Kiwi Supercars driver Ryan Wood has the bit between his teeth as he heads into Christchurch this weekend for the second of the New Zealand back-to-back race weekends.
Wood leads the race for the Jason Richard Memorial Trophy and is fizzing after winning Toyota’s first ever Supercars’ race, despite theevent at Taupo being shortened last weekend when Sunday’s racing was cancelled due to the expected weather event.
“Winning the JR trophy would mean a lot,” Wood told the points.
“Racing for the trophy over two weekends this year is going to make it a little bit harder and we’ve got to try and make sure that we’re doing our best job and making sure that we put it all together for this weekend. I’m just proud to be in that position where we can be fighting for the JR trophy.
“Being able to get Toyota’s first win in Supercars is incredible and pretty special. And to do it in front of New Zealand fans made it even more amazing.”
Supercar driver Ryan Wood takes the chequered flag at Taupō Motorsport Park. Photo / Supplied
With Taupo’s cancelled Sunday race now on the Ruapuna race card this weekend, a massive 400 points are up for grabs over four races and 560km of racing. Wood is keen to repeat Toyota’s good form from Taupo and build on the growing momentum of the Japanese manufacturer.
“Obviously, we had ambitions to win races early [in the season] and we’ve managed to do that. All credit to the boys and girls of our team, and all the hard work that they’ve put in. I’m just the lucky one to be able to celebrate on the podium.
“There’s a lot of hard-working people in the race team who have allowed for the achievement of winning. We’re going to strive for a lot more success this weekend. So, I’m really, really happy and credit to Toyota and all our partners as it was pretty groundbreaking for Supercars [winning] and I’m so proud to be a part of that.
“We’ll just try and make sure that we keep the success rolling along,” he said.
New Zealand Supercar driver Ryan Wood celebrates victory in Taupō. Photo / Supplied
Situated on the outskirts of Christchurch, Ruapuna is an old-school track in the typical New Zealand style. It’ll be a challenge for the field to negotiate a narrow, tight layout with very little room for error, no runoff to speak of and only a few passing opportunities.
“It’s good track and lots of fun. It’s been a few years since I did any laps around there back in the day.
“Most of the Supercars guys have been there so there are no excuses and we’ll just have to see how we go. We’ve or a good package And I have faith in the car and the team. We’ve done a really good job so far and we can hold our heads up high.
“We’ve started the year well and we want to build on that this weekend and keep moving forward. It’s early days and we’ve still got a lot of work to do and you never can tell after just one race [win],” said Wood.
If the weather holds, fans making the trip to Ruapuna will be in for a treat. With no form guide as to how the track will cope with four races over three days, it could be anyone’s day in the spotlight including one of the four rookies in the field – Jayden Ojeda, Rylan Gray, Jackson Walls, Zach Bates, or Jobe Stewart.
