Ryan Walkinshaw (right) with driver Ryan Wood. Image: Race Project
Wood looked like he was going to make the cut until late pit stops for Jarrod Hughes and Cooper Murray gifted Anton De Pasquale the upper hand in the points.
It was a curious moment in the context of the Finals Series picture given both Hughes and Murray were behind the wheel of the same Chevrolet machinery as De Pasquale, raising eyebrows.
Speaking with Speedcafe post-race, Walkinshaw labelled the dual pit stops “extremely interesting” but downplayed collusion.
“That’s also what the Finals is all about. It adds in a lot of different elements, which makes it really exciting,” said Walkinshaw.
“There’s not a single person that watched that race that didn’t think it was pretty exciting with a lot of different story points and narratives throughout that race.
“And once again, it’s just another demonstration of just how much ends up going into the Finals and all the different parts that play their part into who becomes champion and at the end of the day it’s fucking great TV. Awesome for the fans, which is what’s most important.”
Walkinshaw said it was up to Supercars to decide whether the actions of the Chevrolet teams needed to be investigated.
When asked directly if he thought the Erebus Motorsport and PremiAir Racing entries were asked to pit to assist Team 18, Walkinshaw offered a veiled answer.
“I don’t know. It’s quite unusual to take a pit stop at that point, as every single person who was watching that race or who’s ever watched a Supercars race will attest to,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, there are lots of games that go into the Finals, and that looks like one of them.”
Before those decisive pit stops, Wood needed assistance to put himself above the cut.
Walkinshaw TWG teammate Chaz Mostert forfeited a shot at victory as the team told him to drop back to give Wood the place he needed to advance.
Wood was under significant pressure from Andre Heimgartner, who was only kept at bay once Mostert slowed to play rear-gunner.
As for his team’s strategy, Walkinshaw confirmed that there had been no discussion with fellow Toyota team Brad Jones Racing about how the final stanza played out.
“We had some discussions with our guys from Toyota because they were asking if that’s something that we can do,” Walkinshaw explained.
“Other teams are not allowed to give other teams team orders, the manufacturers are not allowed to give other teams team orders, which is an important note.
“We didn’t do that and that’s what we were explaining to them that that’s how the rules of Supercars are.
“Manufacturers can’t interfere in team orders between teams and teams can’t interfere with team orders between teams. That’s an important point to remember for today.”
Walkinshaw acknowledged Mostert sacrificing his chance to win the race in Wood’s quest to advance to Sandown.
“Ultimately, we’re a team,” said Walkinshaw.
“Just the same way that Woody helped Chaz a lot at Sandown, for example, holding up other drivers and things like that and playing into different strategies to try and ensure that we do the best for the drivers that are fighting for those final spots, other teams do the same as well, which is clearly what we saw with what was going on with GM – and that’s part of the Finals.
“Chaz had to sacrifice his win to give us the best opportunity to help Woody get in the Finals. All the cards that we had to play, we played them. Other people played different cards and that unfortunately ended up with Woody just missing out.
“It was a good weekend for Chaz, a tough weekend for Woody yesterday, but you know he had a lot of car pace today, at various times.
“One car in the Finals, first Toyota in the Finals in their first season, which is an enormous victory on its own considering all the hard work that’s gone into it.
“Just continues to be the year which shows that Toyota coming into Supercars is the most successful year for a first time manufacturer in the history of this sport, and now it’s our job to try and finish it off with a big trophy at the end of it.”