'Get out of my system': Wood agitated by 'silly' Tasmania errors
Ryan Wood endures weekend of frustration in Tasmania
Wood plagued by "silly little things," as Toyota claim two wins out of three
Young gun blew up on team radio in finale after pit stop delay
On a weekend where Chaz Mostert broke his winning duck for season 2026, Ryan Wood felt he had the car speed to go punch-for-punch with his teammate.
Yet when all was said and done in Tasmania, the best the Kiwi young gun could manage was a pair of eighths, and ninth for the round. His summary of the weekend: big opportunity missed, execution lacking.
Right from the outset, Wood struggled to keep a clean nose, an error in the first qualifying session of the weekend consigning him to eighth on the grid as Mostert claimed pole.
Ultimately, while there wasn't one standout mistake throughout the weekend, Wood admitted that a cumulation of small mistakes chipped away at him throughout the weekend.
"It was just one of those weekends that nothing really fell our way, and I made a mistake in qualifying on Saturday," Wood on Supercars' Equip Super Cool Down Lap podcast.
"It was sort of trending for the same lap time as Chaz when he got pole, so it's one of those things that I needed to be better this weekend, and I felt like we made improvements on my driving and the car today.
"By that time, the weekend is already half gone, so just a few things didn't go our way with threaded wheel nuts, and [Race 14] when we were rolling about sixth, it was tough.
"I left the car in neutral yesterday in the stop, I don't remember the last time I put it in neutral except for an enduro, so it's just little silly things that I need to get out of my system.
"Today was just one of those things, car speed feels really great, and at the end of that race we were pretty quick, so it's just learning."
The frustrations reached boiling point in the finale, as the 22-year-old lit up the team radio after a slow pit stop, something which he expressed remorse for post-race.
"I think we went into that race with a game plan, and it felt like we had to hit our mark, and we tried to hit that and it just didn't roll our way today," Wood said on broadcast.
"You always feel like when you watch a few cars you pitted around end up seconds ahead you're a little frustrated, but I think our car we've made a big step forward the last race.
"That last stint we were really, really fast, so I don't know, it's one of those days. You feel like you walk away a little but empty handed, but still a lot of positives. I've got to learn how to deal with those ups and downs, and come through them a little bit better."
While Wood struggled to extract the ultimate performance from the #2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Toyota, it was still another step forward for the wider program, Mostert and Brad Jones Racing's Andre Heimgartner splitting the poles and wins on Saturday.
Wood, who claimed Toyota's first Supercars win in Taupō, didn't lose sight of what an enormous weekend Supercars' newest manufacturer enjoyed, even if he wasn't able to add to his tally of five podiums for the year.
"It's monumental to be honest, the effort that's gone into it has been massive, and we're still working it out as the weekend goes on," Wood said.
"You see that probably with the ebbs and flows that we've had a little, but that's just part of learning new packages.
"Yesterday was a pretty massive day for Toyota again to pick up two wins, with two different teams. It shows the package when it's on, it's pretty on, and I know that from New Zealand.
"We've just got to keep moving forward."
Wood remains the top Toyota in seventh ahead of the next stop on the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship, the betr Darwin Triple Crown. Tickets for the June 19-21 event are on sale now.
