalty for the contact based on Courtney having been slightly ahead at the 150-metre board – which technically means he should have yielded.
The Grove Racing driver wasn’t overly impressed with the penalty, though, Payne left feeling the corner was his even if Courtney was marginally ahead.
“The rules are pretty clear,” he told Speedcafe.
“If you’re ahead, you have right of way. I thought it was if you’re side-by-side the left car has right of way.
“I knew we were side-by-side and I actually thought I was in front heading into there, that’s why I didn’t lift and I was surprised when he kept his foot in it because he was always going to end up going wide and I was always going to get the corner.
“But I’m not going to back out of something like that. Like, I’m right up the inside of him, so I wouldn’t give him the corner even if I thought it was right or didn’t think it was right.”
Payne admitted he thought at one point that he might end up in the wall.
“I thought I was going to end up in the fence at one point, but managed to get away with it and we sort of skipped through and cut the chicane a bit,” he said.
“For a five-second penalty I think I probably disagree with that. But it is what it is. I’ll go back and watch the replay and see how it looks.”
Payne finished ninth in the race after starting a fine second off the back of a sensational effort in the Top 10 Shootout.
“The Shootout was really cool,” he said. “Because the walls are so close here you can see everyone lined up along them. There are so many people watching and to have a lap by yourself is pretty cool.
“The track is so wild. It’s my first time here and I’m having ball. It’s awesome, it’s probably one of my favourite tracks now. It’s definitely in the top three of the tracks I’ve driven at.
“It was good to get in the Shootout, but I would have like to have finished a bit higher in the race.”
