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FWC on Sport Nation guidePayne continues to dazzle, Feeney bounces back
AAP • July 12th, 2026 2:57 pm
Matt Payne scorched to provisional pole ahead of the final race at the Townsville 500 | Photo: PR IMAGE
Supercars championship leader Matt Payne has snared the provisional pole before the final race of the Townsville 500 while closest rival Broc Feeney shook off an unwanted piece of history.
Payne will be the last driver to have a solo attempt in the top-10 shootout after producing the fastest lap in one minute 12.8435 seconds ahead of Sunday afternoon's 68-lap, 200km race at Reid Park Street Circuit.
It comes after the Grove Racing star struggled to post a strong time in the opening phase of qualifying, but upped the ante to nab the provisional pole.
The championship leader extended his advantage over Feeney after claiming his third race win of the season on Saturday and is looking to build on that form on Sunday.
Matt Payne is seeking to back up his win on Saturday | Photo: PR
Tickford Racing's Cam Waters finished second in qualifying by a mere 0.003 seconds with Brodie Kostecki third and last year's champion Chaz Mostert fourth.
After achieving a slice of undesired history by missing the top-10 shootout two consecutive times for the first time in 78 races on Saturday, Feeney rebounded strongly to finish fifth with Thomas Randle behind him in sixth.
Kiwi Ryan Wood finished his Saturday race last after a nudge pushed him off the track, but he shook off his loss to finish seventh in qualifying.
PremiAir Racing's Jayden Ojeda, Brad Jones Racing's Andre Heimgartner and Grove's Kai Allen rounded out the top 10.
Saturday's second-place finisher Anton De Pasquale will have to start outside of the top 10 again after he came 13th.
Will Brown's horror qualifying results continued on Sunday as the Triple Eight Engineering star finished in 19th spot while Blanchard Racing Team's James Golding will start in 21st.
The Townsville 500 shapes as a crucial point on the Supercars calendar, being the third-last weekend before the Sprint Cup winner is crowned.
The Sprint Cup champion is guaranteed a finals berth.
