Home hero Wood fastest in frenetic final Taupō practice

Ryan Wood has ended the opening day of the ITM Taupō Super 440 on a high note for the Kiwi fans, putting his Toyota on top in the final practice session of the weekend.

On a day where it was announced he would extend his stay at Walkinshaw TWG Racing on a multi-year deal, Wood pipped Will Brown by just 0.0034s with a late flyer.

Cars were in their garages for barely 15 minutes before the field rolled back out for the second and final session of the day in a rapid-fire Friday.

Only 14 cars rolled out of the lane as the green light flashed on for the final 25-minute hit out of the day, as the remainder of the field continued to tune up their packages into the opening stanza.

Having finished third in the opening session, championship leader Brodie Kostecki went fastest early on a 1:27.3959s, just half a tenth quicker than Anton De Pasquale, and surpassing Jack Le Brocq's Practice 1 benchmark.

Matt Stone Racing rookie Zach Bates then launched into the top three on a second set of green tyres, taking the #10 Bendix Camaro into the picture on a 1:27.6163s, two tenths off the pace of Kostecki.

Le Brocq then made it two MSR Camaros in the top four, as he went back to the top of the timesheets for the second time in as many sessions on a 1:27.2501s, putting a tenth-and-a-half on Kostecki.

The last six minutes saw the final blast of green tyre runs. Erebus rookie Jobe Stewart jumped up into the top 10, before PremiAir Racing duo Jayden Ojeda and Declan Fraser went 1-2, Ojeda fastest on a 1:27.1358s.

Cameron Hill, running a Jason Richards tribute livery on his #14 Brad Jones Racing Supra, was the first to dip into the 1:26s on a 1:26.9779s, with teammate Macauley Jones going second.

In the hairiest moment of the session, Jackson Walls and Matt Payne were both caught out by traffic within seconds of each other at the final complex of corners, ruining laps that would've jumped both towards the top.

Walls had to take to the escape road at Turn 12, whilst Payne speared into the back of Cooper Murray's #99 Camaro after locking up his fronts, diving straight into pit lane. Payne would wind up 22nd, and Walls 24th.

Walls' Triple Eight stablemate Broc Feeney briefly popped up to the top on a 1:26.7627s, before teammate Brown put a substantial six tenth gap on a 1:26.1615s.

A flurry of drivers leapt forwards as the clock wound down to zero, but ultimately it was Wood who ended up in P1 on a 1:26.1581s, ahead of Brown, Kostecki, James Golding, and Andre Heimgartner.

Feeney would fall back to sixth by the end of the session, ahead of De Pasquale, Cam Waters, David Reynolds, and Aaron Cameron. Practice 1 pace-setter Le Brocq was just outside the top 10 in 11th.