Wood fires first Aus GP statement
WAU youngster Ryan Wood was rapid, sneaking ahead of fellow Kiwi Richie Stanaway in the opening Supercars practice at Albert Park.
At the start of a crazy day that featured four Supercars sessions, Wood took opening honours with a 1:47.8448.
The lap came at the death and denied Stanaway by 0.0704s with the two Kiwis a cut above the rest.
Will Davison put the #17 into third, but was four tenths back ahead of Cooper Murray and James Courtney in a mixed up leaderboard.
But the star was Aaron Cameron, who put the #3 BRT Mustang into the top 10 in his very first session as a solo driver having replaced Aaron Love.
With limited track time on a busy day, all 24 cars rolled out straight away under cool and overcast skies and some unexpected names went to the top.
PremiAir’s Golding went straight to P1, being the only driver to enter the 1m48s bracket.
His 1:48.7114 was more than three tenths clear of Cameron Hill and Will Davison.
Anton De Pasquale found the limit straight away, having a major off and surfing through the gravel at Turn 12.
Cooper Murray almost joined him, but did not quite make the gravel in a similar wild moment.
Rookie Kai Allen also found the run off, bowling a wide at Turn 1 as he found the limits on his first attempt driving at Albert Park.
Sydney 500 winner Cameron Waters still purple first sector but backed out.
It was not until the 10 minute mark that a driver joined Golding in the 1m48s window and the MSR Camaros had strong pace.
Both Percat and Hill improved to be within two tenths of Golding and put both MSR Camaros in the top three, but still more than a tenth adrift.
It was not until the final five minutes where drivers started to challenge the #31’s benchmark.
Mostert and Le Brocq fired in good laps to be within a tenth until Feeney finally knocked off the PremiAir driver.
Despite haiFeeney pips Golding by 0.091s only for Murray to two tenths better seconds later.
The #99 rookie pushed so hard on that lap he could not stop himself from going off at the start of the following lap.
Davison was the next to make a move, only for Wood to sneak ahead by 0.0691s with a purple final sector.
But it was Stanaway who was the first to fire a 1m47s lap, going four tenths clear of the #2.
But the young Kiwi was not backing down and found even more time on his last push lap.
Wood’s 1:47.8448 denied Stanaway and showed the WAU youngster is up for the challenge this weekend.
The second and final 30-minute session is at 13.25 AEDT.
Image: Rebecca Hind/Revved Photography
Supercars Round 2 Melbourne SuperSprint Practice 1 results
2025 Australian Grand Prix schedule
Thursday, March 13
Time Category Session
10.10-10.40 Carrera Cup Practice
11.05-11.35 Supercars Practice 1
12.30-13.00 Carrera Cup Qualifying
13.25-13.55 Supercars Practice 2
15.25-15.40 Supercars Qualifying 1
15.50-16.05 Supercars Qualifying 2
16.50-17.45 Carrera Cup Race 1
17.50 Supercars Race 1 (19 laps)
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