Matt Payne took out the bp Adelaide Grand Final to cap off a sublime rookie year for the Kiwi, while a second place finish for Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU) driver Chaz Mostert secured his maiden Repco Supercars Championship in a thrilling end to the finals series.
Broc Feeney suffered an opening lap clash with Mostert’s teammate Ryan Wood compounded by engine problems, ultimately felled Feeney’s title hopes.
Mostert paced the maiden Supercars Finals Series with three wins, beating out Feeney, reigning champion and Feeney’s teammate Will Brown, and rookie Kai Allen to claim the crown.
It was a long-awaited championship for two-time Bathurst 1000 winner in what was his 13th season.
After leading Mostert by 23 points into Sunday, Feeney fell behind teammate Brown in the standings as the engine issue worsened.
Mostert, meanwhile, clinched his team’s first drivers’ title since Garth Tander in 2007, and will drive for Toyota in 2026 as the defending champion.
“I can’t believe it. I’ve been racing for so many years that you start to doubt it year after year,” Mostert said.
“I’ve driven for some amazing teams, Tickford, here at WAU, and I knew that I could do it, but thank god for the Finals Series hey?
“I think the team did pretty good, they didn’t tell me all the information, they kept me focused, and just keep trying to maintain that gap to Browny, and try and catch Payney.
“That whole last 38 laps was a blur to be honest, it was really weird. You read about Senna getting in tunnel vision, that’s what it felt like.”
Feeney got a poor start off the front row, with Payne rocketing off into the distance. Feeney was immediately forced into heavy defence, which ended in Feeney being turned around at turn 6 on the opening lap.
With engine troubles, Feeney chased the field for the remainder of the session, despite his best efforts to climb back.
In a seminal moment, Mostert lapped Feeney with nine laps to go. A spin for Nick Percat at Turn 11 with six laps to go threatened to turn the race on its head, but the driver got going again.
Payne won by 5.977 seconds, with Mostert second, Brown third, Allen fourth and Feeney 20th. Will Davison, James Courtney and Percat finished their final full-time races in 13th, 14th and 22nd respectively.
The 2026 Repco Supercars Championship will commence at the Sydney 500 on 20-22 February. Tickets are on sale now.
It was also announced by Supercars Chief Executive Officer James Warburton and South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas the bp Adelaide Grand Final will remain in Adelaide until at least 2034 as part of an extended agreement between Supercars and the South Australian State Government.
Thanks goes to the 532 Motorsport Australia race officials on the ground who made the bp Adelaide Grand Final possible.
