2006 New Zealand Grand Prix

2006 New Zealand Grand Prix
Race 3, Round 3 of 8 of the 2006 Toyota Racing Series
Race details
Date	16 January 2006
Official name	LI New Zealand Grand Prix
Location	Teretonga Park, Feilding, New Zealand
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	2.57 km (1.59 miles)
Distance	34 laps, 87.38 km (54.06 miles)
Weather	Light rain
Pole position
Driver	Jay Howard	Mark Petch Motorsport
Time	0:55.432
Fastest lap
Driver	Andy Knight	Knight Motorsport
Time	1:01.545 on lap 30
Podium
First	Hamad Al Fardan	Team Meritus
Second	Daniel Gaunt	International Motorsport
Third	Brendon Hartley	Victory Motorsport

The 2006 New Zealand Grand Prix event for open wheel racing cars was held at Teretonga Park, near Invercargill on 15 January 2006. It was the fifty first New Zealand Grand Prix and was the first iteration to utilise Toyota Racing Series cars (based on international Formula 3 regulations). The event was also the third race of the third round of the 2005–06 Toyota Racing Series.

Held in damp conditions, the race was won by Hamad Al Fardan after Andy Knight was disqualified after failing to head mechanical black flag warnings over a faulty rain light. In doing so, Al Fardan became the first international driver to win the New Zealand Grand Prix since Dean Hall in 1989.

Race report

Owing to the damp conditions, the standing start was scrapped in lieu of a single-file rolling start. Jay Howard led the field away from Chris van der Drift and Ben Harford. It was a tricky start for Harford, who spun twice in the opening stages, including one that left him stranded across the track at the final corner. Brendon Hartley took to the runoff in an evasive maneuver, but an unsighted Al Fardan failed to react in time and made like light contact with Harford, damaging the Bahraini's front wing.

The conditions continued to catch out drivers throughout the field, including race leader Howard, who speared off into the gravel trap at turn one. Second place driver, van der Drift, run wide just meters later and made contact with the wall. This ended both drivers' race and brought out the safety car. When the race resumed, Daniel Gaunt led from teammate Dale Williams. Despite suffering from a skewed front wing angle, Al Fardan began to set the pace and passed Hartley promptly for fourth place. Knight passed Gaunt for the lead around the outside of turn one, however he would be shown a mechanical black flag for a faulty rain light and was obligated to retreat to the pitlane.

Knight continued to ignore the black flags right until the finish. As a result, Knight was disqualified from the race and Al Fardan was declared the winner of the Grand Prix. Gaunt finished second and Hartley rounded out the podium.

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time	Grid
1	38	Hamad Al Fardan	Team Meritus	34	48min 21.566sec	7
2	47	Daniel Gaunt	International Motorsport	34	+ 1.154 s	5
3	28	Brendon Hartley	Victory Motorsport	34	+ 1.406 s	8
4	20	Daynom Templeman	Kiwi American Racing	34	+ 1.764 s	10
5	5	Marc Doran	Auto Motion	34	+ 4.152 s	9
6	87	Ben Crighton	Ben Crighton Racing	34	+ 6.446 s	13
7	9	Matthew Hamilton	Karcher Racing	34	+ 7.034 s	16
8	15	Marc Williams	Victory Motorsport	34	+ 13.975 s	11
9	4	Andrew Higgins	Motorsport Solutions	34	+ 14.184 s	14
10	76	Duane Spurdle	Spurdle Motorsport	34	+ 18.312 s	15
11	55	Christina Orr	Mark Petch Motorsport	34	+ 18.760 s	12
12	66	Hamish Cross	ESWA Racing	34	+ 45.230 s	17
13	7	Ben Harford	Cobra Vehicle Security	33	+ 1 lap	3
14	48	Dale Williams	International Motorsport	33	+ 1 lap	4
Ret	6	Jayant Singh	Jayant Singh Motorsport	15	Retired	18
Ret	40	Mark Munro	Auto Motion	9	Retired	19
Ret	22	Jay Howard	Mark Petch Motorsport	8	Spun off	1
Ret	70	Chris van der Drift	International Motorsport	8	Accident	2
DNS	11	Ken Smith	Ken Smith Racing	0	Did Not Start
DSQ	97	Andy Knight	Knight Motorsport	34	Disqualified	6
Fastest Lap: Andy Knight (Knight Motorsport) on lap 30 – 1:01.545
Source:

External links

• Toyota Racing Series