“Who’s in front of me, who’s beside me, I’ve got no idea. It was just scary.”
He added with a laugh, “I’ve got kids now. I’ve got things to live for.”
Will Brown had to deal with a bonnet issue at Mt Panorama on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
Payne agreed with that assessment of the conditions, explaining that as well as “rivers” running across the track that caused cars to aquaplane, there was fog across the top of the mountain.
“Look, it was pretty hairy,” he said. “There was a time there, where the track was very wet.
“It was getting pretty sketchy with a lot of the rivers running across the road … you had to drive on a very tiny piece of road to try and keep the car on the track and not make any mistakes.
“I think everyone made one or two during those last few laps.”
Matt Payne during the frantic final phase of the Bathurst 1000 on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
The 23-year-old from Auckland said having to concentrate intensely for such a long period was “very, very draining”.
The victory consolidated the Penrite Ford driver’s grasp on second position in the championship, as the series heads into its inaugural finals campaign.
Three play-off races will be held at Gold Coast, Sandown, and Adelaide, and the top-10 drivers will all have a shot at overtaking series leader Broc Feeney.
“That would definitely be the ultimate goal for us,” Payne said of winning the title.
“Bathurst was always very high on our list when I first joined Supercars … but the championship has always been the ultimate goal.
“At the moment, we’re just doing everything we can to work towards that and try and knock that out.”
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Payne’s only minor disappointment at Bathurst was that he didn’t cross the finish line first. He came in just behind James Golding, having been made aware that the Victorian had incurred a five-second penalty.
That meant Payne didn’t need to take any unnecessary risks and overtake on the last lap.
“I didn’t really want to let him go, I really wanted to win it outright, you know, obviously be first across the line … [but] I just had to give him the position,” he said. “Dave [Reynolds] was so close behind me, we had to focus on that. ”
