A weekend to remember in Taupo with Chaz Mostert securing the final spot of the podium for Race 10.

The morning started off with qualifying, Ryan was down a set of greens for this session as he used an extra set in qualifying yesterday, meaning Ryan needed to scrape in the top 18 on a set of used tyres to proceed to part 2 but he absolutely blitzed that by setting the 4th fastest time.

Both cars made it into the shootout but Chaz would have to run a set of used tyres whilst Ryan had a spare set of greens by only doing one run in the final qualifying session.

Chaz was up second in the shootout, putting together a strong lap but ultimately lacking pace on the used tyre, maintaining position at P9.

With a strong car under him, Ryan went into the shootout confident, leaving nothing on the table putting three tenths on the cars that had run, finishing up P3, a second row start.

The final race of the weekend would the longest, an extra 80km’s than the previous two races, meaning more strategy at play but more tyre degradation.

As the lights went out, Ryan was very aggressive, taking advantage of De Pasquale running wide into P2, trying to take the lead he went down the inside of Brodie who ran wide onto the dirt. Ryan collected a controversial 5 second time penalty for leaving no racing room.

Dropping back to fourth, the Mobil 1 Truck Assist No. 2 took the undercut strategy coming in at 15 laps, the second to pit, taking the 5 second penalty early coming out effectively eighth.

On the other side of the garage, the Mobil 1 Optus Racing No. 25 ran the longer game in the first stint, optimising the clean air Chaz had in front of him which paid off, coming out effectively P9.

At the halfway mark, Chaz was the fastest car out there, making his way forward up into the top five.

Struggling with tyre life after taking an early second stop, Ryan had his head down and elbows out trying to maintain track position, crossing the line P11.

10 laps to go, hungry for another trophy, determined to keep it clean, Chaz snuck down the inside of turn one to take the final step of the podium off Brodie Kostecki.

That wraps up our weekend here in Taupo, a podium across all three races is something to be proud of, we will keep this moment going into Tasmania.

Ryan Wood

“All finished here in Taupo, pretty cool weekend overall, to finish up with my first Supercars podium is really special, especially doing it on home soil in front of my friends and family.

“I can’t thank the crowd, the team and all of our sponsors for supporting me, really love the Kiwi spirit here!

“The last race didn’t go to plan, went for a move early on and copped a penalty which cost us a good result in the end, pretty guttered, but it’s eyes forward to Tassie and I’m pumped to go to Symmons Plains.”

Chaz Mostert

“A pretty epic weekend overall, a race win and a podium, can’t complain about that, awesome having Kiwi friends and family here to celebrate with.

“Definitely didn’t think I’d be standing on the podium today after starting P9, the crew executed perfectly alongside the right strategy was the right potion.

“The car felt the best it’s felt this year in the race today, it was super fun to drive and makes me really excited to get back behind the wheel for the next round in Tassie.”