Wood dedicates historic Toyota podium to unsung heroes

There's been no secret that it hasn't been all smooth sailing for Toyota in their first steps into Supercars.

Of course, that's to be expected for any new motorsport program, especially in a category where the margins are as tight as they are in the current Supercars field.

However, what has been plain to see is that despite the car being early in it's development cycle, with all five of the GR Supras finishing inside the top 10 in a wild race to close the DUNLOP Sydney 500.

So perhaps it's fitting that their first podium would come in a race that was equally, if not more chaotic yesterday at the Melbourne SuperSprint.

As Albert Park turned into a Supercars all-in brawl behind him, Ryan Wood drove a lonely race — save for a hairy high-speed off at Turn 9 — to claim Toyota's first Supercars podium in just their fifth start.

The podium came after WTWGR completed an engine change on Wood's #2 GR Supra yesterday morning, the second time in as many events that the team completed a precautionary motor swap on the car.

It added to a gargantuan off-season and testing program workload, which saw the team skip the post-Sydney ride day to allow the crew some much needed and well earned rest.

At the post-race press conference, the 23-year-old was quick to pay tribute to the entire crew at WTWGR for their efforts in securing a slice of Supercars history.

"It's been a massive undertaking what we've been going through, and it's just really nice to reward the boys and girls," said the Kiwi post race.

"I don't think they've ever had as many late nights as they've had lately, so it's been really, really hard on them, and I can't thank them enough.

"Everyone at Toyota and behind the scenes at Swindon [Powertrains] and our engine group, all the engine guys have just been tirelessly working overtime to make sure that we can actually perform.

"Days like today are ones we're very proud of."

Adding significance to the occasion was the setting, with Toyota securing their first Supercars podium as the world was watching at the Formula 1 QATAR AIRWAYS Australian Grand Prix.

Several executives from Toyota are on hand, with the make's GAZOO Racing branding adorning the F1 cars of Haas this year, whilst the team's new co-owner was also able to oversee the historic feat.

Dan Towriss, the CEO of TWG Motorsports, has been the driving force behind the Cadillac F1 program, which makes it's debut this weekend in Melbourne.

Whilst Wood was thrilled to display the potential of the GR Supra program in front of WTWGR's international partners, he is all too aware that there is a long road ahead to keep the car at the pointy end.

"It's super special to do it with Dan here, and there's a lot of Toyota exec that are here this weekend, and it's really, really cool.

"I guess it shows them what we've been doing is working, and the hard work is paying off, and that's what we've got to keep doing to make sure that we can keep impressing and can keep moving forward."

Wood currently sits third in the Larry Perkins Trophy standings, and returns to the track today for back-to-back Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions at 9:00am and 9:22am, before Race 6 begins at 5:40pm local time.