Supercars young gun Ryan Wood fumes after 'pretty poor' crash with James Golding
Kiwi Supercars young gun Ryan Wood was left fuming after another strong race result in Perth was dudded by a late-race collision with a rival.
Wood was fighting with James Golding for fifth with 10 laps to go in the final race of the weekend when the pair made contact at turn four.
Golding had made a small error at the first corner, which allowed the 21-year-old Wood to pull alongside. The pair ran side-by-side through turn two and three, before Golding got loose.
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The pair made wheel-to-wheel contact, which broke Golding's steering and veered him into Wood, and they hit each other again.
The second contact broke Wood's steering and sent him into the run off and out of the race. He was forced to walk back to pit lane.
A late race coming together between James Golding (left) and Ryan Wood (right) took them both out of the final race in Perth. FOX Sports
Later, Wood didn't mince his words when given the chance to air his thoughts.
"I was racing someone that shouldn't have been in that position with the way he raced everyone else before that – and he finished me off. That was pretty awesome," he told Fox Sports.
"For someone that's pretty experienced, it was pretty piss poor ... I expect better than that.
"I know I'm no princess out on the race track – I race hard but I'm pretty sure I race pretty fair most of the time. I didn't feel that was the case then."
Golding was given a drive-through penalty for the incident. Having managed to get the car back to the pits, the team repaired the steering arm and he was able to return to the race – albeit several laps down – and serve the penalty.
Ryan Wood in action on Saturday in Perth. Getty
On Saturday, Wood claimed a maiden pole position for the second race of the weekend, before clinching a maiden race victory in first race.
Starting from pole in the second, he was leading the race when a suspension part failed and he was turfed into the sand.
"Honestly, just gutted for our whole team because they produced us a race car to put ourselves in a position to win all three races this weekend," Wood said.
"I don't know who has walked under a ladder or something, but (we're) definitely going to (need) some spells put on us for some good luck."
Wood said Golding should have been penalised for earlier moves, but didn't elaborate further.
"There should have been penalties before that with the same driver. It doesn't matter when someone gets a penalty after they finish someone off. It shouldn't get to that point. I'm sure I got a lot worse for a lot less this year.
"I felt like we were in a positions to win all three races, and it's pretty disappointing when you don't walk away with something our whole team deserves."
Cameras caught the pair having a surprisingly calm discussion post-race, which ended with a handshake.
Wood was referring to a penalty he received for a clash with Jack Le Brocq at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, which put Le Brocq into the concrete wall. He received a drive-through penalty, which was viewed as harsh by many and came about more to do with the outcome than the contact itself.
Given a chance to respond to Wood's comments, Golding suggested it was a racing incident, where neither driver was predominantly to blame.
"From my point of view ... (we) gave each other room and then we were still side-by-side coming into turn four," he explained.
Ryan Wood (left) and James Golding (right) shake hands after their late race collision in Perth. FOX Sports
"I obviously got onto the marbles and … by that point once you're on the outside you can't really disappear. We were both racing hard.
"Unfortunately, when we bumped it broke my steering, which pulled me hard right into him and ended his race. Sorry to those guys, but yeah, we're all racing hard out there.
"Unfortunately, these things happen."
Golding said he gave Wood a similar explanation.
"We chatted about it – basically the same thing. It's racing. Shit happens sometimes."
The race was won by Red Bull gun Broc Feeney. Matt Payne finished second, and veteran James Courtney rounded out the podium.
The series will reconvene in Darwin in a fortnight.
