The newest circuit on the Repco Supercars Championship calendar drew comparisons with the Wanneroo surface of old for its abrasive nature, except the handful of sections which had recently been resurfaced.
Payne was the provisional pole-sitter one day and then bagged pole position proper on the next, but could only turn that into fourth position at the conclusion of Race 8 of the season.
“Not too bad of a result today – P4 – I’ll take it, it’s good points,” said the Penrite Racing driver on the broadcast after Race 8.
“Probably not so good when you’re starting from first but, hey, it’s alright.
“We probably didn’t have the car today; we just struggled with the tyre life.
“So, we’ll get there, we’re a work in progress, so we’re not giving up at all.
“If anything, we’re going to keep pushing harder, keep persevering.
“It’s very positive to have the speed in qualifying and be able to put ourselves in a good position for the race.
“I think this weekend really separated the cars that had good tyre life and the cars that have really poor tyre life.
“It was a tough day but good [championship] points.”
Payne would, of course, have been relieved to bank a solid haul of points in Race 8.
He had finished 14th in Race 7 a day earlier after spinning on the outside of a three-wide run into a wet first corner, and been on the receiving end of contact while leading two races back at Albert Park.
He is fifth in the drivers’ championship, one position behind team-mate Richie Stanaway, who finished sixth in Race 7 from the back row of the grid and 13th in Race 8
“Yeah, moved forward in the drivers’ championship,” he said.
“Bit of a mixed weekend for us; just held back a lot by qualifying form, so, really got to work on that.
“But at the same time, a lot of positives to take out from just some phases during the race where we had good speed on both days.
“So, just got to keep chipping away at it.”
Grove Racing CEO Brenton Grove said ahead of track activity that Stanaway, who is competing full-time in motorsport in general for the first time since 2019, remains “rusty,” a comment consistent with Stanaway’s assessment at the conclusion of the weekend.
“Would have been nice to be a little bit further up and be on the podium, but trying to maybe achieve too much too soon,” he admitted.
“So, just got to chip away at it and hopefully we get there in the end.”
Team owner Stephen Grove’s summary of the event was also a mixed bag.
“We just didn’t have the pace at Taupo,” he said.
“It was a solid weekend, but I wouldn’t say more than that. There were opportunities we missed.
“The positive this weekend is that Richie Stanaway is back. It was good to see. He was out there fighting.
“Matt Payne qualified really well, but just didn’t have the car pace for the other guys.
“We keep building and building as a team, so have to keep putting our best foot forward.”
Grove Racing remains second in the teams’ championship, albeit now 481 points behind Triple Eight Race Engineering, and hence will set up next to the Banyo squad at Wanneroo next month.
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