Penrite and Tickford Racing chasing trophies after big rebuilds

The badly bruised Mustangs of Matt Payne and Cam Waters are ready to race for trophies today after both Penrite and Tickford burnt the midnight oil.

Following a last-corner clash that took both Payne and Waters out from the lead on lap 2 of Saturday’s Race 5, both Tickford and Penrite Racing faced big nights on the tools to ensure their drivers can race in today’s Melbourne SuperSprint finale which begins at the early time of 10.25 AEDT.

Both crews worked into the early hours of Sunday morning to ensure Payne and Waters can line up on the grid from second and third respectively today.

The Tickford crew had the longest night, working until almost 3am but Team Manager Matt Roberts confirmed the new chassis is ready to race.

“We left at around quarter to three this morning,” Roberts told AUTO ACTION.

“There was a lot of damage that not everyone could see in pretty much every corner bar the right rear and a lot of work has gone underneath the panels.

“There was a lot of chassis damage. It ripped out the centre section bars to the firewall to the front clip.

“Tremendous from the crew, the fabricators stitched it all back together.

“It was not the way we wanted to debut a new car and hopefully it has good speed today and we can fight for the podium.”

The Penrite Racing crew also had a late night, focusing on the right-hand rear side of the car, which suffered significant suspension damage with the wheel out of place after impact.

“The car is all repaired and ready to race. David (Cauchi) left around 1.30am,” Penrite Racing Team Owner Brenton Grove confirmed to AUTO ACTION.

In terms of the incident itself both teams naturally had different sides of the story, while the officials believed both Waters and Payne contributed to the accident and therefore no penalty was imposed.

But Grove was more concerned by Waters’ actions after the clash where the Tickford driver opened Payne’s door to have a word before slamming it shut.

“At the end of the day it was a racing incident,” Grove said.

“I think both of them had a part to play. We obviously apportioned it a lot more to Cam.

“As a team we were far more disappointed with how Cam reacted afterwards.

“We are pretty protective of our employees and drivers so the fact that he came up and had a go at Matt when he was in the wrong and touched our car does not sit well with us, but I am sure we will have a discussion with him at some point.”

“You have two guys racing into the one corner,” Roberts recalled.

“Whether Matt saw Cam or not from our point of view it is what it is.

“Disappointing to hear from Cauchi that Cam got what he deserves. I don’t quite agree with that.

“You had two guys racing into the one area and they clipped wheels and both ended up in the fence.

“Both were at fault. Not one. They were battling prior to turn 13 and it is high stakes. They were going for it. 

“I don’t think we got what we deserved but it is what it is.”

Looking forward to the fourth and final race at 10.25 both Ford teams are desperate for the silverware it missed out on yesterday. 

“We have come here with really good speed,” Roberts said.

“Our focus was maximising qualifying and we have good grid positions for the race.

“They have not unfolded we would have liked them to have but we are certainly looking for a podium today.

“It would be a good reward for all the hard work they have done.”

“We were so disappointed yesterday because the cars were so strong,” Grove said.

“I think once Matt got the pass done he would have checked out and just managed the race.

“If we can hopefully put ourselves in the same position off the start rather than having to pass we should have enough pace to fight for the win.” 

Supercars Australian Grand Prix schedule

Thursday, March 21

Practice 1: 1: M. Jones 2: M. Payne 3: C. Waters

Practice 2: 1 B. Feeney 2: C. Waters 3: A. De Pasquale

Qualifying R3 Qualifying R4 Poles B. Feeney, C. Waters

Race 3: 1: B. Feeney 2: W. Brown 3: M. Payne

Friday, March 22

Race 4 (20 laps): 1: W. Brown 2: M. Winterbottom 3: M. Payne

Saturday, March 23

Qualifying R5: 1: M. Payne 2: C. Waters 3: C. Mostert

Qualifying R6: 1: C. Mostert 2: M. Payne 3: C. Waters

Race 5 (14 laps): 1: B. Feeney 2: W. Brown 3: C. Mostert

Sunday, March 24

Race 6 (14 laps): 10.25-10.55

Don’t forget the latest issue of Auto Action available via subscription here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ – the only place you’ll get to read the full story. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.