MAKE no mistake, Walkinshaw Andretti United has inked an early contract extension with Chaz Mostert because the 31-year-old is one of the fastest drivers in Supercars.
But team boss Ryan Walkinshaw has outlined another major benefit to Mozzie’s new multi-year commitment: mentoring rookie teammate Ryan Wood.
WAU has taken a punt by promoting the 19-year-old Kiwi wunderkind into its #2 entry from 2024 after just a single season in its Super2 Series team.
Described by team principal Bruce Stewart pre-season as boasting “naked flair”, Wood is undoubtedly quick, but still with much to learn on and off the track.
“One of the big reasons we wanted to keep Chaz in the team was because we’ve got Ryan Wood coming into Car #2 next year,” Walkinshaw told Fox Sports.
“We believe he can be something quite special.
“We always joke he is a little, mini-Chaz. As long as Chaz can teach him some of his good traits and remove some of his weirder ones…
“He can tell him all the things he should do and all the things he’s done that he doesn’t think he should do going forward.
“I think he’s going to be a great mentor for Woody, they get on really, really well.”
Walkinshaw sees the cheeky Mostert/Wood duo as key to the team’s overall attitude and fan appeal.
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“They are both fantastic characters, which is important to us and our partners, we don’t want to be an anti-septic team,” Walkinshaw added.
“We want to be a team with a lot of life and vibrancy about it. We want to be a little bit quirky.
“We want people to see who we are as people, and we’ve got two drivers that are going to demonstrate on the outside how we feel we are as a team on the inside.”
One thing Walkinshaw isn’t keen to talk about is the impending departure of a man who has mentored Mostert for all but one of the star driver’s Supercars seasons to date.
Engineer Adam DeBorre is set to leave the team as he pulls back from full-time Supercars Championship duties.
“Whatever happens next year, if he’s here or isn’t here, he’s been a big part of my career,” said Mostert of DeBorre.
“I’ve been very lucky that I’ve had a guy give so many hours of his life to try and win championships, win races, win Bathurst.
“If he was to throw in the towel at the end of this year from main game engineering, it’s going to be a massive loss for us.”
DeBorre will be replaced on Mostert’s car by James Courtney’s current engineer Sam Scaffidi, who departs Tickford Racing as part of its restructure to two cars.
