Mustangs Sweep Podiums in Supercars at New Zealand

A pair of podium clean sweeps and a total of four victories by Ford Mustang drivers capped a landmark Supercars double-header in New Zealand.

A first-ever Supercars championship visit to the South Island of New Zealand created a number of firsts for the Blue Oval runners, including Kai Allen’s first win with Grove Racing on Friday and the same team’s first ever 1-2 finish on Sunday.

Matt Payne took twin wins in his home country, as Allen and Brodie Kostecki each bagged a win and Broc Feeney moved to the top of the Supercars championship table.

Feeney also claimed one of the most-coveted trophies in Supercars racing, taking the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy for the best score across the two New Zealand events.

“This is super-special for me, and the crew. A huge shout-out. To be the most consistent over two rounds is fantastic,” said Feeney.

Allen’s effort was a new high point for the youngster, with his victory on Friday coming thanks to a stellar defensive drive against a hard-charging Kostecki.

“How good is that. It’s been coming, I just had to be patient. Today my dream has come true,” said Allen after his breakthrough victory.

The 2026 Supercars Championship season continues with the Tasmania Super 440 at Symmons Plains from May 22-24.

FORD RACE RESULTS

RACE 1
1st – Kai Allen
2nd – Brodie Kostecki
4th – Matt Payne
6th – James Golding
7th – Cam Waters

RACE 2
1st – Brodie Kostecki
2nd – Kai Allen
4th – Will Brown
5th – Broc Feeney
7th – Cam Waters

RACE 3
1st – Matt Payne
2nd – Broc Feeney
3rd – James Golding
5th – Brodie Kostecki
7th – Kai Allen

RACE 4
1st – Matt Payne
2nd – Kai Allen
3rd – Broc Feeney
5th – James Golding
6th – Cam Waters

FORD DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st – Broc Feeney, 925 points
2nd – Brodie Kostecki, 902
3rd – Matt Payne, 879
4th – Cam Waters, 787
5th – Kai Allen, 728
8th – James Golding, 679
9th – Will Brown, 632
12th – Thomas Randle 462
19th – Rylan Gray, 332
21st – Aaron Cameron, 313
23rd – Jackson Walls, 250

FORD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st – Triple Eight Race Engineering, 1557
2nd – Grove Racing, 1547
4th – Tickford Racing, 1249
5th – Dick Johnson Racing, 1234
7th – Blanchard Racing Team, 992
13th – Objective Racing, 250

TEAM OWNER/TEAM PRINCIPAL QUOTES

STEPHEN GROVE, Grove Racing

• “What a weekend. A great, great weekend. The most pleasing thing for me is how every single person in the team contributed to the success. We had good speed, good strategy and good pitstops.
• “It was an unbelievably good team effort. It shows what you can achieve when you work together. We’ve had fast cars all year, and we’re still a fairly young team, so still progressing and improving. 
• “We won't rest on our laurels, just try to get better and better as we go forward.”

MARK DUTTON, Triple Eight Race Engineering

• “Even though we didn’t get any of the big Ws in the races, the consistency across all conditions speaks volumes for the depth of the team. It’s been a big two weeks away, and we’ve had a lot of the crew sick between the two meetings, so everyone has had to push super, super hard.
• “We’re happier with the car speed but definitely still not completely happy. Groves have shown the potential in the car, and we didn’t match them this weekend, so there is more to come.
• “It’s good when a Mustang is that quick because we know there is more to come once we nail everything.
• “To get the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy is an unbelievable thing for us. Every trophy is special, but this is a very sought-after one and we will definitely relish it because so many people knew Jason and the incredible person he was.”

MARK FENNING, Dick Johnson Racing

• “Brodie Kostecki took a pole position and a race win at a new circuit, and Rylan Gray backed that up with multiple career-best Top 10 results.
• “We leave New Zealand with plenty of positives and a good points haul after another strong weekend.

ROD NASH, Tickford Racing

• “The whole New Zealand experience has not been what we wanted. Qualifying pace determines your races, and we made it tough for ourselves on Friday and Saturday.
• “For Cam Waters to finish sixth after starting from the pitlane on Sunday, following a battery problem on the grid, shows what’s possible. Thomas Randle took a hit early and just finishing was a not bad result because the car is a mess.
• “We’re finishing races and collecting points but we have to find our way before Tasmania. We’ve got a bit of work to do, so we’ll have a big re-think on where we’re at and how to get moving.”

TIM BLANCHARD, Blanchard Racing Team

• “We were quite anxious coming to New Zealand, so to have a trophy and Jimmy Golding in the Top 10 in the championship was a great outcome from the weekend.
• “On the other side of the garage it was another weekend when had a very fast car with lots of promise, but Aaron Cameron just got caught up in things going wrong. We have to work out what to do to manage that better, because he’s fast and we've just got to smooth off the rough edges. 
• “I’m much more relaxed now about the rest of the year. We just have to continue building from here.”

ANDREW JONES, Objective Racing

• “Friday and Saturday were incredibly tough, with the challenges of going to a new circuit for the first time. But we had an uplift on Sunday, and it was a credit to everyone in our group. 
• “To qualify 18th was nothing to write home about, but a marked improvement. Everyone just dug and dug to get us going, making sure we got the car repaired and back on the track after an early setback for Jackson Walls in the final race.
• ”Now we’ll have a re-set before Tasmania, which has been a strong circuit for Triple Eight over a lot of years.”