Ryan Wood finished fourth in Saturday evening’s Super2 finale at Bathurst, overcoming a poor start and working through the field for a strong result.
Kai Allen was the race winner and wrapped up round honours after Zak Best was penalised five seconds for jumping the start.
Best was the first across the line but relegated to second once his penalty had been served. Zach Bates rounded out the podium places.
Having started from third, Wood was slow to get away, almost stalling and dropping to tenth. Brad Vaughan, who started directly behind Wood, did stall on the grid, creating some nervous moments as the trailing field swerved to avoid his stricken car.
By Lap 5, Wood had worked his way past Jay Hanson, Aaron Cameron and Cooper Murray, and he gained a further spot when Nash Morris was forced into the pits to retire.
Up front, Best, unaware of his penalty, was locked in battle with Zane Morse, the gap between the pair sitting at around a second until after the mid-point.
Despite Best extending the gap slightly, Morse remained within the five seconds required to claim the race win but suffered heartbreak entering the penultimate lap when he was forced to pull into the lane and retire with an electrical fault.
This promoted Allen to second on the road, with the gap to the leader sitting at just over 5 seconds. The 2022 Super3 champion quickly ate into this, reducing it to 3.2 seconds at one point before coming to the chequered flag 4.1 seconds in arrears, giving him the race win by 0.9 seconds.
Wood’s charge had ultimately peaked at fifth; however, he gained an extra place following Morse’s retirement.
The round results see Allen reduce Best’s championship lead to just 30 points ahead of the final round, with Wood remaining third, 201 points off second spot.
The Dunlop Series returns to action for the season finale at the Adelaide 500 in late November.
Header Image: Supercars
