The defining moment of the race came at the fast Turn 9, Mostert out-braking himself while running second to send both himself and Payne off the road.
That left third-placed Percat in a lead he would hold until the end despite coming under serious pressure from Triple Eight pair Will Brown and Broc Feeney.
A second place for Brown was enough to secure the Larry Perkins Trophy and leave him as the series leader.
Payne made a rapid start from the second on the grid, charging past pole-sitter Mostert to grab the early lead.
It looked like a somewhat comfortable lead as well, until the contact with Mostert on the way into Turn 9.
Both went off the road as third-placed Percat swept in to the lead.
Things would get worse for Payne a few moments later, Bryce Fullwood tipping him into a spin at Turn 1 to dump him even further back in the pack.
Mostert, meanwhile, was able to resume inside the top 10 but was swiftly slapped with a five-second time penalty for the contact.
Percat continued to lead however it didn’t take long for the Matt Stone Racing driver to come under pressure from Triple Eight’s Feeney.
Late on Lap 8, Feeney made a play for the lead, he and Percat running side-by-side for several corners. Percat managed to hold onto the lead, while the battle helped Will Brown join the fight.
That proved to be a reprieve for Percat as the two Red Bull drivers duked it out over second place, Brown eventually claiming the spot over Feeney.
Brown then tried to hunt down Percat, but while he could get close, there was no stopping the South Aussie from scoring a second race win for MSR, and a first for himself since 2020.
Mostert finished fourth on the road but dropped to fifth thanks to his penalty, which was good news for Thomas Randle who was promoted to fourth.
Will Davison finished sixth as the sole Dick Johnson Racing car that took part in the race after team-mate Anton De Pasquale retired on the formation lap with a right-rear wheel issue.
Cam Waters dropped back to seventh, having run as high as third early in the race, with Richie Stanaway, David Reynolds and Tim Slade rounding out the top 10.
Results: Race 6, MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint
Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car | Laps | Split |
1 | 10 | Bendix Racing | Nick Percat | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 25:38.3737 |
2 | 87 | Red Bull Ampol Racing | William Brown | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 25:38.7547 |
3 | 88 | Red Bull Ampol Racing | Broc Feeney | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 25:39.3681 |
4 | 55 | Monster Castrol Racing | Thomas Randle | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 25:48.3057 |
5 | 25 | Mobil 1 Optus Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 25:48.4086 |
6 | 17 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 25:52.8134 |
7 | 6 | Monster Castrol Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 25:54.5875 |
8 | 26 | Penrite Racing | Richie Stanaway | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 25:55.4284 |
9 | 20 | Tradie Beer Racing | David Reynolds | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 25:55.9217 |
10 | 23 | PremiAir Nulon Racing | Tim Slade | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 25:56.2960 |
11 | 31 | PremiAir Nulon Racing | James Golding | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 25:57.7776 |
12 | 3 | CoolDrive Racing | Aaron Love | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 26:00.8472 |
13 | 18 | DEWALT Racing | Mark Winterbottom | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 26:01.6684 |
14 | 19 | Penrite Racing | Matthew Payne | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 26:01.9425 |
15 | 99 | Erebus Motorsport | Todd Hazelwood | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 26:06.2134 |
16 | 7 | Snowy River Racing | James Courtney | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 26:07.6709 |
17 | 8 | R&J Batteries Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 26:09.0517 |
18 | 12 | SCT Motorsport | Jaxon Evans | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 26:09.3850 |
19 | 96 | Pizza Hut Racing | Macauley Jones | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 26:10.7011 |
20 | 14 | Middy’s Racing | Bryce Fullwood | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 14 | 26:13.6179 |
21 | 2 | Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing | Ryan Wood | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 26:27.3302 |
NC | 4 | Tyrepower Racing | Cameron Hill | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 13 | 24:01.1597 |
NC | 9 | Erebus Motorsport | Jack Le Brocq | Chev Camaro ZL1 | ||
NC | 11 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Anton de Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT |
Fastest lap (bonus): Thomas Randle, 1:48.4542s, Lap 2
Drivers’ championship
Pos | Driver | Pts |
1 | William Brown | 575 |
2 | Broc Feeney | 558 |
3 | Chaz Mostert | 478 |
4 | Nick Percat | 405 |
5 | David Reynolds | 358 |
6 | Richie Stanaway | 352 |
7 | Matthew Payne | 333 |
8 | Thomas Randle | 304 |
9 | Mark Winterbottom | 303 |
10 | Will Davison | 303 |
11 | Todd Hazelwood | 303 |
12 | Jack Le Brocq | 295 |
13 | James Golding | 278 |
14 | Bryce Fullwood | 265 |
15 | Tim Slade | 261 |
16 | Cameron Waters | 247 |
17 | Andre Heimgartner | 240 |
18 | James Courtney | 236 |
19 | Cameron Hill | 232 |
20 | Macauley Jones | 184 |
21 | Anton de Pasquale | 178 |
22 | Jaxon Evans | 178 |
23 | Aaron Love | 145 |
24 | Ryan Wood | 118 |
Teams’ championship
Pos | Num(s) | Team | Pts | ||
1 | 87 | 88 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | 1133 | |
2 | 19 | 26 | Grove Racing | 685 | |
3 | 18 | 20 | (100) | Team 18 | 661 |
4 | 4 | 10 | Matt Stone Racing | 637 | |
5 | 9 | 99 | Erebus Motorsport | 598 | |
6 | 2 | 25 | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 596 | |
7 | 6 | 55 | Tickford Racing | 551 | |
8 | 23 | 31 | PremiAir Racing | 539 | |
9 | 8 | 14 | Brad Jones Racing | 505 | |
10 | 11 | 17 | Dick Johnson Racing | 481 | |
11 | 3 | 7 | Blanchard Racing Team | 381 | |
12 | 12 | 96 | Brad Jones Racing | 362 |