![\"Wood](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Supercars-Taupo-Saturday-241-copy.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRyan Wood during the Taupo Super440. Image: InSyde Media<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRyan Wood during the Taupo Super440. Image: InSyde Media<\/p>\n
There were rapturous scenes as the young New Zealander won in front of an adoring home crowd.<\/p>\n
It nearly wasn\u2019t to be for Wood, who was undercut by his teammate Mostert in the second pit stop sequence.<\/p>\n
Wood was left irate by the pit stop strategy faux pas that allowed Mostert to take the effective lead of the race \u2013 prompting an irate radio response from the young New Zealander.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Wood caught Mostert in the dying laps of the race and retook the lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll protect the win,\u201d Mostert radioed. \u201cWoody\u2019s faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mostert\u2019s role as the rear gunner proved pivotal. A late charge from Feeney was thwarted by a battle with Mostert through the infield esses.<\/p>\n
Win a limited edition 1:18 scale model #8 BJR Camaro. Enter Now. <\/a><\/p>\n Feeney ultimately took second place away, but Mostert\u2019s valiant defence cost the Triple Eight driver more than a second to Wood.<\/p>\n All told, Wood came home three seconds clear of Feeney while Mostert completed the podium.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so incredibly proud of our team and what we\u2019ve done with this beautiful car,\u201d said Wood.<\/p>\n \u201cTo win in our third round is pretty special. A big thank you to Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing, as always. This is incredible. I can\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry about all my emotion, it just means so much. To do it at home in front of so many friends and family and supporters of mine is so incredible.<\/p>\n \u201cA massive congrats to Chaz as well. I\u2019m out of breath.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a relatively tame start to proceedings as the top four made it through the first few corners without incident.<\/p>\n Wood controlled the first 10 laps but soon had Brown applying pressure.<\/p>\n On Lap 14, Brown tried to get to Wood\u2019s inside with a lunge at Turn 9. Wood, however, defended \u2013 though the exchange briefly brought Feeney and Kostecki into the battle.<\/p>\n Wood responded to Brown\u2019s attack and stretched his legs to a one-and-a-half-second lead by Lap 19. Brown pitted and returned to the race with Erebus Motorsport rookie Jobe Stewart in his way.<\/p>\n Payne, who was the first of the top five to pit out of fifth in a bid to undercut the leaders, gained some ground, but was baulked by Stewart and Triple Eight\u2019s Jackson Walls upon rejoining the race.<\/p>\n Wood made his first pit stop on Lap 21 from the lead and returned ahead of Brown.<\/p>\n On Lap 24, Feeney pitted and was forced to wait for Grove Racing\u2019s Kai Allen to pit ahead of him before leaving his pit bay. On the corrected order, that dropped him to seventh.<\/p>\n As he did earlier in the day, Kostecki ran longest of all \u2013 pitting on Lap 28 to drop to eighth.<\/p>\n The benefits of Payne\u2019s undercut began to diminish on Lap 29. Mostert put himself back onto the podium with a pass at Turn 5 and Feeney followed suit a lap later at the same spot.<\/p>\n Conversely, Kostecki started to make the most of his tyre advantage with a pass on Payne at Turn 5 with 26 laps remaining for fifth.<\/p>\n With 25 laps to go, Wood\u2019s advantage over Brown stood at 2.5 seconds while Mostart was 4.5 seconds back in third.<\/p>\n The final round of pit stops began in earnest with 23 laps to go, led by Anton De Pasquale \u2013 whose hopes of a strong result were hampered by a slow change on the left rear, costing him five seconds.<\/p>\n Mostert pitted on Lap 41, and a lap later Brown followed suit. It was an unfortunate case of deja vu for Triple Eight as they watched Payne pull in front of Brown, costing the #888 Mustang valuable time and a position to Mostert.<\/p>\n Wood pitted out of the lead on Lap 43 \u2013 and with a two-lap tyre advantage, Mostert undercut his teammate to take the projected lead.<\/p>\n Wood was left fuming, and radioed to his team \u201cAre you serious?\u201d as he questioned how Mostert was allowed to get ahead.<\/p>\n Engineer Richard Harris replied: \u201cWe\u2019re not happy about it either.