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Disappointing end for Kiwis in Supercars

Matt Payne Supercars motorsport

New Zealand driver Matt Payne has finished sixth overall in his second full Supercars Championship season.


Payne finished fourth and 23rd at the season-ending Adelaide 500 over the weekend, dropping one spot to sixth, as the five New Zealand drivers on the grid recorded four top-10 finishes on the Adelaide streets.


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Grove Racing's Payne finished just one position off the podium in Race 23 of the season on Saturday, with Brad Jones Racing's Andre Heimgartner seventh and Walkinshaw Andretti United rookie Ryan Wood 10th.


Heimgartner backed it up in Race 24 on Sunday, finishing ninth, while Payne and Wood were both unfortunate and dropped 12 places during the race.


But crashes, in qualifying and races, were the big story for the Kiwis in South Australia.


Grove Racing's Richie Stanaway, who had finished in the top-10 in the previous three races, hit the wall at the turn eight sweeper with 52G force during Friday's qualifying, ending the session early.



Stanaway, who will join PremiAir Racing for next season, took part in Saturday's first practice but was withdrawn due to concussion symptoms, playing no further part in the weekend on the track.


Brad Jones Racing rookie Jaxon Evans suffered the same fate, going hard into the wall at the infamous turn eight during Sunday's qualifying, ruling him out of the season finale.


Payne qualified sixth and moved up to fourth in the top-10 shootout for Saturday's race, a position he held. Evans started seventh but dropped to 19th, Heimgartner started 13th and Wood 15th, both climbing into the top-10.



Payne started 11th in the finale, and was battling in the midfield early on when he collided with Nick Percat, crunching into the barriers, dropping him to last. Heimgartner again rose five spots from starting 14th, while Wood, who was seventh on the grid, finished 19th.


Payne put together 15 top-10s, three podiums and one victory in Townsville in July, finishing more than 1000 points behind the 2024 champion Will Brown.


Heimgartner, who produced 10 top-10s, including a victory in Taupo in April, finished 10th overall, while Wood, with seven top-10s, was 16th, Stanaway, despite nine top-10s, 19th and Evans 23rd.

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