{"id":377959,"date":"2026-04-13T21:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377959\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T21:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:47:07","slug":"supercars-taupo-ryan-wood-takes-emotional-home-victory-and-jr-trophy-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377959\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars Taup\u014d: Ryan Wood takes emotional home victory and JR Trophy lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt was one of the best viewing tracks for the best racing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sherab agreed, saying in his view, the Taup\u014d<\/a> track didn\u2019t offer the same spectator experience as Pukekohe, but \u201cit\u2019s all right\u201d.<\/p>\n

Supercars organisers cancelled Sunday\u2019s event in Taup\u014d.<\/p>\n

There were two races held on Saturday, one 120km race and one 200km race.<\/p>\n

The 120-kilometre race scheduled for Sunday would instead be held on Friday in Christchurch.<\/p>\n

\"ChesterChester Sherab (left) and Kevin O’Carroll from Auckland have been attending Supercars together for nearly 20 years. Photo \/ Malisha Kumar <\/p>\n

Sherab said despite the cancellation, there was still plenty of racing to see in Taup\u014d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see the best racing today.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Parker family, daughter Michelle, dad Phil, and brother-in-law Joseph, travelled from Hawke\u2019s Bay for the event.<\/p>\n

For Michelle and her dad, racing is a long-held and loved tradition, but this time she brought Joseph along, who said he was excited to finally experience it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool. I watch Supercars on TV all the time, but I\u2019ve never been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t have a specific race he was looking forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to watch all the racing, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Parkers had planned to attend the racing on both days, but changed their plans when news of Cyclone Vaianu hit.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Parker family (from left) Joseph, Michelle, and Phil. Photo \/ Malisha Kumar <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were thinking, \u2018Oh my gosh, we might not be able to come because of the cyclone\u2019,\u201d Michelle said. <\/p>\n

They decided to make the trip anyway, but cut it short.<\/p>\n

The last time Michelle and Phil went to a Supercars event was in Pukekohe<\/a> a few years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to say, the cars today are not as loud as when I was … at the V8s in Pukekohe, but it\u2019s still cool,\u201d Michelle said.<\/p>\n

Carlos, of Hamilton<\/a>, who did not want to give his last name, also used to attend events at the Pukekohe racetrack a lot.<\/p>\n

Working in the scaffolding industry, he said he had fond memories of helping set up the grandstands there. <\/p>\n

Attending the Taup\u014d event, Carlos brought his partner, Mary-Jane, along, who hadn\u2019t been to a racing event in over a decade.<\/p>\n

\"Mary-JaneMary-Jane and Carlos at Supercars 2026. Photo \/ Malisha Kumar <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just tagging along, but I\u2019m really enjoying myself,\u201d Mary-Jane said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed the motocross bikes. That was really impressive.\u201d <\/p>\n

She was also looking forward to more car action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw a couple of spin-outs there before, and that really got me excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year is the first year that Supercars will run a double-header in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Drivers are now preparing for the inaugural Christchurch Super440 at Ruapuna.<\/p>\n

Across both weekends, drivers compete for the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, which was named for the Kiwi driver who died of cancer in 2011.<\/p>\n

\" The V8 Supercars were the main attraction on Saturday. Photo \/ Malisha Kumar<\/p>\n

The trophy, established in 2013, went to New Zealand driver Matt Payne last year.<\/p>\n

Wellington\u2019s Ryan Wood has won the 200km race at the ITM Taup\u014d Super 440, his second career win and first on home soil.<\/p>\n

His win was also a historic first for Toyota, which debuted the GR Supra Supercar in the championship two months ago.<\/p>\n

Wood dominated the race from pole position until the second pit stop, when he rejoined behind teammate Chaz Mostert.<\/p>\n

After leading for nine laps, Mostert side-stepped for Wood to protect the win, with eight laps remaining.<\/p>\n

\"KiwiKiwi Supercars driver Ryan Wood claimed his first win on home soil. Photo \/ Mark Horsburgh, EDGE Photographics<\/p>\n

Broc Feeney was closing in fast but, as he battled with Mostert, Wood had enough margin to win.<\/p>\n

It was somewhat of a full-circle moment, as Wood was Mostert\u2019s wingman in the 2025 finals at Sandown, where he delayed Will Brown.<\/p>\n

Feeney came in second and Mostert third, with 2024 champion Brown and Auckland\u2019s Matt Payne completing the top five.<\/p>\n

Wood said he was proud of his team and thanked his supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last two laps were pretty emotional,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\" Aside from the Supercars, there were also other races on track, including the Toyota 86 Championship NZ, Central Muscle Cars and TA2 NZ. Photo \/ Malisha Kumar<\/p>\n

\u201cTo win … is pretty special. It just means so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo do it at home, in front of so many friends and family and supporters of mine is so incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brodie Kostecki won the 120km race and leaves Taup\u014d still leading the championship, despite finishing sixth in the 200km race.<\/p>\n

Wood currently leads the battle for the JR Trophy, with four races to go to determine this year\u2019s winner.<\/p>\n

Supercars will hold one 120-kilometre race at Ruapuna on Friday, two 120-kilometre races on Saturday, and one 200-kilometre race on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakat\u0101ne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt was one of the best viewing tracks for the best racing,\u201d he said. Sherab agreed, saying in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[95,21500,196906,16719,1345,8273,7240,22643,111,139,69,5128,1534,213,217,1120,1852,12637,8488,8982,4883,1530],"class_list":{"0":"post-377959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-and","9":"tag-attending","10":"tag-brothersinlaw","11":"tag-emotional","12":"tag-home","13":"tag-jr","14":"tag-lead","15":"tag-marked","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-ryan","20":"tag-saturday","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-supercars","23":"tag-takes","24":"tag-taup","25":"tag-together","26":"tag-trophy","27":"tag-victory","28":"tag-wood","29":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}