Wood wows, stars struggle in tight final Taupō practice
Ryan Wood wows, stars struggle in tight final Taupō practice
Wood recovers from Practice 1 incident to lead ultra-tight session
Will Brown ninth, Cam Waters 10th, Broc Feeney 11th
Ryan Wood has recovered from a Practice 1 off to lead the way in final practice at the ITM Taupō Super 440.
The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver, who ended the morning session in the gravel trap, was fastest of all after a frantic end to Friday's action.
Wood, Brodie Kostecki, Thomas Randle and Practice 1 fast man Andre Heimgartner were covered by just 0.09s, with Anton De Pasquale and Chaz Mostert rounding out the top six.
It was far from smooth sailing from the top three in the championship, with Will Brown, Cam Waters and Broc Feeney filling positions nine through 11.
"The car feels really good, Richard [Harris, race engineer] has rolled something out that's pretty solid at the moment, so kudos to himself and the team, they've worked real hard," 21-year-old Wood said.
"There's still a lot of water to go under the bridge, I've done this a few times now where I've topped practice one or two, but for me it's just about learning, trying to find what the car needs, and keep digging into the data.
"There's still a lot I need to learn, because there's a few sectors where I'm behind. If we can piece it all together I think we'll be alright."
Cars rolled out under overcast skies, and it was Kostecki's 1:26.8632s that led the field through the opening runs.
Matt Payne was just behind with a 1:26.8712s, with De Pasquale (1:26.9400s) and Heimgartner (1:26.9972s) rounding out the top four.
The balance of the field returned to the pits after eight minutes, with Kostecki leading Payne, De Pasquale, Heimgartner, Wood, Brown, Cameron Hill, Bryce Fullwood, Waters and Randle. Feeney, meanwhile, was 13th, with Mostert 11th.
Several drivers returned at the midway point for second runs, with Richie Stanaway vaulting to the top with a 1:26.6858s. PremiAir Racing teammate James Golding went even quicker, albeit by just 0.0039s with a 1:26.6819s.
Mostert, meanwhile, encountered a hairy push lap when he rolled back out. After tipping his Mobil 1 Optus Ford Mustang into a spin at Turn 7, Mostert slid wide at Turn 9 and soared through the grass.
Turn 9 continued to be a tricky corner to master, with Feeney getting crossed up and finding the grass. Feeney went around again for another lap, only to pit before setting a time.
Into the final five minutes, David Reynolds jumped to the top with a 1:26.5022s, with Jack Le Brocq going 0.0041s quicker. De Pasquale then shot to top spot with a 1:26.1987s, before Wood set the time sheets alight.
Wood made a statement with the first 1:25s lap of the day, a 1:25.9778s. Teammate Mostert shrugged off his earlier troubles with a 1:26.2583s to go third, with Hill going fourth with a 1:26.3034s.
Early pace-setter Kostecki shot to second in the final minute with a 1:26.0213s, with Randle and Heimgartner also moving up the order. As the chequered flag flew, Brown and Feeney were 20th and 22nd. In the final seconds, Brown, Waters and Feeney filled positions nine through 11.
Supercars will return on Saturday for back-to-back Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions from 10:25am NZST/8:25am AEST, which will set the grids for the dual 120km sprints.
