Ryan Wood has gone back-to-back in Perth, taking his second victory of the weekend in the Dunlop Series at the Perth SuperSprint.
It was again an impeccable showing from the 20-year-old from Wellington, the performance somewhat replicating the drive which saw him take his maiden Super2 win yesterday.
Unlike yesterday, Wood was able to retain his starting position off the start, the Kiwi slotting into third behind Kai Allen and Brad Vaughan, the forming pipping the pole-sitter off the line.
Allen pulled a small gap over the early stages, with Wood remaining right on Vaughan’s bumper throughout the opening 10 minutes, with the Australian also receiving news of a 5-second penalty for a startline infringement.
The front four pulled several seconds clear of the pack until a Safety Car was called for when Ryan Gilroy’s right-rear detached from the car.
Restarts are appearing as an area of strength for Wood, with the Kiwi able to pick off Vaughan at Turn 7 on the first lap of green running. Zak Bates tried to follow through down the pit straight, ultimately collecting Vaughan’s rear and spinning the pole-sitter into Turn 1’s outside barriers.
A second Safety Car was called for with Allen leading Wood and Bates, the Kiwi keeping right on Allen’s bumper as racing resumed with seven minutes remaining.
Wood only needed seconds of that time, creating an overlap when Allen went to take the lead into Turn 1. Allen proceeded to run wide in an attempt to outbreak the Kiwi, dropping to fifth and letting Bates through for second.
Bates’s time on the podium was shortlived, the #25 Commodore receiving a drive-through for his contact with Vaughan. That put Aaron Love up to second and Cooper Murray to third.
Once Wood had the lead there was no looking back, the Kiwi building a gap quickly to take the flag over Love by 3.8 seconds, with Murray holding off Allen for third.
Matthew McCutcheon also had another strong showing in Super3, finishing fourth in class and 18th overall to continue his solid points-scoring streak.
Cameron McLeod was the first of the Super3 racers, passing Jobe Stewart, on his 19th birthday, late in the race for class and round honours. Jett Johnson rounded out the Super3 podium.
The Dunlop Series next returns to action on July 7-9 at the Townsville 500.
Header Image: Dunlop Series
