Penalty forces Wood to match SVG's New Zealand Grand Prix heroics

Ryan Wood will have to pull off a miracle to win Sunday's New Zealand Grand Prix after being disqualified from qualifying for the showpiece race.

The Walkinshaw TWG Racing driver is contesting the full Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy season in New Zealand, and was a winner at Taupō.

The final round is being held at Highlands Motorsport Park, with Wood qualifying a brilliant second for Sunday’s New Zealand Grand Prix, the showpiece race of the season.

Wood is looking to become the third active Supercars driver to win the Grand Prix, after Shane van Gisbergen (2021) and Will Brown (2025).

However, a technical breach has dumped Wood from second in qualifying towards the rear of the field alongside points leader Ugo Ugochukwu, who was also disqualified from qualifying.

Wood’s car failed the minimum ride height test at the end of Q3, with the Kiwi initially disqualified from all three segments of qualifying.

However, he was later scratched from the Q3 results only, meaning he can still take fourth for Sunday’s Race 2.

Wood will now have to hope he can emulate the heroics of van Gisbergen, who won the 2021 Grand Pri x at Hampton Downs after starting from the pit lane as a result of a fire extinguisher issue pre-race.

There was a later twist for Race 1 winner and title favourite Ugochukwu, who has been disqualified from Q2 and Q3 for a technical breach.

At the time of publication, stewards are set to clarify whether Wood will start from the rear of the grid, or the last of the Q3 runners. Should an appeal be lodged and be successful, Wood could start his original position of second.

Viewers can watch the New Zealand Grand Prix action on Fox Sports/Kayo and Sky NZ from 2:30pm AEDT on Sunday. Check local guides.