V8 Supercars: Supercars sophomore Ryan Wood claims maiden win at Perth Super 440, Brodie Kostecki improves
Supercars sophomore Ryan Wood has sparked emotional celebrations with his maiden race victory as local boy Brodie Kostecki showed signs he may be able to steal his first win of the year in Perth.
Australia's premier motorsport championship made a well-behaved start to the Perth Super 440 at Carco.com.au Raceway in Wanneroo, with not a single flag flown or safety car deployed.
Wood barely put a foot wrong after starting second on the grid, capturing the lead 10 laps in before fending off a roaring finish from reigning champion Will Brown in the final five laps to salute in front of the West Australian faithful.
Kostecki fell two places from his third-place start but showed major improvements after only managing 18th fastest in practice on Friday, a huge boost to his hopes across the weekend.
Wood made the most of the outside line off the starting grid but was outmaneuvered into the first turn as pole-sitter Chaz Mostert held onto the lead.
Kostecki left too much room for championship leader Broc Feeney on the inside to slip out of the podium places off the line.
It forced the Perth boy to settle in behind him, and he steadily lost time in the dirty air while also fending off Will Brown and Matt Payne as they battled behind him.
Mostert's lead evaporated on lap ten of 50, Wood side-by-side with him on the inside through turn seven before making the most of a better exit to capture the lead through turn one.
Feeney was the first to pull the trigger on a pit stop, taking two new tyres in an impressive 3.6-second change on lap 22 and forcing Wood to react.
The move worked perfectly for Feeney, Wood's rear tyres forcing a slow stop to leave the young gun on the race leader's bumper after his rejoin.
The call to leave Mostert out past the halfway mark cost the Mobil1 driver; a slow pit stop dumping him out behind Kostecki in fifth.
However, it was the best possible result for the fans as Mostert and the hometown hero renewed hostilities, going bumper-to-bumper and crisscrossing into and out of turns seven and one.
In the end, Mostert's new set of tyres made the difference, Kostecki unable to win his spot back a second time.
Red Bull teammates Feeney and Will Brown rubbed shoulders as the race reached the pointy end.
And the reigning champion was given the green light to race Feeney, grabbing second with 12 laps to go before making a run at Wood that came up narrowly short.
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