BETTERING himself as a driver in order to become Supercars champion is at the heart of Ryan Wood’s maiden venture into open-wheel racing.
Wood is contesting the four-round Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy which starts this weekend at Hampton Downs.
The Walkinshaw Andretti United star, who is racing for mtec Motorsport, placed third in opening practice this morning before topping Practice 2. There will be four races across the weekend.
The CTFROT field will then head to Taupō, Teretonga Park and Highlands the next three weekends, contributing to a busy start to 2026 for Wood that will also include the Bathurst 12 Hour before his first race in a Supra Supercar.
“The next four weeks is no break for me! I’m really excited to be racing in the CTFROT championship and starting my relationship with Toyota off well,” he said.
“It’s really exciting, something I’ve really wanted to do for a long time and I’ve never, ever done open-wheelers before, so I’m feeling a little bit out of my depth but learning lots.
“I’ve got really fast teammates, two Kiwi guys (Louis Sharp and Zack Scoular) and a Chinese fella (Yuanpu Cui), so it has been really cool.
“They’ve raced so much in these cars and are really pushing myself, and then obviously you guys know the rest of the field is really stacked as well. So it’s really exciting, I’m really enjoying myself.
“It is early days and I’m already sore but I have got a long four weeks coming up… it’s the best prep I can get. I think for me it’s all about driving as much as I can.”
While Wood does dream of success in the New Zealand Grand Prix (which Highlands will double as) and the overall CTFROT season, Supercars remains the bigger picture play.
“It’s about learning and really developing as a driver and really trying to unlock skills that I have never found before,” he explained.
“So the next four weeks is prepping me to hopefully become Supercars champion – that’s the real end goal.
“But if I can pick up this championship along the way, it would be super special. But like I said, there’s a lot of super strong kids out here and I feel like I’m an old bloke out here with all these young pups!”
Wood, 22, has a familiar ally in his corner, having brought his WAU engineer Richard Harris across the ditch.
“It’s really special to bring over my engineer in Richard Harris as well and keep my building on that relationship and rapport because last year was our first time working together. So hopefully by the end of this four weeks he speaks Kiwi fluently!” he laughed.
Among other names on the CTFROT grid is former World Rally Championship ace Kalle Rovanpera.