Top 10 Supercars drivers of 2025: #4 Ryan Wood
As 2025 winds down, Supercars.com is ranking the top 10 drivers of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship, continuing with Ryan Wood, who comes in as our #4.
It goes without saying, but Ryan Wood's end of year statistics don't do his second Supercars season justice.
He would only finish 10th in a season where his teammate won the championship, however it was a season that had all the hallmarks of a champion of the future.
Several key milestones were ticked off, a first career podium, first pole position, and a first career win. However, if just the slightest bit of luck went his way, it could've easily been so much more.
Despite all the what ifs, Walkinshaw Andretti United have finally found the driver that can take the fight to Chaz Mostert.
Ryan Wood's season stats
Position: 10th
Best finish: 1st (Perth)
Average finish: 10.84
Race head-to-head with teammate: 12-18
Podiums: 7
Best start: 1st (Perth, Gold Coast, Sandown)
Average start: 7.32
Qualifying head-to-head with teammate: 20-14
Why we picked him
Having a teammate of Chaz Mostert's ilk has undoubtedly been a huge benefit for Wood in his first two seasons in Supercars. But to push a world-class driver like Mostert within two years is an extraordinary feat.
Where Wood really shone was qualifying, where he got the better of experienced teammate Mostert in the head-to-head battle. Such was his form, that his average start of 7.32 was only bettered by Broc Feeney's otherworldly 3.06.
Whilst there were still mistakes and incidents where he could take most of the blame, as you would expect from a firebrand like Wood, we saw a strong mental side of the Kiwi that we might not have seen in his rookie season.
Take his performances at Sandown and Adelaide for example, playing rear gunner for Mostert. The way Wood handled himself given his rotten luck was highly commendable for someone so young, brushing it all to the side to put the team first.
Regardless of what occurred in the final race, Wood was the perfect foil to Mostert, and was the ultimate wingman in Mostert's long-awaited championship win.
What we expect next season
2026 shapes up as an enormous season for Wood, who will pilot a brand new Toyota GR Supra, as WAU become the homologation team for the Japanese marque.
With Toyota set to run cars #1 and #2 next year, there will be added expectation as the cars to beat heading into the new year.
How competitive the Toyota package will be out of the blocks perhaps won't be known until several rounds have passed, but one thing Wood will be hoping for is improved reliability.
If everything from a team and car perspective falls into place, there is no doubt that Walkinshaw have not just one, but two drivers who can go for Grand Final glory in Adelaide.
The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of Supercars, teams or drivers.
