Matthew Payne’s debut Super2 weekend ended in disaster. The young Kiwi crashed headfirst into the tyre wall at the end of turn one.
Payne was in seventh when he flung off the circuit at high speed after a safety car restart.
With the circuit being incredibly wet following a heavy rainstorm, Payne was merely a passenger and he careened into the tyre barrier.
Fortunately, Payne’s Nissan Altima grounded to a halt upon impact and the tyres arrested his speed effectively.
The accident, which also saw several other cars crash, caused a red flag, and the race did not restart.
Zak Best was the leader when the race was canned.
Payne looked to be all right when he emerged from the car, but he will head to the medical centre for precautionary checks.
As for the car, there was heavy damage to the front and it had pushed back into the engine bay.
The crash caps off a rollercoaster weekend for the young debutant.
He starred in practice and qualifying yesterday, landing a front row start for his first-ever race.
However, he stalled on the grid and could only recover to finish 16th.
Today, he started the wet affair in 14th but had climbed seven positions before the accident.
He will have one more weekend in the Super2 at next month’s Bathurst 1000.
