WAU explains latest heartbreaker for luckless Wood
WAU explains latest reliability heartbreaker for Ryan Wood
Wood taken out of contention in Sandown finale with front left wheel issue
Devastated Wood “can’t catch a break” after another reliability drama
A stripped wheel nut was all it took for Ryan Wood to watch yet another strong result go begging at Sandown.
As the heavens opened, the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver came in for wet tyres from fourth in the opening laps of Sunday’s Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
However, Wood was heavily delayed on the front left wheel, and in a heartbeat, his race was over.
In a WAU release, the team explained that, when changing the front left wheel, there was an issue with a stripped wheel nut. The damaged nut left debris on the spindle, meaning a new wheel couldn’t be put on the left front until the issue was rectified.
It was the latest body blow to the luckless Wood, who suffered an engine issue whilst contending for the win at Bathurst, and a fuel leak while leading on the Gold Coast.
“Another weird weekend for us on the Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing No. 2 side. Saturday was awesome getting a podium, pole and Chazzie through to the final four,” Wood said in the team release.
“The race was going pretty good, sitting in P4 when we came in for our first stop of the day but unfortunately the wheel wouldn’t come off so the boys had to work overtime to get that sorted.
“Pretty gutted to be honest, I feel like we just can’t catch a break. We will bounce back in Adelaide.”
Saturday victory did the job for Mostert, but a bold strategy call propelled him into contention on Sunday. However, he caught a wet spot between Turns 3 and 4 while in a podium position, and slid into the barriers.
He recovered to fourth after the dramatic Cam Waters/Matt Payne collision, and heads to Adelaide as leader Broc Feeney’s closest rival in points.
“Sandown as a whole, what an amazing weekend for us as a team, what a dream Saturday to lock out the front row alongside my buddy Woody,” Mostert said.
“I was running my own race at the beginning, we were a bit compromised with some of the things we took into the race, but we learnt lots about our race car today going into Adelaide.
“Still proud of our weekend, will use the bad run today as a bit of fuel and motivation to come out swinging. There’s no doubt we have the car to try and do the job in Adelaide and the team is firing all cylinders at the moment so I’m looking forward to the opportunity at the last round to have a crack.”
