Wood shows his mettle

While boosted by his third place Race Seven finish and top 10 pace at the Winton 400, Dale Wood has played down expectation he is about to become a consistent front-runner.

And though focus is forward on the ITM 500 Auckland, today in Melbourne at 9am Wood will skydive – in his race suit – for the Canopies for Kids charity, with a tandem teddy bear that will be donated to a hospitalised child. The gesture is to pass on and inspire courage, and Wood’s sponsor Wilson Security/ADVAM is right behind the venture, supporting the Medic One vehicle that will transport the toys to the hospital.

Even with a weekend away from the racetrack during a busy time in the V8 Supercars calendar, Wood will get his adrenaline rush falling through the sky for a good cause.

The 33-year old is early in the rebuild of his V8 Supercars Championship career and knows that the field is too tight and competitive for anyone to be certain of front-running pace at every round.

“I am always very cautious about predictions,” said Wood, who races the Team Advam/GB Gal Holden Commodore VF for Brad Jones Racing alongside category stars Fabian Coulthard (Lockwood Racing) and Jason Bright (Team BOC).

“The podium was fantastic, but I don’t for a second think I can go out week in and week out and do that. It isn’t going to happen, not in this field. 

“It’s not like that. There is no-one who can comfortably say they expect a podium every weekend.” 

Despite playing down his performance at Winton, which also included three, 10 and 11 qualifying spots and a 13th in Race Eight, the event was definitely a breakout performance for the 2013 Dunlop Development Series Champion.

Prior to that in 2014, he had endured a series of car-crunching hits that were almost all not his fault, including a run-in with FPR Pepsi Max Crew factory driver Chaz Mostert at the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix.

“It’s always a step up when you can have results like at Winton,” Wood told v8supercars.com.au. “I am glad I have shown that when things are right … we can do the job.

“We had good pace, I didn’t feel like I got the best out of the car in qualifying (for Sunday’s Race Nine 200km mini-marathon) and I was still 10th. Any time you are in the top 10 in this field is awesome.”

Of course, not all went to plan at Winton, with an oil pressure issue putting him out of Race Nine and, more obviously, two almost identical run-ins with Bright in Race Seven and Race Nine that both resulted in Wood running off and rejoining.

“I hate going together with my teammate,” Wood said. “I can’t speak highly enough of Brighty and Fabs so far, they have been extremely good to me and it’s the last thing I want to happen. But we are out there racing cars and we are all egotistical hungry blokes that want to get results. 

“I get all that and I think we can just move forward from here and carry a bit more momentum and confidence.

“We just need to avoid that happening. Maybe the argument is he could have put the pass on cleaner and I could have given him more room as well. I am not stupid, I know how it all happens and I know how it all works and it’s the last thing I wanted to happen. We will move forward from here.” 

Bright laughed about the incident as well, saying the two had a beer on Sunday evening and there were no problems.

Wood is on a one-year deal with BR and knows Winton was important in his ambition to concrete himself in the field for years to come. 

“I just need to keep my head down ands understand the car and understand the group of blokes around me, so I can continue to push for top 15s and top 10s. That would be awesome.

“That would be a good achievement for this year and something that I could really build on for years to come.”

His next test comes at the April 24-27 ITM 500 Auckland in New Zealand. Last year Coulthard and Bright starred on the Pukekohe track, but Wood’s own experience is a one-off hit-out in a SuperTourer last year.

“I can’t say it’s somewhere I am overly familiar with and we have a very limited practice time there which is tough,” Wood said. “I am going to have to have my wits about me and learn quickly.”