In AUTO ACTION’s latest issue, our Supercars guru Andrew Clarke had a one-on-one sit down on the Gold Coast with Supercars rookie Matt Payne to talk about his journey from Auckland and Karting to the main game, where his promise and talent is really starting to show.
Clarke also talks to Grove Racing Team Principal Dave Cauchi, to get the take on Payne from his perspective.
Payne showed at the Gold Coast 500 that he’s not far away from being a dangerous proposition in the main game
Matt Payne’s rookie season has confirmed the faith of Stephen Grove in accelerating the young Kiwi into the Supercars series. Andrew Clarke sat with Payne on the Gold Coast.
Matt Payne’s story is not too unfamiliar. A young child – in this case, a five-year-old boy – gets his or her bum in a kart thanks to parents who like car racing. They try it a few times and as the speed increases, so does the desire to go faster.
Then, for some, the desire to beat others comes into play. A desire to not let people pass you and an eye for balancing risk and reward come into play. The elite quickly rise to the top. Those blessed with a bit of mongrel, as Mark Skaife would say, start taking scalps and climbing the motorsport tree.
Hopefully, you get noticed, which is a factor of many inputs. Experienced talent spotters can do it from a young age. The story of Ron Dennis plucking a young Lewis Hamilton and accelerating his journey is one of the more famous.
Always wanting to learn, Payne watches the screens with Penrite’s Technical Director Grant McPherson
But we have talent spotters too. We have team owners and other advisers all looking for the next Lowndes or van Gisbergen, two drivers equally as talented but at other ends of the introversion-extroversion scale. People like ex-Supercar driver Michael Patrizi who picked Payne up and put him in the karting team – PatriziCorse – and took him to the KZ2 World Cup where Payne started fourth out of hundreds.
Hailing from just outside Auckland, Matt Payne was spotted, not quite as early as Hamilton, but he was spotted. After karting, he dominated his move into racing cars with a win in the Toyota series in New Zealand. Five wins from nine races and the Championship. He also had some races for Earl Bamber in the Australian Carrera Cup Series, which is where he met Stephen Grove with a couple of nudges…
To read the full story and to read about Matt Payne’s point of view on his rise into Supercars and his own take on his rookie season, pick up the newest edition of AUTO ACTION, available now, via the link below.
AUTO ACTION’s latest issue #1873, is out now in its digital form downloadable right here, and available in all good newsagents and stockists near you on Thursday, continuing on as Australia’s most trusted independent voice in motorsport.
Have we finally reached parity in Supercars with two Ford wins on one weekend, or was it just the nature of the track? It’s a no-holds-barred discussion with Auto Action’s Andrew Clarke, Bruce Williams and Paul Gover. #Supercars #F1 #AutoAction
Listen to our latest podcast episode here or on your podcast app of choice.
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