Wood passes Best to take maiden Super2 victory

Ryan Wood has passed Super2 points leader Zak Best to win his first Dunlop Series race at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint.

Wood overtook pole-sitter Best at Turn 7 after a Safety Car restart and raced away to win Race 1 at CARCO.com.au Raceway.

The 19-year-old Kiwi was untouchable after passing Best, winning the race by 4.6s over Brad Vaughan.

Vaughan passed Best four laps after the lead change and crossed the line 1.9s ahead of the #17 Anderson Mustang.

Best extended his series lead to 72 points over Matt Chahda, who crossed the line fifth behind Brad Jones Racing’s Lochie Dalton.

“It’s pretty special,” Wood said.

“A lot of hard work’s gone into this, work at the workshop during the week, to be a part of this team is something special.

“To get out of the car and have that welcome is pretty cool, a massive thanks to the team, the car was a rocket.

“Everybody knows the story from last year, so they can shut up now.

“The car out of the bowl, so much drive… Nick and Chaz really just told me about tyre conservation, and I did that.

“They’ve been in the game so long, and to listen to them, made my job easier then."

Best led the field into Turn 1, with Wood dropping behind Vaughan.

The race was neutralised shortly afterwards after Callum Walker beached his #33 Commodore into the Turn 6 sand trap.

Walker's incident immediately followed friendly fire between Eggleston Motorsport teammates Cooper Murray and Kai Allen, with the former turned around.

On the restart, Wood pounced on Vaughan at Turn 1 and set off after Best, and immediately looked down the inside at Turn 6.

On lap 14, Wood fired down the inside of Best at Turn 7, and completed the move with the #17 Mustang squeezed over the kerb.

Wood bolted, with Best vulnerable to Tickford teen Vaughan, who took second position at Turn 7 four laps later.

The Kiwi teen, who claimed his maiden pole in Newcastle last month, crossed the line after 35 laps with a healthy margin over Vaughan.

Best held off a racy Dalton to retain his points lead, with Murray recovering to 15th after being 26th on the restart.

Aaron Love denied Zane Morse to finish sixth, the two both surviving side-to-side contact earlier in the race at Turn 2.

Jay Hanson, Aaron Seton and Wood's teammate Zach Bates rounded out the top 10, with Cameron McLeod an impressed 11th in his Super3 Altima.

McLeod claimed Super3 honours at the death over Jobe Stewart, with the duo embroiled in a battle with Nash Morris and Jordyn Sinni.

However, Stewart inherited the win after McLeod was slapped with a time penalty over an illegal overtake on the final lap.

Allen suffered power steering issues and was classified 27th and last, eight laps down on winner Wood.

Best leads Chahda heading into Sunday, with Murray dropping to third, 81 points down.

Hanson, Love and Allen fill positions four through six, and are within a race win of Best.

Tickets for this weekend’s Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.