2025 pain driving Ryan Wood towards ultimate goal
Wood forced out of 2025 Great Race in closing hour
Wood/Jayden Ojeda led more laps than anyone else
Ryan Wood heads to Bathurst more determined than most after a chastening end to his 2025 race, when victory slipped away.
Wood and Jayden Ojeda were on course to deliver a stunning result before the #2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Ford gave up the ghost within sight of the finish.
The anguish could be heard for all through the voices of Wood and engineer Richard Harris’ voices as the #2 Mustang crawled into pit lane.
Make no mistake, everyone has a story of Bathurst redemption. At age 22, Wood already has his.
"For me, it's just all about redemption,” Wood said in a special Bathurst feature.
"I felt like it was so close last year, even though there were so many laps to go. But I felt like if we were in those last couple of laps with how they played out, we could have made it pretty exciting as well.
"It's just a real hollow feeling when something out of your control happens, and just disbelief really. You work to that moment your whole career. To lead Bathurst, for me it felt like a fairytale, because it's in the wet weather.
“Coming back into the garage and seeing 20 to 30 grown men crying was pretty heartbreaking. I just felt really, really bad for my team and my co-driver Juice [Ojeda], who had obviously put us in that position.”
Wood, new co-driver Jaxon Evans and Walkinshaw TWG Racing are riding the wave of momentum after a brilliant showing at The Bend, with factory Toyotas first and third in the Supra’s first Supercars enduro.
Having all but clinched his Finals spot, Wood heads back to the Mountain determined to right the wrongs of what should have been a day to remember 12 months ago.
"I guess 2025 is probably gonna be a year that I look back on and learn from and be proud of,” Wood said.
“As much as we finished 2025 Bathurst on a low with what happened to our car, it’s not every day you get to lead Bathurst, and especially into the last 20, 30 laps of the greatest race.
"I was super proud to be in that position. But also now this year in 2026, it's about taking the Toyota Supra to the top and making sure that we leave Bathurst proud, and hopefully with that Peter Brock Trophy.
"So we're just trying to make sure that all our focus goes into that event.”
