It shouldn’t be lost on those inside the sport, nor glossed over just how big the feats of Ryan Wood and his Walkinshaw team were to claim Toyota their maiden Supercars race win last weekend at Taupo.
And the fact it took just nine races – just three weekends of racing – for the Japanese giant to breakthrough brought many to tears, including legendary race caller Neil Crompton – who has worked so hard behind the scenes to persuade Toyota to come and try Aussie touring cars.
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It has been a meteoric rise for the newest manufacturer to Supercars.
In the opening round in Sydney in February the two Toyota teams asked for patience, knowing they were some way off the rest of the field.
By the end of the Sydney weekend – all five Supras were inside the top ten – even to their surprise.
Weekend two at Albert Park delivered Toyota their first podium, via Wood.
The Kiwi was then was able to grab a maiden pole for Saturday’s second race in New Zealand, before transferring that into a race win.
It was a seismic result – which made global headlines.
That’s the power of Toyota.
And that’s the importance of having them make the multi-million dollar call to come and race in Supercars via last year’s championship winning Walkinshaw team and the Albury based Brad Jones Racing squad.
Nothing Toyota does is done lightly – hence the enormous investment into the Supra program.
It’s why all of their rivals up and down pitlane would be fearful of what comes next.
It was always supposed to be a slow build to ensure the Toyota’s were on the pace in year one by Bathurst in October.
The fact they’ve been able to win inside ten races sends an ominous message to those running Fords and Chevys.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
Their rapid progress has also now given Supercars a template to provide other global manufacturers around the globe – to come and try racing in Australasia.
If it’s good enough for Toyota, will a fourth manufacturer step up to the plate?
Oh, what a feeling, indeed.
NEW ZEALAND’S WILD WEATHER
The sport is in the middle of a historic period, running back-to-back weekends for the first time in New Zealand.
But the biggest drama has been the fickle Kiwi weather.
Tropical Cyclone Vaianu forced a rapid fire cancellation of last Sunday’s Taupo running completely.
It means Sunday’s race will now be run this Friday as Supercars debuts at Ruapuna Raceway in Christchurch with a brilliantly stacked schedule of races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Only problem now – the ordinary weather is following the sport, with rain forecast on all three days.
Add to that, arctic lows of just six degrees are forecast on Saturday and Sunday.
And Friday’s race is due to end at 5:48pm local time – with sunset forecast for 5:55pm.
Waters unleashes ‘racing b grade drivers | 02:38
These are testing times for the sport to work through, which becomes even more difficult – with this fortnight the first the series has raced without their CEO James Warburton – who sensationally and shockingly quit the week before New Zealand.
With the wet and wild conditions, look for a Kiwi to be the pacesetter.
And that’s likely to be Ryan Wood – who looms as the hottest new star in the sport.
Fresh from a historic win last weekend, he also secured his future – signing a big dollar deal to remain with Chaz Mostert at Walkinshaw.
For Wood, life right now is as good as it gets.
Which might explain the decent sized drink he and his team had Saturday night – after his maiden Toyota win at Taupo.
BAD BLOOD
Everyone in the sport is on a two week New Zealand trek – which is interesting timing with so many in the sport at war with each other.
It’s hard to remember a time when so many within the sport are feuding.
Just on Saturday – you saw the latest instalment of the fiery battle between last year’s championship winning Walkinshaw team, and the best team in the sport’s history, Triple Eight Race Engineering.
Four times – yes, FOUR times, Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney ran into each other on the back straight during the opening race at Taupo.
Feeney already has a healthy hatred for Mostert’s teammate, Ryan Wood – who sent him packing in the Grand Final of the sport last November.
The two haven’t spoken since.
And then it’s their team bosses, Ryan Walkinshaw and the legendary Jamie Whincup – who are happy to snipe at each other on any platform or podcast available.
But it’s not just these two teams.
Chevrolet tried to poach Grove Racing to move from running Fords to Chevys, without success.
Which then led Chevy to go and grab Grove Racing’s boss, Grant McPherson.
And now they’re trying to convince Grove’s biggest star, Bathurst 1000 winner Matt Payne, to move in a massive multi-million dollar deal.
The two are genuinely at loggerheads.
Then there’s the likes of mild mannered Andre Heimgartner and Ford star Cam Waters – who came to blows on the track last weekend, and nearly came to blows off it.
They settled on a verbal clash on the Fox Sports broadcast – with Waters calling Heimgartner a “B-grader”.
Teams have been dealing with a lot this past week – with the international double-header, then races cancelled, cyclones circling and more wild weather coming – and everyone is just a little more on edge as tensions rise.
‘Tough day for Cam Waters!” | 00:42
WINNING JASON’S AWARD
Jason Richards won just one Supercar race.
And that was twenty years ago.
He claimed a couple of poles.
And it’s been fifteen years since his tragic passing due to a brutal battle with cancer.
But his influence on the sport remains so great to this day – with the entire field chasing his trophy across these two weekends in New Zealand.
And for the lucky man to walk away with the Jason Richards Trophy – for the first time contested across six races over two weekends – will hold it as proudly as any in their careers, including a Peter Brock Trophy for winning Bathurst.
That’s the appeal of Richards – who is still so fondly remembered by so many in pitlane.
He was one of the best blokes.
Fittingly, it’s a Kiwi who leads the points after Taupo’s shortened weekend, with Ryan Wood holding a 17-point lead over Broc Feeney.
But there’s four wild races to come to decide this weekend and to determine who stands on the podium with one of the most prized awards in Supercars racing.
NEIL’S PASSION
“What a moment, what an incredible moment.”
These were the words from Supercars Hall of Famer Neil Crompton last Saturday in the Taupo pit lane after Wood’s victory.
And for many the emotion and the tears from Crompton was the moment of the season to date, which will take some topping.
For the sheer fact Crompton spoke on the Supercars coverage and gave them the interview of the year, after the same coverage had given him his marching orders prior to the season – shows the quality of the man.
Crompton cares deeply for the sport that made him one of the greatest Motorsport commentators globally.
He worked tirelessly for years behind the scenes to bring Toyota to Supercars, and since his exit from the sport’s TV coverage, has seen him take on an official adviser role with the Supra backed teams.
As Crompton acknowledged after Toyota’s first win: “This is a great thing for the sport” – because he knows how important it is for everyone in the game.
But he also said: “This is a huge moment in my life” – because for all that he has done in Supercars, this might be the most important.
Crompton is deeply missed on the Supercars coverage – and unfortunately remains highly unlikely to ever return to the commentary box, but maybe he has a bigger calling back inside the team garage.
ITM Christchurch Super 440 weekend race schedule
Friday
12:15pm – Race 10 qualifying
2:35pm – Race 10 (120km)
Saturday
8:05am – Race 11 qualifying
9:00am – Race 12 qualifying
10:45am – Race 11 (120km)
2:10pm – Race 12 (120km)
Sunday
9:50am – Race 13 qualifying
10:45am – Race 13 top 10 shootout
1:05pm – Race 13 (200km)
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