HE'S the youngest driver in this year's Supercars grid but there's no doubting that Ryan Wood has the capability to make an impact at the upcoming Bathurst 500.
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Wood joins the Walkinshaw Andretti United garage for his debut Supercars season, hoping to bring in the form he showed during his podium finish in last year's Super2 season.
The New Zealand driver wants to lean on the experience of teammate Chaz Mostert in the lead up to the opening round, especially since Wood has never made a Supercars start at Bathurst.
The Kiwi is one of three rookies on the grid in 2024 but unlike the other two - Aaron Love and Jaxon Evans - he's yet to make a Bathurst 1000 appearance.
"For me, I didn't get to do the Bathurst 1000 last year from a co-driver's perspective so I think it's going to be really beneficial for me to come into the 1000 later in the year with some laps already under my belt," Wood said.
"We'll look to build on that so we'll be set once the 1000 rolls around. Obviously the first round will be difficult - turning up there as a rookie - but I'm really looking forward to bounce some ideas off Chaz and the team to get myself up to speed as fast as I can."
Wood picked up five wins in last year's Super2 season - more than any other driver.
Two of those came in the final round at Adelaide.
That gives Wood a degree of confidence that he can be competitive at the top level, but he knows he's in for a strong test.
"I think that was my personal goal, to go into Adelaide and finish on a good note, but I wasn't expecting to clean sweep it in the way we did," he said.
"I hadn't been to Adelaide before that weekend either so to have that happen was pretty cool. I think it gives me a little bit of self belief going into this year.
"After round one we can see where we're at, build on that for the AGP [Australian Grand Prix] and then obviously Taupo, which is my home race. That'll be really cool as well."
Wood learned of his promotion to the Supercars series back in August.
He takes over the role vacated by Nick Percat.
Even though he learned nearly six months ago of where he'd be driving in 2024 Wood said he never let it distract him from his Super2 goals.
"I probably haven't had a whole lot of time to reflect on it. I got the promotion halfway through the year and then we were hammered down just finishing off that Super2 year," he said.
"It's a really exciting opportunity for myself and I'm obviously really grateful to Walkinshaw Andretti United for giving me this opportunity. It's cool to see their belief in me.
"It's such a high class team and to work with them is a privilege. It's been a special journey, going from an evaluation day at Winton around 12 months ago to now being promoted to a main game driver.
"In Super2 I was actually working in the workshop for the first half of the year and once I got the promotion I stepped away from that to focus on my driving."
Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
