Wood tips Toyota's biggest Supercars test yet

Ryan Wood expects the upcoming NTI Townsville 500 to be the biggest test yet for Toyota's Supercars program, following a rollercoaster start to 2026.

The Supra has netted three wins, four pole positions and eight podiums across homologation team Walkinshaw TWG Racing and Brad Jones Racing.

However, both teams have been struck down by engine failures, with Andre Heimgartner (Sydney), Wood (Christchurch) and Chaz Mostert (Darwin) all suffering costly DNFs.

The latest DNF for reigning champion Mostert is set to thrust WTWGR and Toyota into action, with reliability at the forefront in coming weeks. The Toyota camp has been monitoring reliability all season, notably completing precautionary mid-event changes on Wood's car in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin.

The work is ongoing, WTWGR CEO Bruce Stewart telling Supercars.com pre-Darwin: “I wouldn’t put a summary on [reliability] until you get through a few more rounds... we can probably talk about reliability after we get through [Darwin]. We need to understand what we've got under us and what areas we continually need to improve on.

"We're still developing a very new program and our successes to date can be celebrated at the end of the season when you've got a reliable engine and you've put your best foot forward in the championship."

Townsville is among the punishing tests for a Supercar, courtesy of big kerbs, close concrete walls and often oppressive conditions.

The mid-part of the season also creates a logistical challenge, with teams handed a quick turnaround between returning from Darwin to travelling to Townsville, before heading back across the country to Perth.

When asked on Supercars’ Equip Super Cool Down Lap if Townsville was set to be the Toyota’s biggest test yet, Wood replied: "I would imagine so, yeah.

"Townsville's actually probably my weakest track on the calendar. So I wanna be better there and we're gonna hone into that and make sure we're good there.

“The car, it's gonna be its biggest test and obviously the stuff that happened to Chazzy today is pretty devastating for our crew. So we'll dig into it.

"It's obviously learning as always, and we'll just keep going the punches."

Wood is also chasing his first headline result at Reid Park, having delivered race results of 17th, sixth, 12th, eighth and seventh across his two visits to the circuit. The Kiwi slipped from seventh to eighth in the points, and dropped 31 points relative to the Finals cut-off.

Critically, the Toyota package has proven competitive at both Tasmania and Darwin, with Mostert pleased with his pace despite the DNF snatching the headlines. Wood, meanwhile, is determined to unpack where his side of the garage fell short in Darwin.

"Leaving the weekend feeling a little bit empty,” Wood continued.

"It's just one of those weekends where we actually came out of practice really excited and happy with our balance, and didn't run a green [tyre] in practice.

“Felt like we were pretty good, and then, yeah, we just sort of went backwards. Friday was probably our best day, and yeah, unfortunately, just one of those weekends.

"So yesterday was really tough. Today was okay. We moved forward on strategy, a little bit of car speed, but we're just, we just weren't good enough this weekend. So, we'll go back to the drawing board.

"There's a few things that seem to line up, so we'll try and dig into that and figure it out.”

Track action in Townsville commences on Friday July 10.