Hi to all you Supercars Fans Around the world!

On the weekend of April 10-12 was the ITM Taupo Super 440, round 3 of the 2026 Supercars championship. It was held at Taupo on the North Island of New Zealand.

Brodie Kostecki headed into the weekend as the series leader by 28 points over Cameron Waters.

David Reynolds reached a milestone at this event, starting his 500^th race in Supercars. What an Achievement! Congratulations David.

The Taupo Super 440 had 3 races scheduled but by Saturday afternoon the weather warning for cyclone Vaianu heading directly to the area was received. The 3^rd race set to run on Sunday was cancelled. A sensible thing to do but disappointing for the fans, nonetheless. Mind you, if they had to, most supercars fans would stand trackside through a cyclone in their undies if it wasn’t cancelled.

In the pre-race sessions:

• Jack le Brocq was fastest in Practice 1
• Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 2
• Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 8 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Broc Feeney alongside him.

As they took off Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 37 laps. Broc Feeney tried to go around him at the first turn but realised it would ruin his approach to turn 2. It was a good attempt, but he had to pull back in the last second.

Kai Allen made contact with Rayan Wood just after turn 1. Allen lost 5 places and was down to 11^th. Wood only dropped a single spot to 7^th.

At turn 11 Kai Allen was getting into more trouble. He made contact with Aaraon Cameron causing him to spin and drop from 11^th to 16^th. His car was looking pretty shabby with the rear bumper hanging off.

Although still early in the race Kai Allen had to head to the pits to deal with the damage sustained.

By the middle of the race there were only 7 cars that were still yet to pit. Once they did Brodie Kostecki assumed the number 1 spot.

On lap 23 Broc Feeney recorded the fastest lap of the race, 129.330 seconds.

His teammate Will Brown had moved ahead of him to 2^nd place while Chaz Mostert held 3^rd. Feeney desperately wanted his spot back.

Broc Feeney battled with Chaz Mostert and eventually got past. Mostert then lost another spot to his own teammate, Ryan Wood. There were only 8 laps to go.

It wasn’t long before Ryan Wood took over Broc Feeney.

With 5 laps to go the leaders were spread out. Brodie Kostecki had a 4.1 second lead over Will Brown. Ryan Wood was another 5.1 seconds behind.

Somehow, Brodie Kostecki increased his lead and crossed the finish line with a 16.185 second win over Will Brown. Ryan Wood was only 0.347 seconds behind in third. Broc Feeney had fallen 6.914 seconds back into 4^th place.

Race 8 results:

1^st Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2^nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3^rd Ryan Wood – Truck Assist Racing

In Race 9 Ryan Wood started on pole position, alongside him was Will Brown.

Ryan Wood took the lead from the start line for the 1^st of 60 laps.

At the front of the pack and still on the first lap James Golding was forced out wide by Chaz Mostert.

Leader Ryan Wood was followed by Will Brown, Broc Feeney, James Golding and then Chaz Mostert. Before the end of the lap Matt Payne overtook Chaz Mostert for 5^th place.

The first car to pit was David Reynolds on lap 15.

Will Brown closed in on Ryan Wood for the race lead and was only 0.618 seconds behind.

Around lap 23 Broc Feeney pitted from second place. He rejoined in 8^th place right behind Chaz Mostert in 7^th. There were only 2 cars yet to pit, Brodie Kostecki and James Golding

When Brodie Kostecki finally pitted Ryan Wood assumed position number 1.

By the middle of the race Ryan Wood still had the lead with Will Brown trailing by 2.6 seconds.

Ryan Wood had to pit on lap 43 and Matt Payne followed him in for the second round of stops. Ryan Wood came back out in 8^th place.

Towards the end of the end of the race Chaz Mostert had the lead and was followed by teammate Ryan Wood. Chaz Mostert is a fast and experienced driver. He could have easily defended his lead but instead chose to let Ryan Wood through and act as his guard.

With 9 laps left there was only 0.396 seconds between Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood. Broc Feeney was a further 4.292 seconds behind in third place but closing in fast.

Jackson Walls was in the garage with a broken right front suspension. The repair took too long and he never made it back out to the track. He was the only one to receive an NC (Not Complete).

Broc Feeney kept closing in on the leaders. Pretty soon he made a surprising pass on Mostert in 2^nd place.

There were only a few laps remaining. I was wondering of Broc Feeney was going to catch the lead from Wood or was Chaz Mostert going to reclaim 2^nd position from Feeney.

Ryan Wood had a few seconds lead and didn’t let it slip.

In the end Ryan Wood crossed the finish line with a 3.036 second win over Broc Feeney in second place. Chaz Mostert came in 3^rd 2.476 seconds later.

Race 9 results:

1^st Ryan Wood – TWG Racing
2^nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3^rd Chaz Mostert – TWG Racing

Ryan Wood will go down in history as the first one to take a win for Toyota in Supercars.

The next event is the ITM Christchurch Super 440 on Apr 17 – 19 2026.

I hope you will all join me.