Payne fastest amid quali carnage

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 11 October 2024

Kiwi Matt Payne has provisional pole having flown in a crash-filled Qualifying for the 2024 Bathurst 1000.

Payne’s 2:05.6452 was just enough to eclipse Cameron Waters by 0.0060s in an intense session where many were bitten by the mountain.

The session was effectively punctured in half due to a major crash for David Reynolds.

Reynolds lost it in the Esses and careered head on into the concrete at the final right hander..

Then at the end of the session, Will Davison lost it at the same part of the track, whacking the inside fence hard on approach to The Dipper.

Thankfully both drivers were okay from the incidents with Nick Percat pulling up alongside the #17 and checking in on the DJR veteran.

Amid the drama, the likes of Broc Feeney, Brodie Kostecki, Will Brown, Chaz Mostert, Andre Heimgartner, Jack Le Brocq, Anton De Pasquale and Richie Stanaway joined the top two in booking tickets to the Top 10 Shootout.

James Golding and Cameron Hill were the hard luck stories, just missing out on the one-lap dash.

The full field put the foot down when the light went green for the 40-minute qualifying session.

Although everyone was pushing, no one could get close to Kostecki as he was a full half a second clear of the rest on the opening lap.

His blistering 2:06.1542 was so fast only Reynolds and Waters could come within a second from the opening flyers.

Feeney fired a response on his second lap, closing the deficit to 0.3659s, while Le Brocq set a purple first sector to secure third.

After the opening stanza the Camaros filled the top four with Stanaway the leading Mustang in fifth as Wood sat on the bubble with Hill and Jones just outside.

Mostert could only manage 23rd with his first attempt and backed out from his second following a moment at The Cutting.

But at the 15 minute mark the WAU star finally jumped from 24th to seventh,,

However, it was not long before he bounced back out of the 10 when the likes of De Pasquale, Evans and Davison improved.

Waters was the first to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Kostecki, lowering the benchmark by a tenth to a 2:06.0204.

It was well timed as it arrived moments before the red flag was caused by Reynolds’ major smash.

The Team 18 star had set a personal best first sector and was pushing hard through the Esses, but “lost the rear” as he climbed the kerb at the left hander.

With the #20 unsettled and crossed up, Reynolds could not arrest the car from careering the outside concrete head on.

Reynolds was fourth at the crash, but the reduction of his fastest lap saw him drop to 12th.

It was a case of lightning striking twice with the TRADIE backed car crashing in Friday qualifying for the second year in a row.

“I am fine. I am just really angry that happened,” Reynolds said.

“We were pushing the limits and every now and then this happens. My car was getting better.

“I probably should not have stayed up on the second lap because the tyres start to go away and gets way more skatey.

“I was probably pushing too hard for the conditions and got bitten bad.”

The incident effectively split the session in two with 23 minutes left on the clock.

Despite the Esses being messy due to the clean up, Golding raced out of the blocks with a purple first sector and shot to third.

Le Brocq was another to put his hand up, slotting into second, half a tenth away from Waters, while Mostert made the important rise from 16th to the top five.

But Feeney was flying and became the first to record a 2m05s time with 15 minutes to go.

His 2:05.7745 pushed qualifying into a new phase, being two and a half tenths clear of the pack.

Both Kostecki and Love were lucky to avoid disaster after scraping the wall at “the grate.”

It left the right hand wheels of the #1 Camaro buckled and forced the team to make some adjustments ahead of the final 10 minutes.

With the pressure rising Payne found himself on the bubble, but responded with a personal best to progress to fifth, while Davison’s improvement left Brown in the danger zone ahead of the final run.

Waters was almost another victim as he narrowly escaped the inside concrete wall on approach to Forests Elbow.

He and the rest of the field dived into the pits for new tyres with five minutes left.

At this stage Feeney, Waters, Le Brocq, Stanaway, Payne, Kostecki, Golding, Mostert, Wood and Davison were making the Shootout, with Heimgartner and critically Brown just outside as only six tenths covered the top 13.

Waters was the only one to set a purple sector on the opening assault and did enough to snare P1 from Feeny by 0.0053s.

But straight away Payne knocked him off by an even smiler margin.

The likes of Brown, Heimgartner and Mostert made important gains into the 10 as just 0.1436s covered the top six.

Davison tried to do something similar from 14th, but found the oil left by Reynolds and suffered a sickening impact at The Dipper.

He whacked the inside wall hard which left the veteran a touch shaken as Percat arrived on the scene and decided to pull up alongside and check on the DJR driver.

Thankfully the #17 driver was okay and the pair embraced out of the car.

Grid positions 11-26 are now locked in for the 2024 Bathurst 1000.

As 15 now focus on the race, the lucky 10 look forward to having the mountain all to themselves tomorrow.

2024 Bathurst 1000 Qualifying results

2024 Bathurst 1000

Practice 1: 1: Matt Payne 2:07.2941 2: Cameron Waters +0.0366 3: Will Brown +0.0373

Practice 2: 1: J. Whincup 2:07.4788 2: C. Murray +0.0370 3: J. Ojeda +0.1860

Practice 3: 1: B. Feeney 2:06.7842 2: T. Randle +0.0614 3: J. Courtney +0.0700

Practice 4: 1: B. Kostecki 2:06.1820 2: C. Waters +0.1636 3: B. Feeney +0.3455

Qualifying: Fri 16.15-16.55

Practice 5: Sat 10.05-11.05 (co drivers)

Practice 6: Sat 13.05-14.05 (all drivers)

Top 10 Shootout: Sat 17.05

Warm up: Sun 8.15-8.35

Bathurst 1000: Sun 11.30 (161 laps)

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