Penrite Racing records historic Bathurst 1000 victory in thrilling fashion

Matthew Payne and Garth Tander have scored a remarkable victory at Mount Panorama, securing Penrite Racing’s first-ever Repco Bathurst 1000 victory in what was an unforgettable race.

After six hours and 42 minutes of heart-stopping action, Payne crossed the line to score his maiden Bathurst 1000 win, while for Tander, it was his sixth win – putting him equal with Mark Skaife on the all-time list.

In what was the perfect way to celebrate the beginning of Penrite’s 100th year celebrations, Payne and Tander drove from 18th on the grid to eventually cross the line in second position.

However, following a frantic finish involving four cars that went right down to the final lap, Payne and Tander were ultimately handed the historic victory following a five second penalty to James Golding.

The sensational victory, which saw Payne and Tander make up a race-high 17 places throughout the heavily-interrupted 161-lap affair, also saw the pair claim the Pirtek Enduro Cup following their podium at The Bend last month.

Payne’s Enduro Cup success hands him a bonus 25 points heading into the inaugural finals that start at the Gold Coast street race in two weeks time.

On the other side of the garage, Kai Allen and Dale Wood produced a sensational run themselves to climb 13 positions as they overcame plenty of adversity during the race to reach the chequered flag in eighth.

Despite being involved in the chaos where he was hit from behind on three occasions at Turn 1 and run off the road in each instance, Allen managed to remain within the top 10 for most of the second half before some last-lap heroics saw him snatch ninth to secure a spot in the finals by just three points.

Both crews turned their fortunes on a super Sunday after a challenging lead-up to The Great Race, with Payne struggling to find pace on Friday’s qualifying session and enduring an out-of-character session that had him well out of the top 10.

With Tander behind the wheel of the #19 Ford Mustang for the opening stint, the experienced veteran made an aggressive start that set the tone for the rest of the race, making up four positions on the opening couple of laps.

When Payne got in the car after a strong opening stint from Tander, the Kiwi continued the momentum of his teammate and eventually had the car within the top 10 by lap 41.

Multiple safety cars during the middle stint of the race and rain threatened to derail their progress, however the duo charged their way up the order to move into the top three after which they remained for much of the race.

Payne then battled hard for the outright lead in a thrilling conclusion as he exchanged the lead with Golding and Cooper Murray multiple times – Payne eventually taking advantage of Golding’s penalty to get the win.

More than halfway into the race, Allen got hit from behind for the first time on lap 97 before it happened twice shortly after – the back of the #26 Ford Mustang having taken a beating before Allen went off the track and sustained damage to the underbody.

Despite the multiple incidents, Allen pressed on for a top 10 finish and was aided by a number of retirements. The 20-year-old then lost a couple of positions late in the piece but held on for his ninth place and did enough to secure tenth in the standings.

The historic Supercars Finals season will begin at the Gold Coast 500 on 24-26 October in Surfers Paradise, Queensland.

Matt Payne – #100 Ford Mustang

What a race. What a day. What a long hard race, Payne said. The conditions were so sketchy, but we made a few good changes around the pitstops and the car was pretty good towards the end, just so stoked for all the guys and girls at Penrite Racing and everyone who’s put in so much hard work.

This was definitely on our list of things to win and it’s pretty cool to be able to repay Grove Racing for their faith in me with the win.

This win is certainly important. Especially after the Jason Richards Trophy. That was a really big accomplishment for myself being a Kiwi, so that was pretty cool, but this has to be the best feeling. I’m super stoked to do it with Garth as well. He’s, you know, a veteran of the sport and to get him his sixth is pretty special and also for him to be there for my first is cool, I wouldn’t have done it with anyone else.

Penrite has put a lot of effort into celebrating their 100 years, so it’s pretty cool to repay them with this. I know Toby (Dymond) is pretty stoked and he was here to watch it, so it’s amazing. I’ve known them for a little bit and it’s cool to be a part of history for them and get their second back

 

Garth Tander – #100 Ford Mustang

Obviously this is really satisfying – more so for just being part of the direction of the race team and working with the leadership at Grove Racing to build the team and continue to develop them, Tander said.

I have had more to do with my helmet off for this team than with my helmet on, so to be part of the first Bathurst win for Penrite Racing and Grove Racing is really special.

It’s a pretty cool way to kick off their 100-year celebrations. Obviously announcing the partnership extension with Penrite earlier this week and kicking off those celebrations with a Bathurst win – I don’t think it gets much better than that.

I knew with the weather forecast that it was going to be one of those crazy Bathurst days, but when the weather came, it certainly turned out that way.

 

Kai Allen – #26 Ford Mustang

It was a very chaotic race, said Allen.

It started well. Dale got out of his first stint and the car’s pace was really strong in the dry, so we started to march forward a little bit. Then the race got very interesting when the weather came into play and Dale got back in the car, which he did a good job.

We were floating around the top 10 area, but once I got back in the car we were punching along really strongly, then got absolutely demolished into Turn 1. It destroyed the car pretty much, the rear end was absolutely stuffed.

We didn’t give up, we kept pushing as hard as we could and I was a bit of a target out there. We ended up getting smashed left, right and centre, but it didn’t stop us.

It was an unbelievable job by Matt and Garth. It was unreal. For Stephen and Brenton Grove, and the whole team, they have done an absolutely amazing job, and I couldn’t be happier for them.

One of the positives to our race was that last lap and making the finals. I am absolutely pumped for that, as it was a goal of mine. That is all I wanted to do this year and we did that so now we can march forward. I can’t wait to see how we go on the Gold Coast.

 

Dale Wood – #26 Mustang

That was an unbelievable race. It was an awesome day for Penrite because they got the win.

Obviously I’d love to win Bathurst but if it’s not going to be us, it’s great that it’s your teammate, so that was really cool to see that happen. The way those three to four guys fought at the end – that’s unbelievable – that level that we watched there in those conditions is something else.

Our day was weird, we kept getting right up there and then got hit up the backside three times, which hurt and we just kept getting those setbacks. We could have both been on the podium to be honest but it didn’t happen today.

With that said, still a bloody good day and it’s an amazing feeling to see the owner of Penrite, Toby Dymond here, celebrating the win for their 100-year anniversary is something pretty special.

At the start of the day, when we started out of 18th and 21st, it felt like it’s a long way back and we went a long way into that race with no Safety Cars before it turned on its head. But it was awesome to be a part of it. I’m so proud and happy to be a part of the Penrite team, hopefully we’ve got a couple more to come.

I love being a part of it and seeing what he’s doing. I had the radio on listening to all the talk about Matty winning the race, and then there was the other battle with Kai trying to make the top 10. He made it by three points in the end, which is something special in itself. That keeps him in the game, and now it’s a huge fight to the end of the year.