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The Motorsport Brief | Ryan Wood in New Zealand · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:06
  It is a brand new season of Rusty's Garage, and for the first short cast of the year, we are joined by a rising star of supercars who is having a hit out in a single-seater over summer at home here in New Zealand.
• 0:21
  Hi everybody, Rusty with you.
• 0:22
  Welcome to the garage.
• 0:24
  Shortly to Ryan Wood from Walkinshaw and Dretty, who's having a bit of fun in the Toyota series.
• 0:31
  What's been rebadged as the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy this year.
• 0:36
  A reminder too about...
• 0:38
  our most recent feature episode, which dropped on Christmas Eve with Paul Wheel, where we talk about his early days in motocross, racing supercars, a near-death crash at Mount Panorama at Bathurst, the juggernaut that is PWR cooling and trying to conquer Baja.
• 0:54
  That has been brutal for both P and for Toby Price, making his Toyota debut, sort of.
• 1:02
  Ryan Wood.
• 1:02
  G'day, mate.
• 1:03
  Welcome to Hampton Downs.
• 1:05
  Nice to be home over summer.
• 1:06
  Thanks, Rusty.
• 1:07
  Cool to see that little piece in person.
• 1:09
  You know, I listen to it online, so cool to see it in action.
• 1:13
  But yeah, really cool to be at home in New Zealand, really enjoying the New Zealand summer.
• 1:17
  We pretty chill right now.
• 1:19
  So yeah, it's been cool.
• 1:21
  You have raced an 86 before, but this year you're in a single seater here in New Zealand.
• 1:26
  How has that whole transition, what's that been like?
• 1:29
  And how did that whole concept, that idea come about?
• 1:31
  Yeah, look, I felt like prime Sonny Hayes from the F1 movie in the off-season trying to do neck exercises on the end of my bed and push-ups.
• 1:40
  Even got a pack of playing cards to... No, I'm kidding.
• 1:43
  But no, it's been really cool, really different for me.
• 1:46
  Been training quite hard to try and prepare for this.
• 1:49
  And I feel like I'm prepared besides my neck at the moment.
• 1:52
  So, you know, that's going to probably come and develop over the next four weeks.
• 1:56
  But yeah, really, really excited to push myself to new limits.
• 2:00
  something I've always wanted to do as well.
• 2:02
  Being in a Toyota this year with supercars really just made sense to come and do this championship before I start that journey in Australia.
• 2:10
  So yeah, cool.
• 2:11
  It feels like a really cool full circle moment as well.
• 2:14
  Obviously starting in Toyota 86s and then coming back with this very similar faces around the paddock is really cool.
• 2:22
  So yeah, look, it's gonna be a big four weeks.
• 2:24
  Got some really fast guys.
• 2:26
  fast teammates, learning lots.
• 2:28
  So just want to see all the Kiwis get up the front and mix it with some of these young kids that are meant to be touted for Formula 1.
• 2:36
  So it's pretty cool.
• 2:37
  It is a stacked lineup.
• 2:38
  Like last year with Will Brown and Brock coming to play and what Arvid Lindblad did was amazing.
• 2:45
  But when you look at the field this year, there are some serious players, mate, aren't there?
• 2:50
  Oh, yeah.
• 2:50
  Look, the two, you know, two, three guys in my team with Louie, Zach, and, you know, we are all pushing each other.
• 2:57
  And it's early days, obviously, and I'm learning lots each session I get out there.
• 3:03
  And it's quite funny.
• 3:04
  Each corner I go, OK, I can do this better.
• 3:06
  I can do that better.
• 3:07
  And it's just all about pushing myself to new limits.
• 3:11
  Then you go across next door to M2 and with the new team in high tech.
• 3:15
  And then, you know, you've got James Wharton here.
• 3:17
  You've got so many stacked drivers.
• 3:20
  I think all of us, you know, wanting to win the championship and do that in the New Zealand Grand Prix.
• 3:25
  But I think for me, it's just about trying to, you know, be close enough to...
• 3:29
  to just learn and develop as a driver.
• 3:31
  So then when I get back to Australia for the Supercars Championship, I'm, you know, hopefully a few steps ahead of the guys that I'm racing.
• 3:39
  You are looking sharp, mate.
• 3:41
  Has that been a thing over summer with fitness and things?
• 3:43
  Tell us what you've been doing there.
• 3:45
  Yeah, look, it's probably been a real focus of mine the last probably year, year and a half to try and, you know, make myself feel better in the race car and even out of the race car.
• 3:54
  So, yeah, it was really cool over the summer, spent time in Topor and, yeah, went and ran out Mount Tahara with Ron Murphy and...
• 4:04
  I wouldn't call it so much a run.
• 4:05
  It was more of a run walk, but it was really cool.
• 4:08
  New Year's Day started the new year right.
• 4:10
  And, yeah, for me, it's just all about trying to make myself the best race car driver I can be today.
• 4:16
  So just keep moving forward.
• 4:18
  And obviously got Murph in my corner, which you know what he's like.
• 4:21
  So he's pushed me really hard.
