Matt Payne makes it back-to-back Supercars wins at Ruapuna, but despair for fellow Kiwi Ryan Wood

Sunday, 19 April 2026

With one hand on the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, Ryan Wood’s dream moment was ripped away in an instant.

Sitting in seventh spot and on track for the special piece of silverware awarded to the leading driver across the New Zealand doubleheader, Wood was dealt a sucker punch late in Sunday’s 200km Supercars feature race.

Canterbury motorsport fans sat stunned and heart-broken as Wellingtonian Wood’s hopes of lifting the trophy disappeared at Ruapuna Raceway with engine failure forcing him out of the race late.

Wood’s consistent racing across the first Kiwi Supercars doubleheader in history, including a feature race win in Taupō last weekend, had him on track to become the fourth New Zealander to lift the trophy, named in honour of beloved Nelson driver Richards, who died of cancer in 2011.

Wood cut a disconsolate figure as he sat on the side of the track with his head in his hands reflecting on the pain.

Australian Broc Feeney benefited from Wood’s heartbreak to capture the JR Trophy. Brodie Kostecki, who held the championship lead going into Sunday, attempted to pass Chaz Mostert late in the race, but went flying through the grass after a big collision. Kostecki was also hit with a 30-second penalty on a rough day, where he fell to second in the championship standings.

It was not all doom and gloom for Canterbury racegoers with Pukekohe- raised Matt Payne going back-to-back in another dominant performance in his Ford Mustang to take the feature race.

Payne triumphed from Penrite Racing team-mate Kai Allen, who placed second for Grove Racing’s first one-two result in history. Feeney, who nabbed third, benefited from Kostecki’s late race mishap to take the championship lead by 23 points.

Payne’s victory moved him to third in the championship, while Wood slipped to sixth after his misfortune.

South Island petrolheads have had to wait for what felt like an eternity to host Supercars for the first time and won’t forget this experience any time soon. In their first live taste watching Australasia's premier motorsport category at Ruapuna, Cantabrians came out in their droves. Officially 60,806 attended over the three days with both Saturday and Sunday’s racing sold out.

Ruapuna completed a first-time Kiwi doubleheader, following on from Taupō last weekend, something the two circuits will do for at least the next two years.

As he did in Saturday’s victory, Payne, who again qualified first, started brilliantly, putting the pressure quickly on his rivals.

The drama arrived early in the feature race with the safety car out in just the second lap after a three-car smash with Aaron Cameron, who had qualified ninth, and Rylan Gray both done for the day.

Halfway through the 61-lap race, Payne was right where he wanted to be, leading from Allen and Feeney.

To say it had been an eventful weekend for Payne would be an understatement.

The Christchurch round started ominously for him after safety car dramas in Friday’s opening race, where he fell back several spots and had to settle for fourth. Payne must have thought it was not going to be his weekend when he lost his rear right wheel after a pit stop blunder in Saturday’s first race.

Those incidents could have easily derailed his Ruapuna round, but he did not let it define him.

Payne produced a near perfect drive to take out the final race on Saturday for his eighth career win and third on New Zealand soil after two Taupō wins last year. It was emphatic stuff from Payne, who won by more than 11 seconds.

Sunday’s triumph was just as clinical.

“I knew we were going to have a good car today. [Engineer] Jack’s [Bell] made some really good changes overnight and even qualifying we had margin every time. It was really nice to have a quick car. Just being able to execute,” Payne said.

“That was the perfect race for us… We’re just damn fast and it was damn enjoyable.”

Even after his misfortune to start the weekend, Payne never got down on himself. He always had belief in the car, despite circumstances outside his control to start the round, and that came to fruition in the final two races.

“I felt pretty calm before the race. I knew what I had to do and if I could do that I was going to be okay. We just did that and executed, and it was perfect. I knew once we had the start we were going to have a pretty good opportunity to carry on with it.”

Supercars takes a four week break from racing until the next round, the Tasmania Super 440, in Launceston from May 22-24.

Supercars drivers’ championship after 13 races:

1. Broc Feeney: 925

2. Brodie Kostecki: 902

3. Matt Payne: 879

4. Cam Waters: 787

5. Kai Allen: 728

6. Ryan Wood: 726