'Character building': Walkinshaw philosophical after wild Toyota debut ride

Ryan Walkinshaw knows the Toyota project has a mountain to climb. He’s been there every step of the way.

So, you could forgive him if he wanted to celebrate Sunday’s Sydney result — with all five Toyotas in the top 10 — as a win.

However, while the Walkinshaw TWG Racing boss knows there was luck involved, he insisted the Supra program isn’t "a million miles away.”

WTWGR had the rollercoaster of all rollercoasters in its first round as Toyota’s lead team, leading Sydney with Ryan Wood sixth in points amid a weekend of penalties and poor qualifying results.

Chaz Mostert qualify to save himself — with results of 20th, 22nd and 16th — yet somehow clawed out a top four finish in the finale, just hours after being disqualified from Race 2.

Over at Brad Jones Racing, Andre Heimgartner starred on Friday night, before his car coughed flames on Saturday. It was that sort of weekend.

For Walkinshaw, getting through unscathed was an achievement in itself, and while several rivals tripped up, Sunday will eventually go down was a watershed day for the Supra project.

"Five in the top 10. Pretty bloody good,” Walkinshaw told Supercars.com.

"I mean, let's be honest, it wasn't a result based on outright pace, there was a lot of carnage that happened in front of us and yes, a lot of drivers ran out of talent in the wet.

“But considering where all the Toyotas started — I think all Toyotas started in the bottom 10 from qualifying — for us to be able to get all five Toyotas in the top 10 at the end of the race is pretty special.

“Obviously no more engine dramas like we saw with Heimgartner yesterday, which is another win.

“We are still lacking a bit of pace, still lacking a bit of knowledge on actually what makes these cars work at their optimum performance level. But we're not a million miles away.”

The team entered 2025 with the reigning champion driver. There was always going to be pressure, attention and expectation. Two fans from Japan even flew down to watch on trackside.

Walkinshaw stressed that the project has to walk before it can run, a point Mostert suggested after Friday’s race.

“These cars are still in development. This engine's still in development,” Walkinshaw said.

"It's completely different to what we've run previously on set-up for Camaros on Brad's side and our side from the Ford.

“It's been a character building weekend, but we've been working through things methodologically and we've learned a lot. I'm looking forward to seeing how we go at AGP."

Supercars returns in Melbourne in two weeks' time.