Martt Payne has leapt into title contention after the New Zealand rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship.
The young Kiwi shrugged off a bizarre incident where his Grove Racing Ford Mustang lost a rear wheel and took podium finishes and two historic wins at the first-ever Ruapuna round of the championship. 
The Grove Racing team is emerging as a powerful force in the 2026 championship, with Payne’s team-mate Kai Allen also taking a win a Christchurch.
Payne, 24, had his debut V8 Supercars race in 2022. He won five races last year, including a stunning win at the Repco Bathurst 1000 alongside Garth Tander, and a dominant win in the last race of the season in Adelaide.
Coming out of the New Zealand rounds, he is third on points with 879 points, behind Brodie Kostecki (902) and championship leader Broc Feeney (925). 
All the top five drivers are in Ford Mustangs.
When the 2026 V8 Supercar Championship rolled into Taupo just days ahead of Cyclone Vaianu, drivers in the faced a rare weather-driven challenge. 
The cyclone hit hardest on the Sunday and forced the cancellation of the final day of racing. Organisers added a ‘make-up’ race to the Christchurch event a week later.
Brodie Kostecki had arrived in New Zealand on a roll, having won three of the four races last time out at Melbourne and was sitting on top of the points table. 
He was quick during practice and snatched pole for Saturday’s first race, though his dominance didn’t continue in qualifying for race two where Kiwi driver Ryan Wood grabbed pole in his Toyota. It is the Toyota Supra’s debut year in the championship, and they have proven immediately competitive.
Kostecki was untroubled in the first race of the weekend, taking the win from Will Brown and Wood, with the latter pair locked in battle for most of the race.
Payne finished fifth.
Kostecki wasn’t able to repeat his earlier dominance in Saturday afternoon’s 60-lap race. Ryan Wood led from pole and after the first round of pit stops was comfortably ahead of Will Brown and defending champion Chaz Mostert.
Then with 18 laps remaining, drivers were into pit lane for the last pitstop of the race. As they returned to the circuit Wood had been jumped by Mostert and had Brown and Broc Feeney close behind.
By lap 55, Wood had retaken the lead and took the chequered flag ahead of Feeney and Mostert. It was the first race win for the new Supra.
“It’s pretty special and a big thanks to the team. My dad was probably bawling his eyes out, but my mum was probably a bit tougher. To be honest the last two laps were pretty emotional. I would just like to thank everyone who made it happen,” said Wood.
This year is the first time New Zealand has hosted two rounds of the championship. At Ruapuna, Payne scored pole for race one on Friday but it was his team-mate who took the win. Kai Allen pulled off an undercut to beat Brodie Kostecki in the ITM Christchurch Super440 opener. 
From fourth on the grid, Allen rose to the podium places in a chaotic opening lap before taking two tyres during his pit stop while his primary rivals elected to take four. 
That time saving was critical. Kostecki was second, unable to make the most of his newer rubber, while Ryan Wood completed the podium on a similar strategy. Matt Payne ended up fifth.
The next day, Payne’s weekend looked cursed when he lost a wheel in the morning race, but he recovered in the afternoon to celebrate an emphatic win in the third race.
“Absolutely unreal. Finally got the start nailed. Just drove away, the thing was on rails.”
On the final day, Payne capped off a dominant weekend at Ruapuna with victory in Race 13 of the ITM Christchurch Super 440, leading home a Grove Racing 1-2.
Starting from pole, Payne made a clean start to lead into turn one, while Wood lost ground off the line and dropped to seventh. 
Kai Allen had surged from sixth to third by turn four, and Will Brown moved into second.
Behind them, an early incident involving Jackson Walls, Rylan Gray and Aaron Cameron also collected experienced racer David Reynolds and brought out the safety car.
On the restart, Wood and De Pasquale made contact, dropping De Pasquale down the order. 
Up front, Payne began to edge away as Allen and Brown battled over second.
As pit-stop ‘window’ opened, Allen was among the first to stop, successfully undercutting Brown. 
Payne stayed out longer and built a significant buffer before his first stop on lap 25, rejoining still comfortably in the lead.
As the rest of the field completed their stops, Payne led Allen by just under five seconds, with Feeney, Brown and Kostecki behind.
Wood remained in the mix, inside the top six once pit strategies played out, while Heimgartner had worked his way forward into the top 10.
By lap 40, Payne had extended his lead to 10 seconds. 
The final pit-stops saw Payne rejoin with a nine-second lead over Allen, with Feeney close behind in third. Wood was still in contention inside the top 10, and Heimgartner had climbed to 11th.
With seven laps remaining, Wood’s race came to an abrupt end when his car slowed on the main straight and stopped, bringing out the safety car.
Kai Allen held on behind Payne to defend from Feeney.
Kostecki and Mostert were locked in a very physical duel further back that ended with Kostecki forced off the road by Mostert and spun, dropping to the back. Mostert later received a 30-second penalty.
At the front, Payne remained in control to take a clear win, completing a clean sweep from pole. Allen followed him home for a Grove Racing 1-2, while Feeney finished third.