Craig Baird apologises after 2017 role breach over 15s Wood comments
Craig Baird has apologised and been reprimanded after describing Ryan Wood as “a bit of a grub” in comments linked to last year’s Adelaide Grand Final. Motorsport Australia said the remarks breached the standards expected of senior appointed officials and were barred under the terms of his agreement.
Baird, the Supercars Driving Standards Advisor, said: “I would like to formally apologise and retract my comments regarding Ryan Wood and the Walkinshaw TWG Racing Team.” He added: “It’s clear that these comments were unacceptable and outside the boundaries of my role.”
Motorsport Australia and Baird
The governing body said its apology followed Baird’s comments after the Tyrepower Tasmania Super440. It also said he had been reprimanded for his conduct and that the episode served as a reminder of his contractual and policy obligations as the DSA.
Motorsport Australia said: “Craig also makes the following apology directly, as well as a full retraction of his comments.” Baird also said: “I have met with Motorsport Australia to ensure I have a clear understanding moving forward regarding public commentary of this nature and understand that this is not acceptable from the Driving Standards Advisor.”
Ryan Wood and Broc Feeney
The comments were tied to Wood’s clash with Broc Feeney in last year’s Adelaide Grand Final, where Wood received a 15s penalty for the tangle at the same corner where Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill famously tripped over each other in the 1994 F1 title decider.
That history gives the row extra weight, but the practical outcome is narrower: Baird has publicly retracted the remark, and Motorsport Australia has drawn a line around what its senior officials can say in public. Since 2017, he has been the effective umpire of Supercars racing, so the reprimand lands on a figure whose words are expected to carry the sport’s rules, not stray outside them.
Supercars after Tasmania
For Wood and Walkinshaw TWG Racing, the immediate change is reputational rather than sporting. The apology removes the insult from the record, while the reprimand leaves Baird under a clearer obligation to keep future commentary inside the limits Motorsport Australia set for his role.
