Wood explains biggest difference between Supra and Mustang

Ryan Wood is getting up to speed with an all-new aerodynamic package in his new Toyota Supra, labelling his adaption to the new car as a “mind boggle.”

After two seasons racing Gen3 Ford Mustang machinery, Wood moved into the new Supra for 2026, which is also being raced by teammate Chaz Mostert and the three Brad Jones Racing drivers.

Off-season wind tunnel testing led to aero parity across the Supra, Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. However, moving into a new car, the Supra drivers were all set for the biggest changes.

The pre-season tweaks have already attracted some comments, with Camaro spearhead Anton De Pasquale noting the year-on-year changes to the Chevrolet product.

The other big manufacturer change was down at Triple Eight, which changed from Camaros to Fords. Broc Feeney said pre-season that the biggest difference was in the handling, alongside engine tuning. Feeney has since won three of the first seven races.

For Wood, there is an ongoing challenge to extract speed from an all-new package, which has come with its highs and lows through two rounds.

Wood claimed Toyota’s first podium in its fifth start, and also qualified fourth in Sydney. Reigning champion Mostert could barely crack the top 20 in qualifying in Sydney, before both WTWGR drivers were on song in Melbourne.

“The aero platform is a bit different and that’s what we’ve started to learn, we’re working in different numbers than we’ve ever worked in,” Wood said on MotorSport New Zealand’s Inside Line program.

“The car’s reacting differently to changes and heights and everything like that compared to the Ford Mustang. It’s starting from scratch, it’s not easy.

“It’s been a little bit of a mind boggle because you get so used to something and so reliant on changes. Your first instinct is to go ‘last year we did this and it worked’.

“That doesn’t work anymore, so we’re going out of our wheelhouse and getting new information to make sure we move forward.”

Wood stated the Toyota engine remains a work in progress, despite Supras closing the gap across the Sydney weekend, before making further strides in Melbourne.

Per Supercars data analyst Scott Sinclair, Toyotas were on average 0.55 seconds a lap slower than the Fords in Race 1; by Race 3, that gap had been cut to 0.21 seconds.

“The car itself does things that we wished the Mustang would have done and the Supra does stuff vice versa,” Wood continued.

“It’s a game of to and fro’s and we’ve got to keep developing, but the exciting part is there’s a lot more positives in the car than negatives after two rounds.

“There’s a big future I think with this product. The engine is obviously something that needs work, but the actual car balance is pretty cool.”

Wood and Mostert are seventh and 10th in the standings heading to the ITM NZ Double Header, which commences at Taupō on April 10-12.