Race 13 of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship at Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania delivered a jaw-dropping spectacle from lights out to chequered flag — a race brimming with chaos, comebacks, penalties, and an electrifying final-lap duel.
In a dramatic showdown, Kiwi young gun Matt Payne held off a storming Broc Feeney by just five one-hundredths of a second to claim his first victory of the season and headline a commanding day for New Zealand drivers.
Shock Grid Sets the Stage for Mayhem
Qualifying set the tone with major shocks: Chaz Mostert, Will Davison, and Brodie Kostecki all languished outside the top 20, while Kiwi rookie Ryan Wood lined up on the front row alongside championship leader Will Brown.
Poleman Brown got a clean start as the race got underway, but James Golding launched like a rocket, snatching the lead into Turn 2 as chaos erupted.
After tight early contact, Anton De Pasquale was the first to suffer, finding himself in the gravel at Turn 1.
Further carnage ensued as Kai Allen and Cooper Murray came together on the exit of Turn 1, sending Murray spinning and Allen into the pits with severe front and suspension damage.
Both would rejoin many laps down, with Murray later copping a 15-second penalty for the incident.
Early Fireworks as Midfield Explodes:
Cam Waters made early progress, climbing to second before Wood muscled past Brown to reclaim third. But the real drama erupted on Lap 3 as Richie Stanaway, Brown, and Thomas Randle went three-wide into Turn 6. Randle emerged best to claim fifth, while Brown began to slip down the order.
Moments later, Feeney executed a bold move on Wood at Turn 4 to steal third place.
Further back, chaos continued. Mostert tapped James Courtney at Turn 4, triggering a domino effect that saw Courtney punt Will Davison into Jack Le Brocq, spinning the latter around and sending the trio tumbling to the rear. Race Control deemed Mostert the culprit and handed him a 15-second penalty.
Strategic Battles and Penalty Parade:
By Lap 20, the drama shifted to the pit lane. Mostert served his penalty, rejoining a lap down. Macauley Jones was then dive-bombed by Aaron Cameron at Turn 4, with Cameron also picking up a 15-second penalty.
Amid the madness, Ryan Wood and Cam Waters traded paint in a bruising duel for third, with Wood finally edging clear and pulling away.
Meanwhile, the Kiwi contingent was thriving: Stanaway held firm in seventh, Payne climbed to eighth, Evans was ninth, and Heimgartner, who had started 19th, was already up to 15th and charging hard.
Disaster for Kostecki, Safety Car Shakes It Up:
The race flipped on its head on Lap 29 when Bryce Fullwood exited pit lane on cold tyres and clashed with Kostecki at Turn 3, sending the #38 DJR Mustang heavily into the wall. Kostecki retired on the spot, triggering a safety car.
Golding and Feeney pitted, with Feeney beating Golding out of pit lane to take track position. Payne and Cameron Hill opted for back-to-back pit stops under the caution — a risky move, but one that would later prove crucial.
Others to double-stop under the safety car included Reynolds, Randle, De Pasquale, Le Brocq, Fullwood, and Allen.
Now, it was a question of tyre life and fuel economy: could they stretch it to the end?
Mid-Race Battles Heat Up as Kiwis Charge Forward:
At the restart, Feeney surged ahead and set the race’s fastest lap (51.764s), while the action intensified behind.
Mostert ran off at Turn 2 after Stanaway nudged him while attempting to avoid being lapped.
Heimgartner, continuing his remarkable climb, picked off Hill for seventh, making it a four-Kiwi presence in the top 10.
Feeney began to extend his lead — four seconds, then six — as he looked to build a buffer before his final pit stop. Wood, still fighting, muscled past Golding to snatch second with 25 laps remaining, putting another Kiwi into a podium spot.
Final Stops Trigger Grandstand Finish:
Stanaway pitted with 22 laps to go, followed by Jones.
De Pasquale also dived into the pits, battling ongoing shifting issues, but despite the team’s efforts, he was ultimately unable to rejoin the race.
With 20 laps left, Feeney dove in for his final stop, delayed slightly by a left-rear wheel issue, rejoining eighth. Wood briefly inherited the lead before stopping himself, and emerged just behind Feeney.
That handed control of the race to Payne, who vaulted to the front thanks to his earlier double-stop strategy. With everyone else needing to claw back time, Payne held a 16-second lead over Feeney. But Feeney was flying.
In a nail-biting run to the finish, Feeney carved through Reynolds and Randle to climb to third.
With 12 laps to go, the gap to Payne was 8.5 seconds. Then 6.7. Then 4.0. The countdown was on.
With seven laps remaining, Feeney took second from Brown — likely via team orders — and was now just four seconds behind the flying Kiwi.
Lap after lap, he closed in: 1.7 seconds with four to go, 1.1 with three, then just 0.6 with two laps remaining.
Epic Last-Lap Duel: Payne vs. Feeney:
As the final lap began, Feeney was on Payne’s bumper. Every corner became a battleground. Feeney tried the outside at Turn 4, but Payne held firm. Defensive lines, elbows out, maximum pressure — Payne soaked it all up.
Feeney darted out for one last lunge in a drag race to the line. The margin? Just 0.05s — a photo finish that gave Matt Payne a sensational maiden victory of 2025 and lit up the Apple Isle in a blaze of Kiwi glory.
“That was a pretty cool race man, I knew it was going to be seriously tight there at the end,” Payne beamed.
“The car actually really held onto it’s tyres really well, we ran four greens which helped, so it’s just unreal. The battle at the end, once I got through the hairpin I knew I could cover him down the back here, but he still put up a good fight.
“It’s so good to win here, we’ve struggled here so much and it’s definitely hard work pays off.”
Top 10 Finishers – Kiwi Takeover:
Payne’s win was the headline, but the results sheet read like a celebration of New Zealand talent:
- Matt Payne (NZL) – Grove Racing
- Broc Feeney – Triple Eight
- Will Brown – Triple Eight
- James Golding – PremiAir Racing
- Richie Stanaway (NZL) – PremiAir Racing (A Top 5 finish for his 100th Supercars race)
- David Reynolds – Team 18
- Ryan Wood (NZL) – Walkinshaw Andretti United
- Andre Heimgartner (NZL) – Brad Jones Racing
- Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing
- Cameron Hill – Matt Stone Racing
Jaxon Evans narrowly missed out, finishing 11th by just one-tenth of a second, while Chaz Mostert and Will Davison ended a torrid day outside the top 15.
Verdict: Race of the Season?
Symmons Plains has delivered one of the season’s most chaotic, exciting, and strategic races so far. From early carnage and relentless wheel-to-wheel duels to bold pit gambles and a nail-biting final lap, Race 13 had it all.
And for the Kiwi faithful, it was a day to remember — a stunning win for Matt Payne and four New Zealanders in the Top 10 underlined their rising influence in the 2025 Supercars Championship.
The 2025 Supercars Championship will resume at the Perth Super 440 on June 6-8.
Header Image: Supercars
