Kiwi drivers kick-off seasons in Sydney - Motorsport Recap

After a strong 2024 campaign, Matthew Payne entered round one aiming to establish himself as a championship contender in his third Supercars season. While he wasn’t quite in the fight for victories, he still delivered a solid performance. The 22-year-old threatened for a podium in Race 1, finishing P4, before securing P5 and P6 in the remaining two races.

Andre Heimgartner recorded two top-10 finishes, while Ryan Wood endured a challenging season opener, with his best result being P10 in Race 1.

Porsche Carrera Cup Australia also kicked off its season in Sydney alongside Supercars, with Marco Giltrap launching his championship campaign and Clay Osborne beginning his rookie year in the series.

Giltrap’s results closely mirrored Payne’s in Supercars, as the Team Porsche New Zealand driver’s preparation in the GT New Zealand Championship over the summer paid off. He finished outside the top five only once and secured P5 for the round overall.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., Shane van Gisbergen flipped his past struggles on superspeedways on their head.

The weekend started tricky for SVG, lacking consistent pace in practice and qualifying his Trackhouse Racing Camaro at the back of the grid in P30.

Throughout the race, he methodically worked his way forward, sacrificing stage points to minimize pit-stop time. By the final stage, he was right in contention, trading the lead with Ross Chastain and Chase Briscoe. However, his time at the front was short-lived, as the #88 still needed a final pit-stop. After rejoining the race just outside the top 10, SVG held his position and was on track for a P11 finish—until a last-lap wreck caused him to spin and scuppered any chance of a strong result, finishing in P23.

Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is its first road course event of the season at Circuit of the Americas, where van Gisbergen will undoubtedly be among the favorites for victory.