Payne beats Feeney to victory in 0.05s photo finish in Tasmania finale

Matthew Payne beat championship leader Broc Feeney in a stunning 0.05-second photo finish in the final Supercars Championship race of the weekend at Symmons Plains.

It was however Will Brown that started the race from pole ahead of team-mate Feeney, but the reigning champion got a slow getaway and instead it was James Golding who catapulted from fourth on the grid to the lead into Turn 1.

There was a pile up heading into the Turn 4 hairpin early in the race as Chaz Mostert went into the back of James Courtney, who went into the back of Will Davison, who spun Jack Le Brocq.

The stewards handed Mostert a 15-second penalty for the incident which saw the Ford driver dropping down to finish 18th.

An even bigger incident came on lap 29 as Brodie Kostecki spun into the wall at Turn 3 following contact with Bryce Fullwood.

Kostecki’s Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang had to be recovered and the safety car was called into action.

As the teams started their mandatory pit stops, Grove Racing driver Payne opted to take both of his pit stops at the end of the safety car period, putting him on an alternate strategy to his main rivals for the win.

Feeney was a man on a charge towards the end of the race and was able to pass Ford driver Thomas Randle with 13 laps left and team-mate Brown with seven laps left.

Randle was tapped into a spin by David Reynolds as he tried to slot in behind Feeney after the pass, dropping the Tickford Racing driver down to finish 14th.

Feeney they caught Payne with just two laps left and the duo went into a drag race heading out of the last corner on the last lap.

Payne was able to only just cling onto the win, beating Feeney by 0.0550 seconds.

Brown was a distant third, seven seconds behind, with Golding in fourth, Richie Stanaway fifth and Reynolds sixth.

Feeney heads home from Symmons Plains with a 33-point lead over team-mate Brown while Payne is third, 75 points from the lead.

The next Supercars Championship race will take place at Wanneroo Raceway on June 6-8.