The team has confirmed to Speedcafe that Payne suffered a wrist injury while training in Victoria just over a week ago.
Payne has since been undergoing rehabilitation on the wrist ahead of the resumption of the championship at Symmons Plains on May 22-24.
“Matt fell off his pushbike in a training accident and hurt his wrist bracing himself in the fall,” Grove CEO Brenton Grove confirmed to Speedcafe.
“There’s no worry that he won’t be right for Tassie. He’s going through his own personal rehab and training.
“From a team perspective we’re not that much involved because it’s relatively low impact.
“We’re business as usual focusing on getting ready for Tassie.”
Grove dismissed any suggestion of a repeat of the dramatic scenes at Sandown in 2021 when Shane van Gisbergen made a painful early return from injury.
Van Gisbergen strapped into his Triple Eight Holden just two weeks after breaking his collarbone and cracking three ribs in a mountain bike accident.
The Kiwi raced from 17th on the grid in the opening race to score one of the most memorable victories of his Supercars career.
Payne is part of a new wave of Kiwi stars and will head to Tasmania following two wins on home soil last time out at Ruapuna.
The Sunday victory came as part of a one-two finish with teammate Kai Allen, who had scored his maiden career win two days earlier.
Payne currently sits third in the championship, his form seemingly unaffected by ongoing speculation over a mooted move to General Motors.



























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