Wood determined to make amends as career day beckons

Ryan Wood is on the verge of a career day in Christchurch, however the Kiwi knows it's by no means a done deal.

Despite dealing with the lingering effects of a flu, the Kiwi has continued on his stunning form from Taupō, claiming a pole position and two podiums to continue to control the Jason Richards Trophy battle.

Entering the final day on the ITM New Zealand Double Header, the #2 Toyota leads the #17 Ford by 33 points, but with 145 points up for grabs nine drivers are still mathematical possibilities.

However, the second Saturday race was a tough one for the Kiwi, who admitted he and his Toyota GR Supra weren't at their best.

After holding down second for a majority of the race from pole, Wood made two crucial errors on lap 25 at Turns 4 and 6, allowing rival Broc Feeney to muscle his way past in the infield.

He also had no answers for a flying James Golding in the closing laps, with the CoolDrive Ford having an enormous tyre advantage.

"I just got outdriven in that one, made a few mistakes and just didn't do a good enough job," said Wood after Race 12.

"I'm a little bit annoyed with myself, but I had a couple of cool battles, had a great battle with Broc so that was cool. It felt like there was a bit of heat in that one, and I enjoyed that.

"Cool to see Matty [Payne] win that one, he's had a tough couple of races.

"All in all, we've got work to do, and there's a few battle scars on the Mobil 1 Truck Assist Supra.

"We've definitely got to do some work overnight to get a little bit better, I've got to be better. When you start from pole and finish fourth, you're always gutted.

"But at the end of the day, we're happy. Having a lot of fun, a lot of great people and the weather's been ok so far as well."

Now, all attention turns to the 200km finale, with the equation simple for Wood. He simply has to finish within sight of Kostecki to keep the JR Trophy in Kiwi hands, taking the honours from 2025 winner Payne, who declared the trophy as the 'holy grail' for New Zealand drivers.

Fourth was still enough for the Kiwi to extend his advantage over Kostecki, who battled engine overheating and will be running with a new engine on Sunday.

However, ever the hard racer, the Wellingtonian wants to bid farewell to his home crowd with one final trophy to take back to Australia.

"When you're racing up the front you take a little bit of excitement and the power from that, and you really get used to racing the front guys," Wood said.

"So that's the expectation, so when you don't exceed that expectation you're always disappointed, so I think that's what I'm feeling right now.

"But at the end of the day, I've got to work on myself to make sure I'm better tomorrow, and I feel like if I can execute properly I can have a shot.

"Matty was too fast then, but I feel like second was sort of on the cards then. I made a mistake, and I'll rue that one for a while, but all in all still a great day when you finish fourth."

The final day of the ITM Christchurch Super 440 begins with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 11:50am NZST/9:50am AEST.