The Kiwi finished a comfortable third in his Walkinshaw TWG Supra, well behind leading Ford duo Brodie Kostecki and Matthew Payne, but 12 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Cam Waters.
His charge was somewhat helped by teammate Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney having a run-in on the fourth lap, which left him with a nice break over the pack, before more dramas in that fourth place between Aaron Cameron and Feeney gave Wood additional breathing room.
Still, it was a top three finish that came earlier than most would have expected from the all-new Supra.
“It’s a very special day for our team [and] for myself,” Wood told Fox Sports in his immediate post-race reaction.
“With all of the stuff that’s being going on in the background, it’s really cool to shut up a few people.”
That is likely a reference to the simmering tension between the Walkinshaw and Triple Eight camps, initiated by Triple Eight team boss Jamie Whincup publicly alleging that the Walkinshaw Supra chassis shouldn’t be deemed legal.
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Whincup’s argument stems from a concern that the chassis feature TIG welding covered with MIG welding in places that the regulations don’t allow.
That has been refuted by both the Walkinshaw squad and Supercars itself which is adamant that it isn’t the case.
That hasn’t appeased all in the paddock, however, with the matter an ongoing talking point.
Reflecting more on the history-making podium, Wood heaped praise on his Walkinshaw crew for its work to turn the Supra package from a promising mid-pack contender into a car capable of fighting for top threes in the short turnaround since Sydney Motorsport Park.
“I’m really, really stoked; It’s not just the hard work they’ve put in in the off-season, which wasn’t really an off-season for them, but it’s the effort that’s gone into it between Sydney and now,” he said.
“It’s really cool times for our team. We know we’ve got a lot of hard work, I know that race we probably got a bit lucky with the pressure behind, but as a driver you take those ones.”
Wood added that part of that work is learning the intricacies of the Supra package compared to the Mustang.
“Our car is so different to the Mustang and it’s correlating as well as we probably would have liked,” he said.
“You can’t open the book and go, ‘these are set-ups from last year, let’s plug them in’.
“We’re starting from scratch again and that’s been the hardest part.”
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