Kiwi rookie Ryan Wood has laid down an early marker at the Townsville 500, clocking the fastest time in the opening Supercars practice session of the weekend.
Under overcast skies on the 2.86km Reid Park street circuit, Wood posted a 1:13.634 in the #2 Walkinshaw Andretti United Mustang to top the timesheets on Friday morning.
The 21-year-old was quickest across the early flying laps and stayed on top despite a flurry of improvements as the session progressed.
Triple Eight driver Broc Feeney slotted into second, just behind Wood, while Kai Allen impressed again to take third for Grove Racing.
Behind them, Jack Le Brocq, Brodie Kostecki, Thomas Randle, Anton De Pasquale, Matt Payne, Will Davison, and James Courtney completed the top 10 after the first two sets of runs, with 20 minutes still on the clock.
As the session built towards its climax, Andre Heimgartner jumped from 13th to 10th, eventually finishing 10th fastest and 0.464 seconds off Wood’s benchmark.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, both Jaxon Evans and Richie Stanaway were still struggling to find a competitive pace. They ultimately ended the session 18th and 19th, respectively, still searching for the ideal setup.
Will Brown also improved during the latter stages, momentarily sitting as high as seventh before the drama hit.
The clean running came to an abrupt end in the final moments when Brown suffered a bizarre solo crash, clipping the wall and tearing the rear wing off his #1 Camaro. Despite the damage, the 2024 champion downplayed the impact post-session.
“I didn’t find it too bad out there, to be honest. It’s a very easy place to do it, where I did,” Brown explained.
“I was just trying to flow it out towards the wall and not get a slide going out there, and I hit the fence. Luckily, it’s done minimal damage compared to what it could have been.
Brown was pushing for one final lap before the incident, later admitting he probably should’ve cooled the car down instead.
Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner also had a minor off at Turn 11, running into the escape road but escaping without damage.
Despite the crash, Brown still finished the session sixth fastest, just behind Randle, Le Brocq, Kostecki and Heimgartner. Payne finished just outside of the Top 10 in 11th.
Practice 2 is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. NZST as teams look to fine-tune their race setups ahead of Saturday’s qualifying and the first of two 250km races.
Header Image: Walkinshaw Andretti United
