Wood makes it three from four

30 January 2021 /

Ryan Wood made it three wins from four starts in the Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship as he raced home to a dominant win in the first race of Round 2 at Hampton Downs.

Wood made the perfect getaway and left the rest in his wake, quickly establishing a lead of several seconds over the early laps. He was never headed and never looked threatened.

“It wasn’t easy, it’s hot out there and the car is moving around a lot,” said the winner afterwards. “I had to work pretty hard in the cockpit.

"I was lucky to have a good start and the others started battling behind. That helped me hold the gap and move away. I’m really stoked to get another win.”

There was plenty of interest elsewhere in the race as a fierce battle for the runner up places was eventually won by Rowan Shepherd after he had to fight his way past Brock Gilchrist, who had made a great getaway from the second row to hold second in the early laps. Also in the thick of that battle was Marco Giltrap and in the latter laps Simon Evans, who spent the majority of his race catching up after a poor start.

There was another great battle behind for the remaining places in the top ten, with Ronan Murphy another to put in a great recovery drive after a poor start. Sixth was a decent result in the circumstances.

Masters class racer John Penny featured in the mid-field battle throughout but couldn’t contain Murphy in the latter stages, while Justin Allen and Alexandra Whitley rounded out the top ten. Whitley had made a fine start to hold fifth early on but eventually fell back to tenth.

Wood's third win saw him take the championship lead from Evans with two more races at the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Festival to run today.

Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship - Round 2 - Race 1