Having started the season’s first endurance round just 14 points clear of 10th place, Woody’s best weekend result of the year extended that gap to a healthy 139 points and moved him up one place, to eighth, on the title table.
Only the top 10 drivers after the upcoming Bathurst 1000 will qualify for a place in the knockout rounds, will decide the 2025 Supercars champion.
Ryan’s weekend had a low-key start, with his Walkinshaw Andretti United team opting to run Friday practice without fresh tyres, saving them instead for grid-setting Saturday at the regional South Australian circuit.
The strategy paid dividends come qualifying, when Woody made it comfortably through to the top-10 shootout from fourth in the classification, his quickest lap just 0.152 seconds off provisional pole.
The year’s first enduro shootout awaited later in the day, and the Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing Mustang was on fire on the cooling circuit late in the afternoon, setting the fastest first sector of the session.
But a mistake through the high-speed triple-apex turn-7-8-9 right-hander saw Woody off the road and onto the grass. He completed the lap, but with no mistakes from other drivers, it left him 10th in the classification and ninth on the grid after penalties elsewhere.
His Sunday began well, with the quickest time in the morning warm-up, but the race got away disastrously when starting co-driver Jayden ‘Juice’ Ojeda was swamped on the first lap, dropping from ninth to 15th by the exit of turn 6.
The 26-year-old two-time Bathurst 6 Hour winner was flawless in his recovery, however, marching his way back up to third place just before half distance, when he entered the lane on lap 46 to hand the wheel back to Woody for the remainder of the 102-lap slog.
Ojeda’s good work had Ryan rejoin the race net sixth but in the sights of Thomas Randle, who engaged him in a lively battle for the place. The two traded positions several times, but Woody eventually broke Randle’s resolve and moved up the road in pursuit of Will Brown.
It was an impressive shift considering Ryan’s cool suit had failed, forcing him to endure stifling cockpit temperatures for his more-than 100-minute rotation in the car.
His battle with Brown was decided by their synchronised final pit stops on lap 73, when they rejoined on either side of Nick Percat. Woody, behind the wily veteran but still in net sixth, lost touch with Brown and could find no way past his new rival’s defences.
He took the chequered flag sixth and only 0.447 off a top-five finish.
The position earnt Ryan a lucrative 198 points for his tally, his biggest weekend score of the year, to consolidate him inside the top 10 with one round remaining before the inaugural Supercars finals campaign.
“We’ve had a pretty good day here at Tailem Bend, although obviously starting P9 was a little bit gutting after blowing a lap that probably would’ve put us in the fight for a top-five starting position — and because I knew it was going to put Juice in a harder position to start the race
“I’m really happy with how he really drove amazingly to get us back into position after a tough first lap. When I saw him picking off some really experienced guys — there’s no doubt our car was speedy today, but for him to control it the way he did — his stints were pretty impressive and really gave me the position I needed to jump in and then earn the points we did. He’s making me a better driver and keeping me level-headed, and the way he went about it today just shows in spades why he’s probably one of the most touted guys in Australia right now.
“I was pretty wrecked after that one, with the cool suit not working for my whole two stints. I’m pretty glad I did some training with before I came up here! But just mentally and physically I’m a little bit fatigued. I’m also struggling with my shoulders — I think I actually need a bigger seat to give me a bit more room, because I feel like I’m getting caught in the seat.
“All in all, we’re pretty happy, but it felt like it was probably one that got away a little bit with our car speed, so we’ll regroup and make sure next month we turn up with the same car and same speed for the biggest race of the year. I’m looking forward to it.”
