Podium for Payne and Tander at The Bend 500

The first round of the 2025 Supercars Enduro season has been completed with Penrite Racing scoring a podium in the inaugural two-driver race at The Bend in South Australia.

With Garth Tander joining Matthew Payne in the #19 Ford Mustang and Dale Wood accompanying Kai Allen in the #26 Ford Mustang, the two crews experienced contrasting results as Payne and Tander ended up 3rd, while Allen and Wood finished up with a gallant 15th.

Once again, strategy and impressive stints from both Payne and Tander played a pivotal role in helping their pair claim a podium place as they crossed the line almost 10 seconds ahead of the #1 entry of Will Brown and Scott Pye.

Throughout the whole weekend, Payne and Tander had shown plenty of promise as they finished all of Friday’s practice sessions within the top 10, notching up the 5th, 4th and 6th fastest times respectively.

While that same pace didn’t seem to be there early on Saturday with Tander 16th in Practice 4 and Payne 27th in Practice 5, the team chipped away at the Penrite Mustang’s set-up and found form at the right time, qualifying for the Top 10 Shootout with the 7th fastest time before improving that to 6th during the Shootout.

When it came to the official 500km race, Tander didn’t have the strongest of starts as an attempt to make a pass on the opening lap resulted in the loss of a couple of places before falling to 10th by the end of lap two.

The race eventually settled following the opening few laps and Tander held his position within the top 10 before coming into the pits on lap 21. That decision to undercut some of the drivers ahead paid massive dividends as a quick stop saw him make up a handful of positions.

His second stint proved far more effective than his first and Tander found his way into third once the first round of pit stops had been completed, with a gap of eight seconds separating him and the next best driver.

Tander eventually completed his drive on lap 45 and gave the Mustang to Payne, who went on to enjoy a drama-free stint for the rest of the race as he essentially ran his own race and reached the chequered flag in third place.

For Allen and Wood, the pair had a rollercoaster event as a strong opening stint from Wood helped the duo finish significantly higher than where they began.

During Friday and Saturday’s practice sessions, Allen and Wood showed glimpses of pace with Wood going 3rd fastest in Practice 2 and Allen 9th in Practice 5, however the rising star was unable to replicate that effort and ultimately qualified 23rd.

With Wood on starting duties, the experienced campaigner produced a magnificent charge through the field in the opening few laps, picking up 4 spots by the end of lap one.
By the time Wood had reached lap 15, he had made up another two places to be sitting in 16th and had made almost the most gains of any driver up until that point before eventually giving the car over to Allen 20 laps later.

The youngster had a decent start to his stint by making up some positions early, including on Jamie Whincup, before enduring a tight battle with Jobe Stewart for a top 10 place, where he eventually lost out and fell a couple of positions.

Using the four-stop strategy, Allen sat not far outside the top 10 for the majority of the race with a five-second penalty a bit of a blow to his charge – however the youngster enjoyed a strong finish to the race, powering to 15th overall and finishing with the fastest lap.

Following on from the round, Payne and Tander’s podium finish saw the former extend the buffer over Brown for second, while also closing in on championship leader Broc Feeney’s total pointscore to within 200 points.

The Supercars enduro season continues next month with the iconic Repco Bathurst 1000 to take place at Mount Panorama on 9-12 October.

Really good points for the team today. We’d been on the back foot a little bit with the car this weekend, so it was great to bounce back, make no mistakes, and reward the guys with a podium. The team nailed the strategy in that first pit stop, which gave us clean air to show our true speed. Garth extended the gap really well, and for me it was about keeping the next two stints clean and maintaining the pace. Not a difficult day from my side, but I’m really happy to bring home a podium for the team.

Matt Payne – #19 Ford Mustang

If you told me this morning we’d be on the podium, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. We’ve had a tough weekend and didn’t quite have the car where we wanted it until just before the race, so credit to the team for doing such a great job. My first lap wasn’t great and I lost track position, but the guys brought us back into the game with strategy. Honestly, after the first stop it just felt like I was driving around, then I hopped out and they said we were P3. I don’t know how it worked, but the team did an awesome job. Really happy to finish on the podium, still second in the teams’ championship, and Matt’s closed in on the lead, so looking forward to Bathurst.

Garth Tander – #19 Ford Mustang

Even though it was not the result we wanted, it was still a good way to finish at The Bend. Qualifying hurt us as we had some brake issues. It wasn’t ideal but we bounced back hard.
The car was pretty fast and even though we needed to run the four stop strategy. We probably had the pace and good enough track position early from the good work that Dale did in his stint early in the race, but I am excited to see how we go at Bathurst. We’re now in the top 10 on the championship standings, which is positive, but we’ve got to keep marching forward and getting good results as nothing is safe yet. Dale’s been awesome juggling his double duties which is not easy, but he brings great energy to the team and we’re in a good spot going into the big one.

Kai Allen – #26 Ford Mustang

The first stint was strong and I settled into a really good rhythm. In the second stint, I probably pushed the tyres too hard early and paid for it in the last 10 laps, but overall we still moved forward about nine places. It’s always harder starting further back, but we’ve learned a lot and have something strong to build on heading into Bathurst. I’ve loved working with the team and with Kai — he’s a rising star and fantastic at what he does. I know my role as a co-driver and how to support him, and he does the same for me. Hopefully, all the work we’re putting in pays off at Bathurst and we can fight for a podium.

Dale Wood – #26 Mustang