Payne excited for Grove Racing's future

Matt Payne believes Grove Racing are set for success well into the future following the recent announcement of Kai Allen’s signing.

Payne and Allen are set to form the youngest full-time driver lineup since 2007 at the first round next year, where Payne will be 22 years old and Allen will still only be 19.

Allen is on track to become the first back-to-back Super2 champion, and would become the fourth driver to win two Super2 titles after Dean Canto, Steve Owen, and Paul Dumbrell should he wrap it up in Adelaide.

The signing of Allen continues Grove Racing’s trend of promoting young talent, with Payne himself only 19 when he made his Super2 debut in a Grove Junior Team Nissan in 2021 at Sydney.

The following year he made his Bathurst debut alongside Lee Holdsworth, and impressed many with a sixth place finish, before graduating full-time last year and winning the Adelaide 500.

Grove Racing’s continued investment in young drivers has Payne eager to build on an up-and-down year in 2024, highlighted by a dominant victory in Race 14 in Townsville.

“It's funny to think, like I'm 21 going on to be the oldest driver on the team out of the two guys for next year,” Payne said to Supercars.com.

"Kai has proven more than enough of what he's capable of, to win the Super2 championship, and looking to win it again, is pretty special. I know how hard that is. 

“It's competitive this year, so it's great to have him on the team next year. He's going to do well. He's going to bring a different kind of energy to the guys. And I think him being young, he's really going to push the whole team.

“I'm really happy that the Groves have kind of kept their trend, with sort of promoting me and picking me up from such a young age. 

In the short-term future, Payne also has a great opportunity for success, as he pairs up with mentor and five-time Bathurst winner Garth Tander in the #19 Mustang for Sandown and Bathurst.

Payne and Tander are a highly touted combination, with Tander and Payne’s former teammate David Reynolds arguably the strongest Mustang in a difficult enduro campaign for Ford.

The blend of youth and experience is something that Payne believes will create an opportunity for Grove Racing to add some more silverware to the four podiums collected by Payne this season.

“He's a trooper. He just gets in there and he's always fast,” Payne said of Tander.

"He’s always in the top five in every co-driver session and he's always one of the fastest during the race. At Sandown last year, he was in the top three and they lost the wheel unfortunately.

“But he’s helpful not only with on-track stuff, it's also the off-track stuff. I think the team just lifts when he's at the track and being more involved because they know what he's done and they know how professional he is. 

"So it's definitely very helpful for him to start getting a little bit more involved in these upcoming sort of weeks."

Tander’s plethora of experience will be a stark contrast year-on-year to Payne’s former co-driver, French Porsche star Kevin Estre, who made his first starts in Supercars last season.

“The good thing with him [Garth] is, he just gets in and he's straight away on it after two, three laps,” Payne said.

"You don't need those kind of pre-sessions where you're kind of getting warmed up, you're just straight into it."

Grove Racing have also made a significant signing off-track, announcing yesterday that long-time Porsche employee Troy Bundy has joined the team as CEO.

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship shifts into enduro mode at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 from September 13-15. Tickets for the 60th anniversary event are on sale now.