Supercars championship leader Matt Payne is confident he's on the precipice of more success after producing a blistering lap on a slippery surface at the Perth Super 440.
Payne registered the fastest lap in 54.666 seconds across the two practice sessions on Friday at Wanneroo Raceway ahead of the three races over the weekend.
It comes as the Grove Racing star looks to extend his 92-point championship lead over Triple Eight Race Engineering's Broc Feeney and claim his fourth victory of the season.
"I feel like if we get the car out there like we did today, I don't think there's any trouble of (us) trying to do well," Payne told Fox Sports.
"We tuned it (the car) a little bit in the first practice. I thought we were pretty close ... and then definitely made some steps forward in the second one."
Triple Eight managing director and Supercars legend Jamie Whincup returned from his trip to the UK and may have immediately made a difference, with Feeney second fastest after missing the podium for the past six races.
Hometown favourite Brodie Kostecki, looking to claim his first Perth win, was third fastest in practice.
Payne wasn't the only driver to send an early message to their Supercars rivals as PremiAir Racing's Jayden Ojeda recorded a 55.40s lap to top the first practice session.
It was the perfect birthday present for the 27-year-old as the 12th-placed driver looks to edge closer to the finals-bound top-10 spots.
Teammate Declan Fraser was behind him in second, and the positive practice results come as PremiAir seek that elusive first victory, having yet to win a race since forming in 2022.
Grove Racing's Kai Allen had to undergo the biggest repairs of the afternoon when he skidded into the sand at turn one in the second session and damaged the left side of his car.
Rookie Rylan Gray also had his vehicle bruised when Erebus Motorsport's Cooper Murray poked the bumper of the Dick Johnson Racing driver.
Last year's champion Chaz Mostert had an outing to forget, finishing 21st in the second session with Walkinshaw TWG's Ryan Wood only one position in front of him.
Although practice doesn’t count for points, it is the only time drivers get a feel for the course and the state of their cars ahead of qualifying for the first of two 50-lap, 120km races on Saturday.
The Perth Super 440 shapes as a crunch point of the Supercars calendar, being the penultimate weekend before the Sprint Cup winner is crowned.
The Sprint Cup champion is guaranteed a finals berth.