• 4:23
  And, yeah, really just looking at the bigger picture of how to be the best version of Ryan Wood and win the most races at the moment.
• 4:30
  Just in the last little while you were doing a TV interview, I saw Bruin Beasley walk past.
• 4:34
  He kind of gave you a cheeky wave as he came by.
• 4:37
  What has it been like being, you know, in the Emtek Motorsport team, working with him and perhaps a different group of people?
• 4:43
  Yes, look, it's been very different.
• 4:46
  Introducing myself to a lot of new faces, which has been really cool.
• 4:50
  It's something that you really enjoy and you're always nervous about when you come into a new team.
• 4:54
  But I knew Bruin, he worked at our race team at Walkinshaw TWG Racing now.
• 4:59
  So, you know, that was really special and really cool.
• 5:02
  And I also brought my engineer and Richard Harris over.
• 5:05
  So the brain's trust around me is still the same and I rely on him so much.
• 5:09
  So to have him in my corner this year.
• 5:11
  this next four weeks is going to be really vital and leaning on him and making sure that our bond just keeps ever growing as we go into the supercar season ahead.
• 5:20
  So the group at M-TEC are very professional.
• 5:23
  Our garage, our race cars are really well prepared and look, they had a really great season last year and I think we've got a really great driver line-up to develop on and try and put a fight to the teams up and down the pit lane.
• 5:35
  We're going to take a quick break if you don't mind here on the Shortcast.
• 5:38
  More with Ryan Wood on the other side of this.
• 5:44
  This is the Motorsport Brief coming to you from Hampton Downs, round one of the Next Gen NZ Championship, our first guest of the year.
• 5:50
  We're delighted to have Ryan Wood on the podcast ahead.
• 5:53
  What is going to be a massive season for him, starting fittingly at home in New Zealand with something a little bit different, but everyone really excited about the Super, of course, and you'll be here for two events in the coming months as well in New Zealand.
• 6:06
  How's the preparation been on the Supercar side?
• 6:08
  How's it all looking?
• 6:09
  Yeah, look, our team's been super busy.
• 6:11
  It's been a massive off season for them.
• 6:13
  And, you know, for me to be busy as well, feels like I'm playing my part in it all and trying to make sure that we turn up with the new Toyota product really well.
• 6:22
  So they had a massive time in America as all the supercars teams, homologation teams did, and really tried to make sure that we have the best product going into round one.
• 6:33
  And I think, you know, it's an exciting time for supercars, an exciting time for our team.
• 6:38
  And to be a part of that as a young driver is really, really special.
• 6:41
  So, yeah, it's going to be a really cool and, you know, I guess nerve wracking couple of months with the Toyota Supra and trying to make sure that we're up the front and hit the ground running.
• 6:51
  But I think we should be OK and just trying to prep myself so that when I get into that car, I can be on it straight away.
• 6:58
  Yeah.
• 6:59
  Tony Quinn Foundation support for this exercise over summer here.
• 7:05
  What's the reaction been like at home?
• 7:07
  Because you've had this incredible growth in the past 12 months in a supercar sense.
• 7:11
  It's been a couple of years now since you left here and made Australia, I guess, your home from a racing perspective.
• 7:18
  Has there been a good reaction to you coming back to play here?
• 7:21
  Yeah, look, it's really special, to be honest.
• 7:23
  I remember before I went to Australia, we sat down in a cafe in Wellington and caught up and had a great chat, and you sort of taught me a few things about how to do this sort of stuff.
• 7:33
  And lucky enough, it sort of comes a little bit naturally for me, which has been really cool.
• 7:37
  And, you know, going back to the Tony Quinn side, to be –
• 7:42
  Having his backing is really special and the whole Tony Quinn group is really cool.
• 7:46
  So for me, you know, I had their backing in Super 2 and a few other championships was really, really cool.
• 7:53
  And you look at my car and it's just, you know, really great people from New Zealand and they've backed me for so long.
• 7:59
  And so to come back home and race with that...
• 8:02
  those sponsors and that group is really cool.
• 8:05
  Obviously, Scott O'Donnell's played such a massive part in my career.
• 8:08
  The Wade family's come on board, which is a new partnership for 2026.
• 8:12
  So that's really cool.
• 8:13
  They're obviously sponsoring the whole Next Gen Championship and, you know, Allied Petroleum.
• 8:19
  The list goes on and on.
• 8:20
  Miles Toyota, starting the Toyota relationship really well.
• 8:25
  Yeah, I think for me, just having guys and girls around me that really care about me as a person and being able to help me grow in this championship to then help my supercars in the future is going to be really cool.
• 8:37
  And then from the, I guess, fans perspective, it's been pretty cool already.
• 8:41
  So...
• 8:42
  Hopefully we get great crowds at all the rounds because I think our championship in New Zealand motorsport deserves it and Deb Day and the team there have put so much into it.
• 8:51
  So it's an exciting time for New Zealand motorsport and for me to be here now, it feels like I'm starting my racing career again when I was 16, 17 in cars.
• 9:00
  So it's a little bit pinch me moment.
