Photo: supercars.com

Brodie Kostecki and Matt Payne wins on Saturday at Christchurch

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Brodie Kostecki and Matt Payne claimed one Supercars Championship win each on the Saturday of the Christchurch Super 440 weekend in New Zealand.

The first race of the day saw Dick Johnson Racing’s Kostecki claiming the lead from pole while Payne, who started alongside him, got a dreadful getaway and dropped down the order.

Payne’s Grove Racing team-mate Kai Allen meanwhile got a super start from sixth on the grid to snatch second heading into Turn 1 ahead of Toyota driver Ryan Wood.

Payne started to make his way back up through the order and got past Wood for third place on lap eight.

But disaster struck the Ford Mustang driver on lap 26 as he dropped his rear right wheel after the pit stop, dropping him from a potential podium finish down to 19th place.

Payne’s team-mate Allen piled the pressure on Kostecki, but it wasn’t enough as the championship leader won the race by just over half a second ahead of Allen.

Wood was a distant third, with Triple Eight driver Will Brown close behind in fourth.

Broc Feeney was fifth ahead of Team 18 driver Anton De Pasquale.

Race 3

Wood started from pole position in the third race of the weekend but was beaten into Turn 1 by Payne as Feeney slotted into third place.

Aaron Cameron went into the side of Cooper Murray at Turn 4, resulting in a spin for Murray and a 15-second penalty for Cameron.

There was drama in the fight for fourth place on lap 26 between the trio of Wood, Kostecki and De Pasquale.

Wood and Kostecki both went wide at the same time at Turn 3, allowing De Pasquale to slip past Kostecki. But De Pasquale then imitated the mistake a corner later, dropping back down behind Kostecki.

Kostecki suffered an overheating engine following the off, forcing the team to change the engine ahead of Sunday.

Blanchard Racing Team driver James Golding challenged Wood for the final podium position with just two laps to go.

And the Ford Mustang driver got the move done heading into Turn 1 on Wood, snatching third place.

Payne got revenge after the disaster in the first race of the day to claim victory in styke, close to 12 seconds ahead of Feeney.

Golding finished third ahead of Wood, Kostecki, De Pasquale and Allen.

The fourth and final race of the weekend starts at 13:05 local time/05:05 CEST on Sunday.