The 'what if' scenario that underlines Wood's shocking 2025 luck

"What if?" is a dangerous question in the world of motorsport. As the great Murray Walker once said, "If if just F1 spelled backwards."

It's no different in the Repco Supercars Championship, whether it be driver moves that never happened, wins that were never achieved, or even championship deciders that could've easily played out differently.

Ryan Wood's 2025 season is the latest to be added to that long list.

Ranked fifth in the field on average qualifying, it's been nothing short of a breakout year for the Kiwi, who has claimed both his first pole position and race win this season.

He will finish either eighth, ninth, or 10th in the standings, which by no means is a bad return for a sophomore season. Yet, it could've been so much more.

Unreliability and bad luck has undoubtedly cruelled the Kiwi's run despite his raw speed shining through this year. Most notable were the following five instances:

The damage done

It's almost needless to say that if it weren't for the Saturday fuel leak, Ryan Wood would still be competing for a maiden Repco Supercars Championship crown at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.

In fact, if you calculate the points from where Wood was positioned in the instances of bad luck listed above, he would've entered The Finals fifth in points as opposed to ninth; some 200 points clear of teammate Mostert.

Immediately, he would've been 36 points better off entering the Elimination Final at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500. And that's before we get to Saturday's potential win gone begging.

Even if it wasn't a win, there's every chance that given the pace of teammate Mostert, a double podium for Walkinshaw Andretti United was a distinct possibility.

If all of that misfortune that Wood suffered had never occurred, and he claimed that win in Surfers Paradise, Wood would be sitting fourth in the standings entering Sandown.

However, it's also worth mentioning that Wood has also got himself into plenty of trouble throughout the course of the season.

In the opening round at Sydney he stalled on the grid, contact with Jack Le Brocq in Melbourne saw him penalised, he ran Brodie Kostecki off the road on the opening lap in Taupō, and in one of the season's hottest flashpoints he spun an irate Will Brown in Ipswich.

The making of Ryan Wood?

All in all, the disappointment will no doubt be stinging for both the rising star and the team. However there are still so many positives for both parties to take away.

That pain will have to be pushed aside quickly however, as Mostert announced himself as a key contender with a Surfers Paradise sweep. Wood's determined radio message of support for his teammate showed that he might've already done so.

His mentality has caught the eye of many this year, with champions, fans, and experts alike all taking notice of the rate at which the Kiwi has matured in just 24 months.

"I felt for Woody, he was leading Bathurst and leading here," reigning Supercars champion Will Brown said on his Lucky Dogs podcast.

"He's taking it pretty well, there's not a lot you can do in those circumstances, and I guess it's how you act with the team and how they support you, but he's taking it very well for what's happened.

"It's all been out of his control, and I didn't see pace, but he was fast. He probably would have won that race."

When we look back on 2025 in the future, there's no doubt it will be remembered for a lot of things; the debut of Finals, a Bathurst for the ages, photo finishes, dominance, underdogs, the lot.

Perhaps its most significant chapter will be the coming of age of Ryan Wood.

The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of Supercars, teams or drivers.