Matthew Allen "Matt" Payne (born 3 October 2002) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

racing driver from

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. He is currently competing in the

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

with

Grove Racing Grove Racing is an Australian motor racing team that's previously competed in various series, including the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship and Super2 Series. The team is making its debut in the Supercars Championship in 2022. They w ...

, driving the No. 19

Ford Mustang GT The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its seventh generation, it is the fifth-best sel ...

Racing career

Toyota Racing Series

After turning heads with his karting success, Payne tested the FT-50 (older spec TRS) and impressed immediately with confirmation coming in December 2020 that Payne would contest the full three round

2021 Toyota Racing Series The 2021 Castrol Toyota Racing Series was the seventeenth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheel motorsport category held in New Zealand. The series consisted of nine races at three meetings. It began on 24 January at Hampto ...

for M2 Motorsport. The 2021 New Zealand Grand Prix was the opening round of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

and was held at

Hampton Downs Motorsport Park The Hampton Downs Motorsport Park is situated in rural northern Waikato (about halfway between Auckland and Hamilton on the Waikato Expressway), New Zealand near the Meremere drag strip and the dirt track club. History The motorsport park i ...

, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

the series lacked international drivers. To compensate the event organizers called on experienced

racing drivers such as

Shane Van Gisbergen Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989), also known by his initials SVG, is a New Zealand professional auto racing, racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, C ...

Greg Murphy Gregory David Murphy (born 23 August 1972) is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and James May presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first in ...

Andre Heimgartner Andre Emil Heimgartner (born 8 June 1995) is a New Zealand motor-racing driver who currently competes in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

to heighten the quantity and quality of the field. Payne impressed in his open-wheel debut finishing third in all three races over the weekend including the NZGP. Payne went on to win five of the remaining six races, winning the

conformably over second placed

Kaleb Ngatoa Kaleb Ngatoa (born 11 May 2001), is a New Zealand Māori motor racing driver. Career Before his switch to car racing, Ngatoa was one of the country's most successful karting talents. He started karting in 2011 and immediately shot to prominen ...

.Australia-bound Payne wins Toyota Racing Series title
Speedcafe 15 February 2021

Racing record

Career summary

* Season still in progress

Toyota Racing Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete New Zealand Grand Prix results

Australian Carrera Cup Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded all races) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded)

Super2 Series results

( key) (Race results only)

Supercars Championship results

Bathurst 1000 results

European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Matthew 2002 births New Zealand racing drivers Toyota Racing Series drivers 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Living people Supercars Championship drivers M2 Competition drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24H Series drivers Karting World Championship drivers Kelly Racing drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Australia drivers Racing drivers from Auckland 24 Hours of Spa drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers