The 2025 Taupō Super 440 (known for commercial reasons as the 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440) was a motor racing event for Supercars that was held on 11–13 April 2025 at the Taupo International Motorsport Park in the Taupō, New Zealand. The round consisted of two 120km races followed by a 200km final, and was the third round of the 2025 Supercars Championship. It was also that year's sole international event for the championship.
Matt Payne won both the first and third races of the weekend while Chaz Mostert won the second race. Payne would accumulate the most points of all drivers throughout the weekend, thus winning him the annual Jason Richards Memorial Trophy.
Background The event was held on the weekend of 11–13 April 2025. It was the second Supercars event to be held at the Taupo International Motorsport Park, and consisted of two 120 km races as well as one 200 km final.
Entry list
Twenty four cars were entered into the event — 14 sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaros and 11 seventh-generation Ford Mustangs. Only one driver change was made from the beginning of the season, with Aaron Cameron replacing Aaron Love at Blanchard Racing Team at the Melbourne SuperSprint.
Additionally, the Dick Johnson Racing cars would sport a one-off livery for the round. Owing to Shell V-Power fuel not being available in New Zealand, the Mustangs would carry Jet Couriers sponsorship in its place.
Race report The first race of the weekend saw Matt Payne take advantage of his pole position start; never relinquishing his lead at any point for the 37-lap race distance. In doing so, Payne became the fifth New Zealander to win a Supercars race in his home country, alongside Greg Murphy, Shane van Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin and Andre Heimgartner. On lap 1, a collision between Cameron Hill and Cooper Murray saw the latter sent into the runoff. Hill would be punished with a 15-second time penalty. On lap 5, Thomas Randle attempted a move on Anton de Pasquale at turn one. However, in doing so, spun Chaz Mostert who was sent tumbling down the field. The safety car was deployed on lap 11 when Macauley Jones' car stopped on track due to an engine failure.
The second race was decided in somewhat controversial circumstances after late-race contact between Mostert and Brodie Kostecki. Kostecki lamented the perceived lack of enforcement against overly-aggressive driving which he opined cost him the win.
Results Race 1 Driver Team Car Time/Retired 1 19 Matt Payne Grove Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 1:00:36.8158 1 85 2 6 Cam Waters Tickford Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 4.102 3 74 3 2 Ryan Wood Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford Mustang S650 37 + 4.960 4 68 4 18 Anton de Pasquale Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 5.230 8 62 5 1 Will Brown Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 13.370 13 57 6 9 Jack Le Brocq Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 15.424 7 53 7 26 Kai Allen Grove Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 15.642 22 49 8 8 Andre Heimgartner Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 16.400 14 45 9 31 James Golding PremiAir Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 22.339 19 41 10 17 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 24.110 5 38 11 20 David Reynolds Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 26.147 18 35 12 38 Brodie Kostecki Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 26.483 2 32 13 25 Chaz Mostert Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford Mustang S650 37 + 26.720 6 29 14 4 Cameron Hill Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 28.551 9 27 15 88 Broc Feeney Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 28.994 11 25 16 14 Bryce Fullwood Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 29.513 15 23 17 62 Richie Stanaway PremiAir Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 30.865 17 21 18 12 Jaxon Evans Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 33.224 16 19 19 10 Nick Percat Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 37.784 21 18 20 3 Aaron Cameron Blanchard Racing Team Ford Mustang S650 37 + 46.259 23 16 21 7 James Courtney Blanchard Racing Team Ford Mustang S650 37 + 50.446 24 15 22 55 Thomas Randle Tickford Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 53.394 12 14 23 99 Cooper Murray Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 1:33.450 10 13 Ret 96 Macauley Jones Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 9 Engine 20 0 Fastest Lap: Matt Payne (Grove Racing) - 1:27.5318 on lap 16 Sources:
