The Supercars field delivered a hard-fought qualifying session for Race 22 of the 2025 Townsville 500, as Kiwi young gun Matt Payne showed supreme pace to top both qualifying segments and secure provisional pole heading into this afternoon’s Top 10 Shootout.
Session 1:
Qualifying kicked off with Thomas Randle setting the early benchmark at 1:13.936, before Grove Racing’s Matt Payne slotted into second, three tenths adrift. Kiwi rookie Ryan Wood then went one better, briefly pushing Payne to third.
Momentum built rapidly as the times dropped. Jaxon Evans jumped to the top with a 1:13.746, only to be quickly surpassed by James Courtney. Then came a flurry of quick laps, Brodie Kostecki laid down a flyer at 1:13.542, shaking up the order with a two-tenth margin.
With the first round of laps complete, drivers dove into the pits for fresh rubber and fuel, setting the stage for the crucial final flyers. Big names found themselves in danger, Mostert, Brown, Heimgartner, and Feeney all sitting in the bottom six.
Feeney was first to respond, setting the timing screens alight with personal bests across all three sectors. He jumped to the top with a 1:13.062 lap time, nearly half a second clear. Will Brown and Cam Waters quickly followed, with Waters slotting just 0.021s off Feeney’s time.
As the track continued to evolve, lap times levelled up in the final minutes. Chaz Mostert delivered a lightning-fast lap to go second, just 0.015s behind Feeney. Payne, however, saved the best for last, punching in a 1:12.788 to steal the top spot with a margin of 0.169 seconds.
Further down, Bryce Fullwood’s final lap edged out Evans for 18th, bumping the Team Sydney driver into the elimination zone. It was heartbreak, too, for Andre Heimgartner, who finished 21st after being briefly safe mid-session.
Eliminated after Session 1: Aaron Cameron, Jaxon Evans, Andre Heimgartner, Jack Le Brocq, Nick Percat, Macauley Jones
Top 5 in Session 1: Matt Payne, Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters and Kai Allen
Session 2:
With the top 18 moving through to Session 2, the field went back to work under pressure. Thomas Randle again set the tone early with a 1:12.758, followed by Will Brown and Cam Waters. Payne, Cooper Murray, and Richie Stanaway remained in the pits during the first runs.
As drivers returned for their final flying laps, the field was bunched tightly, with Anton De Pasquale, David Reynolds, Chaz Mostert, and others sitting below the cut line. Kostecki opted to gamble, parking his car early to preserve tyres, trusting his banker lap would hold.
But Payne, once again, had other ideas. After going fastest in the final two sectors, he stormed to the top with a 1:12.600, pushing Randle down and reasserting his dominance.
The times kept tumbling in the closing minutes. Kai Allen jumped up to fourth. Will Davison went second. Brown, Mostert, and De Pasquale all delivered competitive laps, pushing Kostecki outside the top 10 by the narrowest of margins.
Wood continued his solid showing, leaping to sixth and confirming Kostecki’s elimination.
Payne then added the exclamation point, going even faster with a scorching 1:12.526, the fastest lap of the weekend, locking in provisional pole and heading confidently into the Top 10 Shootout.
Advancing to the Top 10 Shootout:
- Matt Payne – 1:12.526
- Will Davison +0.159s
- Thomas Randle +0.232s
- Broc Feeney +0.254s
- Will Brown +0.273s
- Ryan Wood +0.273s
- Chaz Mostert +0.278s
- Kai Allen +0.305s
- Anton De Pasquale +0.330s
- Cam Waters +0.378s
11-24 starting grid for Race 22:
11th. Brodie Kostecki +0.407s
12th. Cameron Hill +0.451s
13th. David Reynolds +0.483s
14th. James Golding + 0.493s
15th. Cooper Murray +0.564s
16th. Bryce Fullwood +0.581s
17th. Richie Stanaway +0.632s
18th. James Courtney +0.634s
19th. Aaron Cameron +0.951s
20th. Jaxon Evans + 0.964s
21st. Andre Heimgartner +0.994s
22nd. Jack Le Brocq +1.010s
23rd. Nick Percat +1.148s
24th. Macauley Jones +1.264s
The Top 10 Shootout is yet to come, scheduled for 2.05pm NZST and Race 22 at 5.00pm.
Header Image: Supercars via X
