The team entered the first leg of the New Zealand double header second in the standings, but a difficult weekend in Taupo dropped them back to third place behind Walkinshaw TWG Racing.
Walkinshaw, meanwhile, rocketed from sixth to second in points between Taupo and Christchurch.
Kai Allen won the opening race on Friday afternoon at Ruapuna, while Payne dropped to fourth in the opening lap phantom safety car incident.
At least one Grove Racing car visited the podium in each of the four races at Ruapuna, which elevated the team back to second in the standings.
The only blot on the team’s copy book was Payne’s right rear wheel parting company in the closing of the Saturday opener, which dropped him to a lowly 19th place finish.
The loose wheel resulted in Grove Racing being slapped with a 30-point teams’ championship penalty.
Payne’s flawless performances in Saturday’s second race and on Sunday afternoon, combined with Walkinshaw’s tough end to the weekend still kept the team ahead.
Heading into Round 5 at Symmons Plains, Grove Racing sit just 10 points behind Triple Eight for the teams’ championship lead.
Supercars teams’ championship standings after Round 4 (Christchurch Super440)
1. Triple Eight – 1557
2. Grove Racing – 1547 (up one position)
3. Walkinshaw TWG Racing – 1291 (down one)
4. Tickford Racing – 1249
5. Dick Johnson Racing – 1234
6. Team 18 – 1091
7. Blanchard Racing Team – 992
8. Matt Stone Racing – 976
9. Brad Jones Racing (#8 & #14) – 863
10. PremiAir Racing – 735
11. Erebus Motorsport – 550
12. Brad Jones Racing (#96) – 330
13. Objective Racing – 250
Discussion about this post