'I dared to dream': Crompton overwhelmed by early Toyota victory

Toyota have done what no new manufacturer to Supercars has ever done before; won within the first 10 races of their Supercars history.

Ryan Wood's brilliant and emotional win this afternoon in Taupō came in just their ninth race in Supercars, beating the previous best marker set in 2014 by Volvo, who won their 14th race.

It's been the culmination of a remarkable journey that spans two decades of courtship between the championship and the manufacturer, a story that really picked up steam three years ago courtesy of Neil Crompton.

The Supercars Hall of Famer, who has recently been hired by Toyota as a motorsport advisor, was on hand alongside Toyota Australia Motorsport Manager Ben Casagrande as Wood stormed to victory.

Crompton, who was pivotal in getting Toyota to join the category utilising the A90 GR Supra body shell on the Gen3 Supercar platform, was lost for words as the project ticked off a major competitive milestone.

"What a moment, what an incredible moment. Three years... a lot of hard work, I'll get myself together," Crompton said as he choked up with emotion.

"The last six months has been challenging. I battled and knocked away cancer a few years ago, and then I set myself a goal to not look back and to try and be positive and make good things happen.

"This is a great thing for the sport. There was huge disbelief in the first instance... there are a heap of people that had to get in behind and believe.

"It's a very hard thing to do, so without an enormous number of people, including Bruce [Stewart], Carl Faux, Adam Austin who was up there, this wouldn't have happened, and they believed a w****r.

"There was no logical reason to believe in what I said, but we stayed the course, and this great group of men and women, together with the same group down at BJR, have worked their backsides off.

"Just a huge moment in my life."

Watching on in the final laps were nervous times in the Walkinshaw TWG camp, as Chaz Mostert had found his way into the lead ahead of a dominant Wood after the final pit stop cycle.

However, any potential tensions from a fired up Wood were alleviated as he made his move for the win at Turn 1, with Mostert offering little resistance and playing rear gunner against a charging Broc Feeney.

Although Mostert couldn't keep Feeney at bay, it was enough to protect and enhance Wood's lead, though it wasn't enough for Crompton's nerves to fade.

"Amazing feeling, because it was just massive heart rate, sweaty palms. The feeling was just ridiculous, and I dared to dream that this would happen, and we nearly got a 1-2 out of it, it's extraordinary.

"I'm supposed to be a person who works with words, I don't have any at the moment."

Wood currently leads the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy standings ahead of the final leg of the ITM New Zealand Double Header at Christchurch next weekend.