Wood started the weekend in sizzling form, qualifying second to teammate Chaz Mostert by just 0.084 seconds to set up a Walkinshaw Andretti United front-row lockout for race 1 of the weekend.
But the best was yet to come from Woody, who went one better in the subsequent qualifying session to storm to pole position for race 2 with a dominant 0.258-second advantage over the field.
Still buzzing from the high of his first pole, he made a great start to the weekend’s first race to slot behind Mostert off the line, but with clearly better pace it took the Kiwi just 10 laps to strongarm his teammate into coughing up the lead, putting the Mobil 1 Truck Assist Mustang into first place.
His second challenge came at the pit stop window, when a slick stop got him out of pit lane only marginally ahead of the undercutting Broc Feeney, against whom Woody defended astutely while he brought his tyres up to temperature.
But Will Brown, who stopped for four fresh tyres, would prove the bigger threat, eating up the distance to Wood’s rear bumper and attempting to menace him into making a mistake.
But Woody held strong to claim his first victory on a milestone day for the 21-year-old in just his 37th start.
“That was a really special day in Perth — first pole, first win. I just can’t thank our team, my sponsors, my family and everyone that’s gotten me to this moment enough. It’s been pretty emotional; it’s a day I’ll remember forever.”
He came sorely close to doing the double later that day despite losing two places from pole with a tough start on the dirty side of the track.
Wood battled back strongly to re-take the lead by lap 19 of 50, but he’d only just begun building a comfortable advantage when a left-rear suspension failure sent him careering off the road.
He was able to rejoin after spending 11 laps in his garage for repairs to salvage 12 points for 24th place in a disappointing ending to a strong day,
“Leading race 2 before a car failure hurts, but it was something that was out of our control. It’s bittersweet because of what’s happened, but there were still a lot of positives to take from the race.”
Wood’s strong single-lap form continued into Sunday, but struggles to get the tyre up to temperature in the top-10 shootout left him seventh for the final race of the weekend.
Still in a fighting mood, he was up to fourth by lap 11, and a quick pit stop on lap 26 got him into third. Cam Waters soon found himself deprived of second place in the middle stint, with Wood’s eyes forward on avenging his lost Saturday victory.
But a poorly timed safety car undid much of his good work, and Ryan ended up being shoved off the road in the ensuing melee by James Golding in contact that broke his steering arm, forcing him out of the race without a score.
“It felt like we deserved a lot more from the weekend, especially after we had had so much success on Saturday. We put ourselves in a really good place to grab another trophy, probably second or third. It hurts to walk away with zero points from that race. What probably hurts the most is that our team has given us the package to win races and be competitive and we walk away with nothing thanks to another driver’s brain fade.
“It’s just one of those weekends that we can build from and take a lot more from than the paper shows. I feel like there’s a lot more to come. I’m excited to get to Darwin. I’m just happy to go racing again so I don’t dwell on it too much.”
Round 6 of the Supercars Championship takes place on 20–22 June with the Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway.