• 9:03
  CT Frott Trophy or New Zealand Grand Prix at the end of this four weeks straight?
• 9:07
  What do you want?
• 9:08
  Oh, look, I think for me, the New Zealand Grand Prix would be pretty cool.
• 9:12
  At the end of the day, I just want to learn and develop, but...
• 9:16
  I'm a racing driver.
• 9:17
  I want to win races.
• 9:18
  I want to get trophies.
• 9:19
  And I think our team and our equipment can do that.
• 9:22
  So, look, it's going to be really hard.
• 9:25
  You know, I think the field here, I think there's 10 guys that could win this championship this year.
• 9:29
  I think it's probably the deepest of, I guess, competitiveness that it's been for a long time.
• 9:35
  So to hopefully throw my hat in the ring there would be really cool and just try and, yeah, push myself to new limits that...
• 9:43
  probably I don't even know that are possible yet.
• 9:46
  All right.
• 9:46
  I mean, that leads me to two things as we near the end of this year.
• 9:49
  Firstly, Murph, obviously you've worked together for a number of years now, but that relationship changes, pardon me, as you grow as a racer.
• 9:57
  So do you feel like he offers something different and you bring something different to the table as you've grown in that sense?
• 10:03
  What's that like now?
• 10:04
  Yeah, look, I think me and Murph probably...
• 10:07
  I would say we have a really good relationship because we talk nearly every day just about, not even sometimes about racing, sometimes just about normal life stuff, just catching up.
• 10:18
  And I would say I lean on him...
• 10:22
  More so than just, don't even call Murph a manager because I would just call him a really, really important mate that I've got around me.
• 10:31
  And, you know, he's hard.
• 10:33
  He's very hard on me, but I need that and I really respect that.
• 10:36
  And I know that...
• 10:38
  when I need praise, he's usually the first one to give it and he doesn't give much out usually.
• 10:43
  So to get that sometimes has been really cool.
• 10:46
  It's probably only been one or two times, but, you know, to have that and know that he's straight up and down black and white is really cool and, you know, you need people around you that don't bullshit you and lead you down a garden path.
• 10:58
  So I really respect him as a person, as a driver.
• 11:02
  Obviously what he did in a race car is...
• 11:05
  unbelievable and if I could ever get close to that I would be super super humbled and proud of myself but um yeah I think he just brings more than just driving and and you know how to hold myself he brings how to be off track how to look at motorsport as a life
• 11:21
  more than just a guest job.
• 11:23
  Gotcha.
• 11:24
  Lastly, I don't feel the need to go back over the events of Adelaide because I reckon that's been debated ad nauseum.
• 11:31
  Lots of people have shared their views on that, be it in print or podcasts, whatever that might be.
• 11:37
  Clearly, though, mate, that must have been a tough thing to deal with.
• 11:40
  Have you been able to park that, move on?
• 11:44
  Just broadly speaking, how have you coped in the wake of all of that?
• 11:47
  Yeah, look, Rusty, it's been a bit of a whirlwind, to be honest, and I really appreciate you reaching out.
• 11:53
  And so many other people reached out that really meant a lot to me.
• 11:57
  And I'm lucky enough, like I said, Murph, he was one of the first people there to call when...
• 12:03
  I got out of the race car and I knew it was going to be, you know, pretty full on next couple of weeks.
• 12:08
  And it was.
• 12:10
  And, you know, I can't thank Ainsley, Ainsley McCormick from, you know, she looks after all my socials and that sort of stuff.
• 12:17
  And what she did for me behind the scenes was really important for myself and how to bounce back and come racing again and not worry about that sort of stuff.
• 12:26
  And yeah, for me, it's been really great to be racing again and yeah, keep my mind back into the place that I really love most, which has been behind the wheel of a race car.
• 12:38
  So obviously my team and everyone in my family supported me.
• 12:42
  And that's what's super important with my sponsorship group as well, is they all feel like family as well.
• 12:48
  And, yeah, look, it was tough not to read all the comments and get stuck into that stuff.
• 12:53
  But at the end of the day, I had a really great network around me and so many people reached out to me to, you know, make sure that I was okay as well.
• 13:01
  So I really do appreciate everyone checking in and making sure I was all good.
• 13:05
  I've been pretty quiet on the social front.
• 13:07
  And, yeah, look, I'm going to try and pick back up over the next four weeks because...
• 13:12
  This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to race a single seater, and I'm going to enjoy it, do it at home.
• 13:18
  Hopefully the sun stays around for the next four weeks and we can all have a really great time.
• 13:21
  It's going to be an awesome month on the road.
• 13:23
  Enjoy every single minute of it.
• 13:25
  Go well in that Supra in 2026.
• 13:27
  That is it for this edition of The Shortcast.
• 13:29
  Our thanks to Ryan Wood for joining us.
• 13:32
  Don't forget, of course, we're on the road with the Next Gen NZ Championship for the next four weeks, and we'll be bringing you lots of great content.
• 13:37
  We're going to catch up with the great Kenny Smith too.
• 13:40
  Bye for now.
• 13:44
  Thank you.