Friday Talking Points: Payne fastest as the Mountain bites again

It was a dramatic Friday at the Repco Bathurst 1000, with several accidents throughout the day and the field set for tomorrow's Top Ten Shootout.

Matt Payne is the man everyone is chasing after Friday, as all the key players in the championship secured their place in tomorrow's shootout, led by Broc Feeney in third.

However, there was also plenty of tales of woe up and down pit lane, with two teams facing massive repair jobs after a chaotic Boost Mobile Qualifying session.

Supercars.com takes a look at some of the key talking points from Friday at the Repco Bathurst 1000.

Insane qualifying margins

Boost Mobile Qualifying proved to be an absolutely thrilling session that saw the competition at the top of the order as tight as it has ever been around Mount Panorama. Matt Payne, Cam Waters, Broc Feeney, and Brodie Kostecki were all covered by 0.0194s at the conclusion of the session, with the top 10 covered by half a second. Feeney looked set to go quicker on his final lap, but Will Davison's late crash prevented Feeney from completing his lap. The tight margins up and down the top 10 leaves us with a tantalising Top Ten Shootout tomorrow afternoon, as all of the big names have made what is arguably the most high pressure session of the season. Our Bathurst form guide is finally starting to become clear, and the big players are all stepping up to the occasion.

Payne continues to impress

Penrite Racing claimed the Friday spoils after Matt Payne put down a 2m 05.6452s to pip Cam Waters by just six thousandths of a second. The #19 Mustang has built a very solid weekend with the blend of youth and experience in Payne and Garth Tander, and the team are also the only Ford team with both cars in the shootout after Richie Stanaway squeaked in. Payne maintains a 100% shootout record at Bathurst, having qualified eighth last year. A lot of people have circled the #19 as a contender this year, and they've proven they have the pace to be just that.

The Mountain bites

Friday was a much more chaotic day than Thursday, with plenty of incidents spread throughout the day's three sessions, highlighted by two big accidents in Boost Mobile Qualifying. Both Matt Stone Racing Camaros found the wall in Practice 3 with co-drivers Cameron Crick and Dylan O'Keeffe at the wheel, whilst Jaxon Evans also went off at Hell Corner in a wild session. Cooper Murray then tagged the wall at the entry to The Dipper during a qualifying simulation in Practice 4, before Mount Panorama bit hard in qualifying. First David Reynolds lost his car in The Esses and ploughed head-on into the wall, before Will Davison had a heavy hit with the wall at the same place Murray crashed earlier in the day. With tight margins throughout the field, and slippery track conditions, mistakes were heavily punished today, with big rebuilds required at both Team 18 and Dick Johnson Racing.

Kostecki's great escape

Brodie Kostecki wrangled his Chiko Camaro to fourth after having a big scare on his penultimate run at Sulman Park. Kostecki thumped the wall, and returned to the pits with damage on both the right front and right rear of the #1. Although Erebus got the car turned around for the final stint, they could only repair the front right corner of the car fully, with the car not quite 100 percent for the most important run of the day. Despite that, Kostecki was only 0.0194s off of Matt Payne's fastest time of the session, and has looked fast all weekend. With a car in pristine condition for the Top Ten Shootout tomorrow, Kostecki would be confident that he can put the #1 in position one on the grid for Sunday.