Wood predicts traffic drama after hairy practice run-in
Ryan Wood predicts traffic drama after hairy practice run-in
Wood caught Kai Allen late in Practice 2, aborted final run
Drivers set to negate traffic, try and get tows in qualifying
The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver caught old Super2 rival turned Penrite Racing rookie Allen in the closing minutes of Practice 2.
The #2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Ford closed on Allen at the hairpin, first remonstrating over team radio before running alongside the #26 Penrite Ford down the back straight.
Allen ended up being first Ford home in eighth, while Wood was 11th.
Speaking afterwards, the Kiwi insisted his position wasn't representative, instead claiming he was caught out by Allen on his second push lap.
"I think [Allen] was just on his warm-up procedure and I was a little bit off-sequence, and he just caught me out,” Wood explained.
“He baulked me down at the hairpin, it wasn’t too much, it’s just more the fact you’re braking so deep into there.
“He was warming up that I just couldn’t predict what was going to happen, unfortunately I had to back out of it and didn’t get a proper representative time on a green."
When asked in traffic will play a role in qualifying, Wood said: “Yeah, 100%. It’s always tight around here with so much traffic.
"We need to look for tows, a lot of people are, and that’s why there are some names up the top with good race car, but also getting tows definitely helps.
"We need to figure that out work as a team to make sure that happens.”
Traffic in qualifying is always a talking point at Symmons Plains, and getting baulked typically has significant ramifications to a driver's qualifying result.
Per Supercars analysis Scott Sinclair, if all cars were equally spaced out around the 2.4km track, the gap between each car would be 100 metres, or around 2.1 seconds.
As was the case on Friday, drivers usually trip over each other as they negate differing tyre warm-up procedures, cars completing an extra warm-up lap at a slower pace, or cars positioning for a potential tow down the back straight.
Regardless, Wood was pleased with his pace, while teammate Chaz Mostert — who he also caught while running alongside Allen — was only 23rd.
“I think that session probably isn’t representative, but still happy to be there and thereabouts in the 10,” he said.
“There’s some speedy cars out there, we’re just chipping away at our program, trying to find the happy place. Still plenty of work to do.”
Supercars action in Tasmania will resume on Saturday with back-to-back Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions from 9:05am AEST.