Race 2 Driver Team Car Time/Retired 1 25 Chaz Mostert Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford Mustang S650 37 56:14.2361 2 2 17 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 6.476 4 3 38 Brodie Kostecki Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 9.191 1 4 19 Matt Payne Grove Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 9.818 7 5 88 Broc Feeney Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 11.699 3 6 55 Thomas Randle Tickford Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 21.526 10 7 1 Will Brown Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 24.561 5 8 8 Andre Heimgartner Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 24.949 11 9 2 Ryan Wood Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford Mustang S650 37 + 28.982 12 10 26 Kai Allen Grove Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 29.179 8 11 9 Jack Le Brocq Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 31.751 14 12 14 Bryce Fullwood Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 35.014 16 13 4 Cameron Hill Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 35.905 17 14 6 Cam Waters Tickford Racing Ford Mustang S650 37 + 39.971 6 15 10 Nick Percat Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 41.955 21 16 96 Macauley Jones Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 42.342 18 17 20 David Reynolds Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 43.393 20 18 31 James Golding PremiAir Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 44.182 22 19 12 Jaxon Evans Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 44.684 19 20 18 Anton de Pasquale Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 47.913 9 21 62 Richie Stanaway PremiAir Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 50.717 13 22 7 James Courtney Blanchard Racing Team Ford Mustang S650 37 + 1:02.128 24 23 99 Cooper Murray Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 37 + 1:02.425 15 24 3 Aaron Cameron Blanchard Racing Team Ford Mustang S650 37 + 1:09.062 23 Fastest Lap: Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United) - 1:28.6385 on lap 4 Sources:
Race 3 Driver Team Car Time/Retired 1 19 Matt Payne Grove Racing Ford Mustang S650 61 1:31:45.5077 6 2 4 Cameron Hill Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 3.194 4 3 25 Chaz Mostert Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford Mustang S650 61 + 8.289 9 4 38 Brodie Kostecki Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang S650 61 + 9.742 1 5 55 Thomas Randle Tickford Racing Ford Mustang S650 61 + 13.782 5 6 8 Andre Heimgartner Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 15.515 8 7 88 Broc Feeney Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 15.732 20 8 1 Will Brown Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 22.146 12 9 17 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang S650 61 + 25.459 13 10 31 James Golding PremiAir Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 26.901 10 11 2 Ryan Wood Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford Mustang S650 61 + 28.442 3 12 6 Cam Waters Tickford Racing Ford Mustang S650 61 + 28.666 18 13 62 Richie Stanaway PremiAir Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 29.206 17 14 12 Jaxon Evans Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 32.760 14 15 9 Jack Le Brocq Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 36.758 11 16 18 Anton de Pasquale Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 37.510 2 17 20 David Reynolds Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 38.358 19 18 26 Kai Allen Grove Racing Ford Mustang S650 61 + 48.160 7 19 96 Macauley Jones Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 1:00.664 16 20 7 James Courtney Blanchard Racing Team Ford Mustang S650 61 + 1:03.472 23 21 3 Aaron Cameron Blanchard Racing Team Ford Mustang S650 61 + 1:08.994 24 22 99 Cooper Murray Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 1:10.151 15 23 10 Nick Percat Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 1:21.298 22 24 14 Bryce Fullwood Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 61 + 1:22.749 21 Fastest Lap: Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Race Engineering) - 1:27.5377 on lap 50 Sources:
Aftermath On the lead up to the weekend, rumours persisted of a second New Zealand-based round in the South Island slated for the 2027 season. One month later, plans would be confirmed for an event at Euromarque Motorsport Park in Christchurch as part of a double-header in conjunction with the Taupō round.
Championship standings after the round
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Will Brown 651 2 Cam Waters 617 3 Matt Payne 605 4 Broc Feeney 590 5 Chaz Mostert 565 6 Brodie Kostecki 540 7 Cameron Hill 540 8 Anton De Pasquale 429 9 Thomas Randle 427 10 Andre Heimgartner 426Sources:
Teams' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 Triple Eight Race Engineering 1241 2 Tickford Racing 1044 3 Walkinshaw Andretti United 943 4 Dick Johnson Racing 929 5 Grove Racing 877 Source:
Note: Only the top ten positions are shown for drivers' standings and top five for teams'.
References
External links