'Read into it as you will': Wood moves to put rivalry in rear-view mirror

Ryan Wood has vowed to get on with business in the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship, once again moving to ease tensions with Broc Feeney, but stopping short of declaring an end to their rivalry.

Following Wood's heartbreaking engine failure in the Christchurch finale, Feeney was sympathetic for the Kiwi, in what appeared to be a de-escalation of the rivalry that blew up in Adelaide last year.

However, last week Feeney changed tack, declaring on MotorRacing 360 last week that he "wouldn't say we are mates," and that the pair hadn't spoken since Adelaide, despite eyewitness reports suggesting the pair had a brief interaction in the Christchurch paddock.

However, Wood has hinted that there may be a truce in tensions, with the Kiwi telling media at the launch of the NTI Townsville 500 that his sole focus is on locking up his Finals passage, and leaving the rivalry in the rear-view mirror.

"I'm not too worried about it. What's happened between us will stay between us now," said Wood in Townsville.

"I've sorted it out. We've sorted it out now, it's between us.

When further pressed as to whether that meant the pair had spoken in an attempt to reconcile, Wood coyly responded: "You can read into it as you will."

After the dramatic championship-altering collision in Adelaide, all eyes were on the pair at the opening round of the season in Sydney.

The pair did have a couple of brief on-track exchanges, of which Feeney got the upper hand on both occasions with robust moves, however the Red Bull Ampol Racing star has found himself clashing with Wood's teammate Chaz Mostert as of late.

Mostert and Feeney had two run-ins at Taupō, the latter as Mostert played rear gunner whilst Wood claimed Toyota's first win, before the reigning champion made headlines for forcing Brodie Kostecki into a wild off in Christchurch.

Wood clarified that he doesn't expect that Feeney will reduce his aggression on-track, and further added that the aggressive nature of racing in 2026 has been enjoyable from the driver's seat.

"No, we'll just go racing. We enjoy racing hard, and that's part of the championship at the moment.

"There's a lot of rivalry, and I think that's what makes it exciting at the moment, and I'm loving that part of it."

His Christchurch DNF cost Wood a chance to entrench himself inside the top five in points leaving his homeland, having been as high as third following the second race on the South Island.

However, the 23-year-old remains by far and away the best performing Toyota driver this season, having also claimed two pole positions and five podiums to date, and sitting five positions ahead of Mostert in the standings.

With Feeney, Kostecki, and Matt Payne separated by just 46 points, the closest top three after the opening four rounds since 2017, the Kiwi recognises the opportunity is there to mix it up should be close his 199-point deficit to Feeney.

"I think the championship is the tightest it's ever been." Wood said.

"You look at the amount of winners, podium getters, and polesitters the year has had already it's probably the most spread out it's ever been.

"I think the top three is the closest it's been for a number of years, and that's really, really good, and even with our new product in the Toyota Supra, to be half in the fight is really cool as well.

"A lot of the big teams like Red Bull have changed manufacturers as well, and I think that's thrown a spanner in the works, and we're just trying to get to the forefront of it."

Wood's season continues at the Tyrepower Tasmania Super 440 from May 22-24. Tickets are on sale now.