It’s been a strong start to the weekend here at Waneroo Raceway with Chaz Mostert securing our first win of Gen3, and our first win with Ford, with Ryan Wood missing the podium by the skin of his teeth.

Chaz started the weekend off by topping practice 1 and Ryan finishing up P4 in practice 2 which gave the crew a bit of confidence going into knockout qualifying this morning.

Qualifying was a bit of a dream, for the first time since 2014, we locked out the front row with Chaz in the Mobil 1 Optus Racing No. 25 rocket taking pole and Ryan in the Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing No. 2 taking P2, with both to lead the field away in Race 9.

There weren’t many fingernails left after the start of the race, with both drivers having a ripper start with Ryan pipping Chaz to the first corner.

Chaz made the move on Woody for the15 laps into the race, but both were the two quickest cars on track early.

A great job from the pit crew with both cars taking two tyres, the chasing pack taking four, it meant full send until the end.

The battle of the day took place between Ryan and Will Brown, and while Brown may have got the better of the two, the work Ryan did to hold Will up, and fight like no tomorrow, meant Chaz could extend his gap in the lead. It was a selfless act that helped the team.

Unfortunately, Ryan got pipped on the final corner of the final lap just missing out on a podium, that doesn’t take away the impressive drive he did today.

Chaz had eyes forward for the final stint, managing to drive away from the pack behind securing his first win in the Mobil 1 Optus Racing Ford GT Mustang in Gen3.

A massive thank you goes out to all of the sponsors and fans for their support, we couldn’t have done this without all of you!

We have another big day tomorrow where cars will hit the track at 9.40am AWST.

Ryan Wood

“To lock out the front row with Chaz is pretty awesome, it’s been a while since the team has had that, so really cool to be a part of, and the car was a rocketship when we rolled out, so huge thanks to everyone.

“Gutted to just miss out on the podium today, I gave it all I had in those closing laps, but to lead into turn 1, and race these guys up the front like that was really cool.

“There’s a hell of a lot of positives to take from today, so I’m really pumped for tomorrow.

“Well done to Chaz and the team on the win, it’s a really good reward for all the work that’s been going on at our place, they’ve done a mega job.”

Chaz Mostert

“That was awesome, our first win for Ford as a team, that one feels good!

“It’s been a fantastic weekend so far, from the moment we rolled out yesterday I knew we had a good race car, and to be on pole was awesome as well. It’s just so good to reward everyone in the team with this one, for all the hard work, and to all the partners as well that have our backs, I just love this team.

“It’s been a big few weeks for the team, we have lost some extended family members, today is for them, we are sending all of our love and thoughts out to their families, so I’m glad they were riding with us today.

“A huge thanks to my family as well, we’ve been trying so hard for this win, and they are the ones who keep you positive and keep you focussed so I couldn’t have done it without them either.

“I definitely owe Woody a Woodstock tomorrow night, he put up an awesome fight with Will. Shattered he wasn’t on the podium with me, but that isn’t far away that’s for sure.”