Payne scores Saturday Townsville win as De Pasquale stars

Dick Johnson Racing driver Brodie Kostecki led the opening stanza but had his hopes cruelled by a slow pit stop.

Payne inherited the lead after Kostecki’s tyre trauma and was never challenged as he stretched his advantage to more than 10 seconds.

It’s the first win for Payne since the fourth race of the Christchurch Super440 weekend.

“I didn’t get a great start, but managed to stay in second,” he said.

“The guys did an excellent job in the pit lane and [I] saved a bit of fuel, which helped us with track position.

“It’s just great to drive around here. It felt a bit lonely at times, but I’d rather that than battling in the pack.”

While it was a dominant display from Payne, there were plaudits for Anton De Pasquale and Team 18.

They executed an impressive strategy that vaulted the Camaro from 11th to second.

“The car was a lot better then. We had a little swing at it and the guys did a good job to give me a fresher tyre and clean air to use that speed,” he said.

“I was hoping it was going to cough across the line because I was saving fuel for a long time. But we had enough margin to Brodie to play it on the safe side.”

Team mate on team mate contact for BRT on Lap 1 in Townsville!!!

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Initially, Kostecki got the jump on Payne who found himself vulnerable to an attack from fast starter Thomas Randle.

The Tickford Racing driver looked like he might snag second but the Grove Racing Mustang ran around his outside at Turn 2 to maintain his starting position.

James Golding’s good qualifying unravelled on the opening lap when the right rear corner of his Blanchard Racing Team Mustang got caved in off the nose of teammate Aaron Cameron.

So bad was the rubbing that the right rear tyre popped entering Turn 11 and forced Golding into an unscheduled pit stop on the opening lap.

At the end of Lap 1, the top three were unchanged. Cameron Waters (Tickford Racing) and Ryan Wood (Walkinshaw TWG) swapped positions to be fourth and fifth respectively.

Anton De Pasquale (Team 18) was the biggest mover on the first lap to sixth from 11th ahead of Kai Allen (Grove Racing), Will Brown (Triple Eight), Aaron Cameron and Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw TWG).

By Lap 8, Triple Eight’s Broc Feeney had cracked the top 10, making up eight positions from where he started following his lacklustre qualifying.

Tickford Racing wildcard Reuben Goodall was given a five-second penalty for shot-cutting Turn 2 on the opening lap.

Zach Bates wound up facing the wrong way when Goodall got into the back of the Matt Stone Racing Camaro at the final turn.

Goodall was given a 15-second penalty on top of his earlier sanction to serve during the first round of pit stops.

Payne was the first to blink on Lap 19, pitting out of second with a 1.2-second deficit to Kostecki. Mostert, who had just been overtaken by Feeney for ninth, followed suit.

A disaster pit stop for race leader Brodie Kostecki!

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Kostecki responded on Lap 20, pitting out of the lead. In a brutal blow to his chances, the left rear wheel was slow to go on and cost him valuable time.

De Pasquale led the Chevrolet contingent and ran long, finally pitting on Lap 30.

Once the field was cleansed, Payne led Randle to the tune of 10 seconds. He led a gaggle of cars, including Waters, Kostecki, Wood, Brown, Allen, Feeney, De Pasquale and Mostert.

De Pasquale’s decision to run long began to pay dividends in the second stint. By Lap 36, he had dispatched Allen, Brown and Wood to crack the top five.

Fifth became fourth on Lap 38 for De Pasquale with a pass on Kostecki and on Lap 40, De Pasquale dispatched Waters for third.

What a crazy two laps between Will Brown, Ryan Wood, Kai Allen and Chaz Mostert!!!

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A spirited battle pack emerged for sixth onwards, headed by Brown and Wood.

On Lap 41, seventh-placed Allen looked to Wood’s inside at Turn 11. The Walkinshaw TWG Toyota went defensive and closed the door on the Grove Mustang.

At the apex, Allen got loose and made light contact with Wood’s right front wheel and bent the steering. Wood parked his car momentarily before limping back to the pits.

Allen pulled into the pits just seconds after the clash, following in Kostecki who began the second round of pit stops in earnest.

De Pasquale’s march forward continued on Lap 43 with a pass on Randle at the penultimate turn. At that point, Payne led De Pasquale by 11 seconds.

Randle pitted on Lap 45 from third and lost a position to Kostecki, whose undercut came good.

Payne pitted for the final time on Lap 50 with De Pasquale in tow, putting them on level pegging.

On corrected order, Payne led Kostecki by six-and-a-half seconds. Randle was third and De Pasquale fourth – albeit on newer tyres than the two cars ahead of him – while Waters was fifth.

Randle’s podium hopes were thwarted on Lap 53 when De Pasquale got by at Turn 11.

On Lap 55, De Pasquale dispatched Kostecki at the final turn.

De Pasquale went into conservation mode thereafter, saving fuel deluxe. That brought Kostecki back into the picture in the fight for second, though the Dick Johnson Racing Mustang ultimately never challenged the Team 18 Camaro.

At the front, Payne clinched victory by 15 seconds over De Pasquale. Kostecki was third and just seven tenths in arrears.

Waters and Randle completed the top five for Tickford Racing ahead of Brown, Mostert, Feeney,
Jack Le Brocq and David Reynold.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship NTI Townsville 500, Race 2