Coming off his win at the NTI Townsville 500 earlier this month, 21-year-old Kiwi Matt Payne is brimming with confidence as the Repco Supercars Championship heads to Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend.
Grove Racing’s Payne collected his second career win just over a week ago on the streets of Townsville, propelling him to fifth in the Supercars standings heading into the second half of the season.
This weekend’s Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney SuperNight is the only night racing event on the 2024 Supercars calendar, with three full days of on-track action set to kick off on Friday.
Supercars will take to the 3.93-kilometre circuit in Eastern Creek under the lights all three days, with a 90-minute practice session on Friday ahead of two 200-kilometre races across Saturday and Sunday.
Payne is well aware of the vastly different challenges the undulating Sydney Motorsport Park presents compared to the tight streets of Townsville, but believes his squad’s updated engineering philosophy will help them in their quest to return to the top step of the podium this weekend.
The 21-year-old sits 450 points behind championship leader Will Brown heading into the weekend. The Toowoomba native suffered his first hiccup of 2024 in Townsville, crashing on the first lap of the Sunday race and finishing 24th.
Festivities for Supercars’ only night race of 2024 kicks off on Thursday with SuperFest – a free to the public fan event – taking place at Parramatta’s Centenary Square from 5:30pm AEST, featuring a full field signing session.
Live coverage of the Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney SuperNight can be found from Friday on Foxtel, with live streaming available on Kayo.
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