Kiwi Matt Payne has taken out the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy after his second race victory at the ITM Taupō Super 440 held at the Taupo International Motorsport Park.
The Penrite Racing driver took the lead from Cameron Hill on lap 8 of the 61-lap affair, and was never headed from there through two pit cycles to win Race 10 of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship.
Payne emerged behind Hill in second position after a frantic first lap, after pole-sitter Brodie Kostecki was carted wide by Ryan Wood through the fast Turn 8. After passing Hill for the lead, Payne was peerless, joining Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin as Kiwi winners of the Richards Trophy.
Hill and Chaz Mostert completed the podium ahead of Kostecki and Thomas Randle, with Broc Feeney stunning with fastest lap points amid a charge from 20th to seventh.
Andre Heimgartner, Feeney, Will Brown, Will Davison and James Golding rounded out the top 10. Cam Waters, who started 18th, finished 12th.
“It’s pretty special, it’s pretty incredible, I’m pretty lost for words really,” Payne said. “That was a really long race, a really long time out in front, I managed to get the lead pretty early on which I knew I had to do, but absolutely lost for words, just so cool.”
Payne joins Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin as New Zealand-born winners of the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy.
“That’s probably the one I wanted most,” said the 22-year-old, who also won the 2023 Adelaide 500.
“I woke up this morning thinking about it, probably spent most of the day thinking about it, but I knew that I just needed to park it and run my own race, and that’s literally what we focused on.
“To be standing here and finally getting that in our hands is super special for myself being a New Zealander, and what Jason achieved and his legacy, and who he was as a person.
The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440 on May 9-11.
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