Kiwi race fans had plenty to cheer about on Friday at the ITM Taupō Super 440, with Wellington’s Ryan Wood topping the timesheets in an encouraging start for the home contingent.
The 22-year-old was quickest in the second Supercars practice session at Taupō International Motorsport Park, leading a strong showing for the new-for-2026 Toyota GR Supra on its New Zealand debut.
Wood edged out 2024 Supercars champion Will Brown by just three thousandths of a second, with 2023 title winner Brodie Kostecki third and James Golding fourth. Fellow Kiwi Andre Heimgartner completed the top five in another Toyota, underlining a promising first day for the new package.
Earlier in the day, Chevrolet driver Jack Le Brocq set the pace in the opening 25-minute session as he returned to Matt Stone Racing, a team that proved competitive at Taupō in 2025.
There was also a tense moment late in the second session for Grove Racing’s Matt Payne, who had a near miss with Erebus driver Cooper Murray. The incident disrupted what was shaping as a competitive lap for Payne — who claimed two wins at Taupō last year — but resulted in only slight front-to-rear contact with no significant damage.
Off track, Supercars confirmed a revised event schedule in response to the extreme weather forecast for Cyclone Vaianu, which is set to impact New Zealand on Sunday.
Following consultation with local authorities and meteorological advice, several key changes have been made to ensure the safety of fans, teams and officials.
Saturday’s program has been brought forward by 30 minutes, with Race 8 (120km) now set to start at 12:20pm NZST. The second race of the day has been expanded to a 200km contest — originally scheduled for Sunday — and will begin at 3:30pm NZST.
As part of the changes, the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout has been removed from the schedule due to time constraints, while qualifying formats have been adjusted to accommodate the longer race.
A revised Sunday schedule remains tentative, with qualifying scheduled for 8:00am and Race 10 (120km) currently planned to begin at 9:45am NZST, finishing at approximately 10:58am plus one lap.
Supercars Chair and Interim Chief Executive Barclay Nettlefold emphasised that safety remains the top priority.
“We have worked very carefully with local authorities to ensure the utmost safety for our fans, teams and all stakeholders throughout recent days,” he said.
“While we certainly hope to run the event in full, safety and responsibility are absolutely critical.
“Supercars will continue monitoring the situation with great caution over the coming days.”
In addition, all Sunday-only General Admission ticket holders will be able to attend both Saturday and Sunday, while Sunday Pit Walk ticket holders have been invited to join Saturday’s Pit Walk.
On track, attention now turns to Saturday’s Boost Mobile Qualifying session ahead of the two races, with valuable points on offer in the fight for the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy. The award honours the late Kiwi driver Jason Richards, who passed away from cancer in 2011, and will go to the driver who accumulates the most points across the Taupō and Christchurch events.
Live coverage of the ITM Taupō Super 440 is available on Kayo and Foxtel in Australia, and Sky Sport in New Zealand.
For full schedule updates, ticketing details and further information, visit Supercars.com.
Header Image: Mark Horsburgh – EDGE Photographics
