Matthew Payne has converted his pole position to a confident win in Race 23 at Perth, while Ryan Wood brought home second, and Andre Heimgartner finished in eighth after a great recovery drive.
Cam Waters got a great start to sweep around the outside of Payne, while Wood moved past Thomas Randle to make it a Kiwi 2-3. Heimgartner was able to hold position,
Rylan Grey soon started to put pressure on Heimgartner, with both Dick Johnson Racing cars putting pressure on the Kiwi. By lap five, Grey, Brodie Kostecki, and Anton de Pasquale had all moved past.
At the front, Payne made a move into the last corner to get past Waters, while Wood did the same. Wood was able to carry enough momentum to close right up to the rear of Payne across the start/finish line, and Payne used his elbows to force Wood to the grass to keep the lead.
Payne and Wood soon started to pull away from the drivers behind, with Heimgartner falling down to eleventh.
After ten laps Payne held a second lead over Wood, with Waters and Allen behind.
Heimgartner started to be caught in a battle of his own as tenth to sixteenth were bumper to bumper into turn 1 by lap eighteen. Heimgartner sat behind teammate Cameron Hill, but ahead of Will Brown.
Out front, Allen managed to get past Waters to take third, while the Kiwi duo of Payne and Wood continued to look comfortable out front.
Payne and Wood started to pull away as the pit window opened, but the drivers who had pitted were on average, half a second quicker.
Wood headed into the lane on lap twenty-eight, with de Pasquale also coming in. Wood elected for four tyres as Payne was called in a lap later.
Chaz Mostert was the biggest winner in strategy, sitting in a hugely improved position compared to where he started.
Paynes stop when smoothly but Waters had a clunky stop, putting Payne back in the net lead while Waters fell right down the order. This left the #6 of Waters in a net eleventh from fourth.
Payne maintained a two and a half second lead over Wood by lap thirty, and that had extended to three seconds by lap thirty-eight.
Meanwhile, Heimgartner sat in eighth, taking advantage of pit-stop issues for Waters and Feeney.
The battle between Allen and Kostecki boiled over as Allen barged Kostecki out of the way into Turn 1, leaving the #17 beached in the notorious Wanneroo sand trap, bringing out the first safety car.
The stewards announced that there would be no further action for the incident, meaning Allen kept fifth for the moment.
The race resumed with seven laps to go, and Payne started to pull away while Wood had to defend from his teammate.
Heimgartner started to make moves through the field, as he got past Randle with five laps to go.
In a league of his own, Payne started to run away as he pulled the gap out to almost three seconds in three laps. Behind him, Allen, Mostert, and Waters all got their elbows out as they muscled their way through the last corner.
Feeney also started to show his pace when it mattered, holding the fastest lap and sitting in seventh.
Wood was also able keep his nose clean to keep second place, meaning it was a Kiwi 1-2.
Heimgartner was able to bring home eighth in a great recovery drive, after a tricky first stint.
This result also crowns Ford as Manufacturers Champions for the season.
Drivers do not have much time to enjoy this result, with the next race at 8:20pm NZST tonight.
