A solid bank of points today with Ryan Wood collecting his first P2 finish and Chaz Mostert delivering two top five results.

Both cars rolled out of the truck behind the eight-ball, but towards the end of Friday’s final practice session the Team found a strong direction in the cars.

This morning started off with two back-to-back qualifying sessions that were chaotic to say the least.

Ryan Wood had an incredible rebound in the first session after being impeded on his first fast lap, making contact with Jobe Stewart, thankfully avoiding damage to the car. Putting together a strong lap and scored himself provisional pole heading into part two which saw Ryan line up on the second row in P4. The second qualifying session didn’t go Ryan’s way, with less than a tenth of a second in it, he would line up P11 for Race 24.

On the other side of the garage, Chaz got stuck on the wrong side of the Top 10 in qualifying part one which saw him line up P11 for Race 23. The second qualifying session was kinder to Chaz which saw him put together a strong lap on the Super-Soft tyre and line up P5.

Race 23

Ryan Wood: 2nd
Chaz Mostert: 5th

Ryan Wood had an aggressive start, charging to P3 by turn three whilst Chaz found himself buried in heavy traffic early, but once the race settled he built momentum, climbing from P11 to P8 within 10 laps.

The Mobil 1 Optus Racing No. 1 came into the lane on lap 24, taking a strategic two tyres compared to those around him who took four tyres. Chaz jumped up five spots thanks to the 3.5 second pit stop, the second fastest of the race.

The Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing No.2 came into the lane shortly after for four tyres, rejoining the track just ahead of Chaz as the cycle unfolded.

A slow pitstop for Waters reshuffled the order, and once the pit stops cycled Ryan and Chaz emerged effectively P2 and P3 on track. Both drivers built a strong gap, extending their margin behind to six seconds.

That advantage quickly disappeared when Kostecki was spun into the sand trap, triggering the safety car. With most of the top ten having taken four tyres during their stops, except Chaz, this would make the final run home pretty tough for him.

With 8 laps to go, the safety car peeled off into pit lane. Both drivers had strong restarts but Chaz’s tyre disadvantage left him vulnerable, and we was overtaken by DePasquale and Waters, dropping to P5.

Ryan kept his cool and tried his best to keep on the rear bumper of Payne in the lead but didn’t have the speed to fight with him, crossing the line in P2. His first ever second place in the Supercars Championship.

Race 24

Chaz Mostert: 4th
Ryan Wood: 8th

Both cars kept it clean in the opening laps, with Chaz maintaining position and Ryan up one spot.

Caught behind Heimgartner, the Team opted to bring the Mobil 1 Optus Racing No. 1 into the lane for four tyres early, using the clear air in front of him to maximise on the undercut.

The Mobil 1 Truck Assist No. 2 came in the following lap, also removing Ryan from heavy traffic holding him up.

The early stops meant tyre conservation was key in the final stint, having to bring the tyres up to temperature slowly whilst ensuring there was enough life in the by the end of the stint to fight off any cars with fresher tyres approaching.

Once the pit stops cycled, Chaz was sitting in P4 and Ryan P8, both drivers settled into their rhythm and maintained position all the way until the checkered flag.

Two races today with our lowest finishing position being P8, not a bad way to start our weekend.

We have one race to go tomorrow, 200km’s and a big points race, we will be tuning up the cars overnight so we can give it a good hot crack tomorrow.

Ryan Wood

“What a day! The crew have done an incredible job turning the car around from where we rolled out on Friday to where we are today.

“If you had told me at the end of Friday we were going to get a podium today, I wouldn’t have believed you. We just executed really well as a team in both races with a fast car, great strategy and awesome stops in the pits from the crew.

“We are back on the soft tyre tomorrow, we were strong on that tyre today, I’m keen to finish off the weekend on a high.”

Chaz Mostert

“A solid points day today with a P4 and P5, we were just shy of a podium but that makes us even hungrier for tomorrow.

“Scaff and the Team had a mega strategy in the first race today, it’s a shame the safety car came out when it did, but to still finish six positions up on where we started, I can’t complain.

“It’s a big points race tomorrow, we have a bit of homework to do overnight and if we piece together qualifying better tomorrow, we will have a good shot at it.”