After a chaotic Race 8 at Taupo Motorsport Park, it was stacked up to be a great Race 9 with Kiwi Ryan Wood on pole.
It was a relatively calm first lap, with drivers making small moves. By lap three, Wood had almost a second lead over Brown, and at the same time, Payne and Heimgartner had both made up two spots.
On lap nine, Payne made a good move on Chaz Mostert to move up into fifth. At the same time, Brown had closed up to the rear bumper of Wood and was putting significant pressure on the pole-sitter. Brown remained almost glued to Wood’s car until lap fifteen, where a gap had opened up. By lap eighteen, the gap between first and second was over a second.
Payne was one of the first front-runners to pit, electing to come in early, knowing the power of the undercut. This did mean he would have to preserve his tyre slightly longer than others later on.
On lap twenty-two, Wood cycled into the lane with a 1.5-second lead over Broc Feeney. A clean stop allowed him to get out with no dramas, emerging out of the lane in twelfth, but more importantly, ahead of Brown.
Wood led the drivers who had come into the lane at lap twenty-six. Payne remained in a net third, with Heimgartner down in sixteenth. The last driver to pit was Brodie Kostecki, who came in on lap twenty-eight. He emerged back on track in seventh.
Kostecki’s pitstop meant that Wood was now the official race leader. Payne sat in third with a fast-charging Mostert behind. Heimgartner remained in sixteenth and was being pressured by Jayden Ojeda.
With twenty-six laps to go, Kostecki worked his way past Payne, which moved the Kiwi down to sixth. Wood held a comfortable lead of two and a half seconds over Brown, who was over a second ahead of Mostert. Drivers started to cycle into the lane around this time, which helped move Heimgartner into thirteenth.
Payne headed into the pit lane with seventeen to go, followed by Wood a lap later. Wood was jumped by Mostert on the exit of the lane, passing the net lead to his Walkinshaw teammate.
The race looked like it could be thrown on its head, with drivers battling light rain with 14 laps to go. Kostecki once again was the last car to pit, electing to choose used slick tyres to finish the race on.
After the last set of stops, Mostert led by just over a second from Wood, with Payne in fifth and Heimgartner in fourteenth. On lap 50, Wood started to show signs of closing in and catching his teammate.
With 8 laps to go, Wood made a move into the first corner to get past Mostert. With Feeney over three seconds behind, it was shaping up to be a close battle to see who could potentially take Supra’s first win. Heimgartner was caught in a flip flop battle with Randle, with the two trading positions in a close encounter.
After being over three seconds behind Mostert a mere four laps ago, Feeney was all over the back of Wood’s teammate with three laps to go. He was able to make a move into the first corner, but Mostert fought back until Turn 4. This allowed Wood to run away with the lead, with the lead sitting at over four seconds with two laps to go.
Wood crossed the line over three seconds ahead of Feeney to take the GR Supra’s first win in the series. Toyota’s win also marks the shortest time it has taken for a new manufacturer to take its first win in the series. Payne finished in fifth, with Heimgartner in twelfth.
Supercars will take to the track on Friday 17th April at Ruapuna Raceway for the series debut in the South Island.
