Matt Payne may have crossed the line second, but thanks to a well-timed penalty against James Golding, he took home the gold in his first Bathurst 1000 race.
With wet weather causing chaos at Mount Panorama and safety cars deployed, this year’s race is being hailed as the most exciting in years – a fact proven true with the ratings. The showdown reached a total TV national reach of just shy of 4 million and a national average of 1,493,000, placing it in third overall and first among the non-news programs.
With five laps to go, it looked like Cooper Murray might be home free, but Golding’s decision to overtake Murray proved detrimental, spinning them both out and gifting Payne the lead. Golding regained control and raced to the lead once more, but not without receiving a five-second penalty that would prove to be his downfall as the race closed out.
“It’s absolutely insane,” Payne said upon his win. “On the wet when I got back in the car, it felt like forever”.
“I saw Jimmy get into the side of Cooper and I kind of predicted that would happen … but a win’s a win, we’ll take it.”
Payne’s win makes him the 67th driver to win the iconic Supercars race.
