The opening sprint (Race 14) belonged to Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Ryan Wood, who produced a composed and emotional drive to claim his first career Supercars victory. In the late afternoon, it was Broc Feeney who executed a tactical masterclass for Triple Eight to clinch Race 15, backing up his fourth-place finish earlier in the day with a win that extended his championship lead.
Wood’s milestone moment
Race 14 will be long remembered as the breakthrough drive for WAU rookie Ryan Wood, who converted his second-row start into a maiden Supercars win — a moment made sweeter by holding off a resurgent Will Brown in the closing laps.
Wood’s launch was solid, but it was his pass on teammate Chaz Mostert on Lap 11 that set the tone. From there, he controlled the race with calm authority, managing tyre wear and traffic as the field jostled behind him. Brown, who had charged through the pack thanks to an alternate pit strategy, closed the gap in the final stint but couldn’t quite unsettle the young Kiwi, who crossed the line just over six tenths ahead.
“It’s pretty emotional,” Wood said. “This is everything I’ve worked for since I was a kid. My parents sacrificed a lot — they believed in me. I honestly don’t have the words.”
Behind him, Brown and Mostert completed the podium, with Feeney fourth and Brodie Kostecki bouncing back from a rough start to round out the top five.
Triple Eight go one-two in Race 15
If Race 14 was a lesson in resilience, Race 15 was a masterclass in strategy. Triple Eight delivered a crushing one-two punch thanks to a bold undercut call and clean execution across the board. Broc Feeney and Will Brown capitalised on pit timing and clear air to leapfrog their rivals — including early pace-setters Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert — to lock out the top two positions in the final laps.
Feeney, who had been in the thick of the mid-pack scramble early, was vocal on team radio in the opening stint, urging the team to pit him early to avoid traffic. The move worked a treat. When the rest of the field filtered back out, Feeney had the advantage and never looked back.
“For five laps I was just screaming, ‘Pit me now!’” Feeney said. “We timed it perfectly, got clean air, and it paid off. Honestly, one of the best strategic days I’ve had with the team.”
Brown made it two podiums from two starts on Saturday, while Mostert showed consistent pace to secure another third place — his second trophy of the day.
PremiAir celebrates 100th race with tough lessons
Saturday started with celebration for PremiAir Racing as the team marked its 100th Supercars race with a traditional Maltese pastizzi morning tea — and a team photo featuring the original crew who’ve been there since day one.
But the goodwill quickly gave way to frustration after a difficult qualifying session and a race-day penalty in Race 14.
Jimmy Golding was the stronger of the two across both qualifying sessions, getting into Q2 for Race 14 and starting from P10, but couldn’t hang onto a top-ten result after a slow stop and tyre degradation. He brought the #31 Camaro home in P13, while teammate Richie Stanaway laboured to P24.
Adding to the pain, a post-race 30-point team penalty was handed down after a pitstop infringement — a loose tyre sitting too far into pit lane.
“Look, it was a fair call,” said competition director Ludo Lacroix. “We’ve been doing it all year by the looks, and this time it was picked up. We obstructed the next car — plain and simple.”
To their credit, PremiAir hit back in Race 15. Wholesale setup changes between races gave both drivers a more responsive package. Stanaway climbed from P24 to P17 — including an eye-catching move through the grass that earned nods from commentators — while Golding worked his way from 18th to 14th.
“It wasn’t our best day overall, but we took a big swing between races and it worked,” Golding said. “The car was much more stable. Hopefully we’ve got something to build on for Sunday.”
Team 18 finds late pace
DEWALT Racing’s Anton De Pasquale and TRADIE Energy’s David Reynolds had a quieter start to the day, with both cars showing patchy one-lap speed in qualifying. De Pasquale rolled off P16 in Race 14 and struggled with traffic, eventually slipping to 19th. Reynolds finished a steady 16th after an early stop.
But Race 15 saw a marked improvement for De Pasquale, who made up ground with a clean first stint and smart tyre management to finish inside the top ten in ninth — his eighth top-ten result of the season.
“Not our best Saturday, but the second race was much more workable,” De Pasquale said. “We’ll go through the data tonight and try to nail it from the start on Sunday.”
Reynolds, meanwhile, faded to 19th after tyre issues resurfaced late in the race, and admitted the setup hadn’t suited his driving style.
“The balance just wasn’t there today,” Reynolds said. “The first race was okay early, but I had a lot of understeer and struggled to get the car to rotate late in both races.”
Up and down the grid
Cam Waters showed flashes of strong pace for Tickford, finishing a competitive fourth in Race 15. Grove Racing’s Matt Payne was quietly efficient, banking a pair of fifth-place finishes and continuing to stake his claim as one of the most consistent drivers this season.
Blanchard Racing’s James Courtney also impressed with race craft and consistency, sitting just outside the top five all day and looking a real threat for Sunday’s 83-lap finale.
What’s next
Sunday will feature a two-part qualifying session from 11:00am local time, followed by a Top Ten Shootout at 1:05pm and the final race of the weekend, Race 16, at 2:05pm.
After a Saturday where WAU celebrated a long-awaited win, Triple Eight underlined their title credentials, and mid-field teams found form, it’s all to play for heading into the final stanza of the Perth Super440.
