Today is one for the memory books, with Ryan Wood securing Toyota first pole position and race win in the Supercars Championship. It was also a strong performance on the other side of the garage, with Chaz Mostert claiming a podium in the final race of the weekend, helping elevate the Team from P6 to P2 in the Team’s Championship standings.

Qualifying

Both cars showed strong pace across the two qualifying sessions this morning, with Ryan securing Toyota their first pole position in Supercars for the feature race of the weekend. With only two races on the schedule this weekend, it would be important to maximise off the strong qualifying results.

Race 8

It was a chaotic start to the race, Chaz made a strong launch off the line, moving up to P5, whilst Ryan dropped to P7 before quickly reclaiming a position on lap three.

During the opening stint, both drivers showed strong pace, working their way towards the cars ahead while carefully managing their tyres to remain competitive later in the stint.

Chaz pitting on lap 18 for four tyres, with Ryan following a lap later. They re-joined effectively in P4 and P5 respectively.

In the final stint, the Mobil 1 Truck Assist No. 2 Supra was the fastest car on track, closing in on Feeney ahead. With six laps remaining, Chaz was running in P5 and Ryan P4. Maintaining their strong pace, Ryan made his move on Feeney to take P3.

Ryan then had his sights set on Brown in second, reducing the gap by more than a second per lap and closing right onto his rear bumper with just two laps to go. Leaving nothing on the table, Ryan continued to push hard to the finish, putting on an absolute show for the Kiwi fans.

Ultimately running out of laps, Ryan settled for a podium finish, with Chaz not far behind in P7 after struggling with tyre life late in the race.

Race 9

Starting on pole position, Ryan made an excellent launch off the line, comfortably leading into Turn 1, while Chaz gained a position to move into P5 during the opening laps.

The first stint proved tense, with Brown putting the rear bumper of the Mobil 1 Truck Assist Supra under pressure. Despite this, Ryan didn’t fall victim to Brown’s intimidation tactics and remained composed, maintaining the lead through to the first round of pit stops.

Ryan came into the lane on lap 22, re-joining in clean air, while Brown held provisional P2. Chaz followed suit on the next lap, taking four tyres with a slightly slower stop which made him hungry to maximise speed on track.

After setting the fastest lap of the race to that point, Chaz overtook De Pasquale for P5 and continued this charge during the second stint, remarking over the radio that “I’m going to drive this thing hard and fast” and he sure delivered, working his way up to P3 before his final stop.

The Mobil 1 Optus Racing No. 1 came into the lane as one of the first of the leaders, with the undercut strategy proving effective earlier in the day. Ryan came into the lane the following lap and re-joined the race in P2 behind Chaz.

Sitting in P1 and P2 of the race going into the final stint, the goal was to do whatever was necessary to get Toyota their first ever Supercars win. With Ryan having stronger pace in the final stint, he took the lead from Chaz who then turned into the ultimate wingman for Ryan.

The pair established a strong margin to the cars behind but Feeney who was on green tyres was catching quickly, so Chaz was on the defensive, losing a position and dropping to P3 but in turn helping Ryan build on his lead to the cars behind.

All thanks to the incredible team work from the entire team, Ryan crossed the line first, to collect Toyota’s maiden Supercars win with Chaz not far behind in P3 to finish off the weekend with a double podium.

A consistent weekend sees Ryan currently leading the charge for the Jason Richards Trophy which will be decided on Sunday in Christchurch. The Team’s performance this weekend sees them climb up the Team’s Championship ladder from P6 to P2, with Ryan sitting P5 and Chaz P7 in the Driver’s standings.

This weekend’s results also see the Team jump from P6 in the team standings up to P2 with Ryan now sitting P5 and Chaz P7 in the driver standings.

Due to the cyclone closing in on the Waikato region, Supercars has made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel Sunday’s event at the Taupo Super440, following the deterioration of weather conditions and the expected landfall of Cyclone Vaianu over the central North Island. Race 10 will now be rescheduled to Friday in Christchurch, resulting in a four-race format across that event.

Chaz Mostert

“A pretty awesome weekend for us a team. Congratulations to Woody and the whole Team for getting Toyota’s first win in Supercars which is something pretty cool.

“It was cool to lead some laps in that last race, my car was hooked up in that middle stint, I may have got a bit of a telling off from Scaff over the radio after I told him that I was going to drive the thing hard and fast.

“Overall, another great weekend, we are taking massive strives forward in the car, I’m really looking forward that we get to do it all again next weekend in Christchurch.

“Hopefully everyone in New Zealand stays really safe over the next few days.”

Ryan Wood

“That’s a wrap on a massive weekend here in Taupo, look I’m honestly a bit lost for words, we managed get Toyota their first pole position and race win today, it’s pretty special to be a part of.

“I’ve had two wins in Supercars now and I’ve been lucky enough to share it with my teammate Mozzie which I’m really grateful for.

“I have never had a race like today, I’m really proud of our team and myself, I felt like we executed where we needed to and we got the results for it.

“The hard work is really paying off, we have worked our way up to P2 in the Teams which is a testament to the incredible work the crew have been putting in since last round.”