Wood explains Taupō practice problem

Suspected broken steering has put Ryan Wood and Walkinshaw Andretti United on the back foot early in Taupō.

Wood, one of five New Zealanders in the field, ended up an impressive fifth in Practice 1, which was topped by compatriot Andre Heimgartner.

However, the session ended with 90 seconds remaining after Wood fired through the chicane and brought his Mobil 1 Truck Assist Ford Mustang to a stop in the gravel.

The 21-year-old alighted from his car, and with red flags flying, the session was declared.

Speaking in pit lane, the Wellington-born driver admitted it was best case scenario for the drama to occur in Practice 1.

"We did a change at the end there, and maybe something has happened," Wood said on the broadcast.

"I think the right front, either something has collapsed or it's just been loose, so it is what it is, it's better to happen right now and the boys will work hard to have a look over it.

"Those sessions are hard, because they're changing so much in between runs, and it can get quite frantic. We'll go again in Practice 2, it's been a good start, and we'll see what we're like."

Wood wasn't concerned about the incident, instead putting focus on continuing his solid form. The Kiwi leads star teammate Chaz Mostert in the qualifying head-to-head, and is just outside the top 10.

"Winning for me is just making gains each weekend and becoming more comfortable with driving at the threshold and all of that sort of stuff," Wood said.

"It's not easy extracting the lap time, and trying to that for 60-odd laps or however long we race for is pretty hard, but then also conserving the tyre.

"I think wins for me on tracks like this where there's high degradation, if we can have a good race and actually look like we have good degradation from a driving point of view, that would be a win.

"We always want to get trophies, but you got to tick the little boxes before you can get there.

"We've got a little plan, and Richard [Harris, race engineer] has come along with a whole lot of knowledge and experience, which has really pushed us forward at the start of this year, and I'm just looking forward to building on that."

Practice 2 at the 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440 will begin at 2:30pm NZST/12:30pm AEST.