Ryan Wood shows the Supra’s prowess in Taupō

The New Zealand run that forms chapter 2 of the Supercars season is one of the calendar’s masterstrokes. It breaks up the routine, the weather, and the racing, and like many of the Supercars calendar’s segments, it forms a little mini-championship in itself, particularly for the Kiwi drivers. This year it’s a doubleheader at Taupō (a regular feature) and Christchurch (a new venue), and thanks to the looming Cyclone Vaianu, four of the six New Zealand races will be held at the latter, as Sunday’s race 10 was called off.

Race 8 was a show of force from Brodie Kostecki, who is looking like an early championship favorite to me, as he’s keeping his head and driving off like this in races where other contenders are beating and banging and losing time.

Race 9 was the big story, though. The Kiwi drivers and crew members are extra hungry to win in New Zealand, especially with the trophy being named in memory of great Kiwi Supercars driver Jason Richards, and the healthy crowd placed its faith in their own Ryan Wood this round. He delivered. He delivered the new Toyota Supra’s first pole position and first win, and he came out of Taupō leading the JR Trophy standings.

Meanwhile, the Chevrolets were so far off that it triggered (yet another) parity investigation.