\u201d<\/p>\n What followed was an honest assessment from Walkinshaw TWG Racing team principal Bruce Stewart, who admitted they had not expected Mostert go jump Wood.<\/p>\n Stewart, however, tried to temper the strategy fumble with some optimism for a potential one-two finish.<\/p>\n \u201cHow that played out, probably not ideal,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, you\u2019re leading the race. Certainly we had a little bit longer with the fuel on Woody\u2019s car.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lot of negotiation and chatting going on between the engineers right now, we\u2019re just gonna focus on getting a 1-2.<\/p>\n \u201cThen we\u2019ll work out what happened and make sure it\u2019s clear and transparent for our drivers and fans. I don\u2019t think we expected it.<\/p>\n \u201cI reckon with the fuel you just saw a little bit extra of the fuel\u2026 we\u2019re in the front, so let\u2019s not forget that. Has it played out ideal? No, not really.\u201d<\/p>\n After pitting, Feeney came out in front of Brown, only to slip up at Turn 2 and gift the place to his teammate.<\/p>\n Kostecki finally pitted from the lead with 13 laps to go for slicks, despite light rain dusting the circuit. The #17 rejoined in sixth, behind Payne and in front of Golding.<\/p>\n With 11 laps to go, Feeney\u2019s slight tyre advantage paid dividends as he passed Brown at the Turn 11 hairpin.<\/p>\n What followed defined the race. Wood caught Mostert and was let through into the lead.<\/p>\n Mostert was soon caught by Feeney, and some robust defence by the #1 Toyota Supra allowed Wood to skip away.<\/p>\n Wood was victorious, Feeney second and Mostert third.<\/p>\n Brown was fourth ahead of Payne while Kostecki, James Golding, Kai Allen, Cameron Waters, and De Pasquale completed the top 10.<\/p>\n Results: Repco Supercars Championship ITM Taupo Super440, Race 2<\/p>\n Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
\nNum
\nDriver
\nTeam
\nCar
\nLaps\/Diff
\nGap<\/p>\n
\n2
\nRyan Wood
\nWalkinshaw TWG Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n60 laps<\/p>\n
\n88
\nBroc Feeney
\nTriple Eight Race Engineering
\nFord Mustang GT
\n3.0363
\n3.0363<\/p>\n
\n1
\nChaz Mostert
\nWalkinshaw TWG Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n5.5116
\n2.4753<\/p>\n
\n888
\nWilliam Brown
\nTriple Eight Race Engineering
\nFord Mustang GT
\n7.0048
\n1.4932<\/p>\n
\n19
\nMatthew Payne
\nGrove Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n8.8202
\n1.8154<\/p>\n
\n17
\nBrodie Kostecki
\nDick Johnson Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n12.0539
\n3.2337<\/p>\n
\n7
\nJames Golding
\nBlanchard Racing Team
\nFord Mustang GT
\n16.776
\n4.7221<\/p>\n
\n26
\nKai Allen
\nGrove Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n17.0041
\n0.2281<\/p>\n
\n6
\nCameron Waters
\nTickford Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n37.0267
\n20.0226<\/p>\n
\n18
\nAnton De Pasquale
\nTeam 18
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n37.7116
\n0.6849<\/p>\n
\n4
\nJack Le Brocq
\nMatt Stone Racing
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n38.3062
\n0.5946<\/p>\n
\n8
\nAndre Heimgartner
\nBrad Jones Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n48.033
\n9.7268<\/p>\n
\n55
\nThomas Randle
\nTickford Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n51.5316
\n3.4986<\/p>\n
\n31
\nJayden Ojeda
\nPremiAir Racing
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n52.0326
\n0.501<\/p>\n
\n3
\nAaron Cameron
\nBlanchard Racing Team
\nFord Mustang GT
\n52.4633
\n0.4307<\/p>\n
\n14
\nCameron Hill
\nBrad Jones Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n55.0273
\n2.564<\/p>\n
\n10
\nZach Bates
\nMatt Stone Racing
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n57.8926
\n2.8653<\/p>\n
\n96
\nMacauley Jones
\nBrad Jones Racing
\nToyota GR Supra A90
\n59.5772
\n1.6846<\/p>\n
\n20
\nDavid Reynolds
\nTeam 18
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n1:02.9829
\n3.4057<\/p>\n
\n99
\nCooper Murray
\nErebus Motorsport
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n1:03.8124
\n0.8295<\/p>\n
\n38
\nRylan Gray
\nDick Johnson Racing
\nFord Mustang GT
\n1:07.1251
\n3.3127<\/p>\n
\n9
\nJobe Stewart
\nErebus Motorsport
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n1:28.2204
\n21.0867<\/p>\n
\n777
\nDeclan Fraser
\nPremiAir Racing
\nChev Camaro ZL1
\n1 lap
\n12.426<\/p>\n
\n11
\nJackson Walls
\nTriple Eight Race Engineering
\nFord Mustang GT
\nLap 50<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Speedcafe-Comp-1_2026_Speedcafe-Graphics_Leaderboard_WIP1.jpg\")
<\/a>
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