2006 New Zealand Grand Prix

December 2019 CUST Race 3, Round 3 of 8 of the 2006 Toyota Racing Series New Zealand New Zealand Teretonga Circuit track map.svg 16 January, 2006 LI New Zealand Grand Prix Permanent racing facility Teretonga Park, Feilding, New Zealand 1.59 2.57 34 54.06 87.38 Light rain Jay Howard Mark Petch Motorsport 0:55.432 GBR Andy Knight Knight Motorsport 1:01.545 30 NZL Hamad Al Fardan Team Meritus BHR Daniel Gaunt International Motorsport NZL Brendon Hartley Victory Motorsport NZL 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.Motorsport: Arab teenager wins rain-wrecked GP New Zealand Herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/motorsport-arab-teenager-wins-rain-wrecked-gp/CFTOA6NTTMWNDNAIILRZ44LNZM/ 17 December 2024 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 Bahrain Hamad Al Fardan Team Meritus 34 48min 21.566sec 7 2 47 New Zealand Daniel Gaunt International Motorsport 34 + 1.154 s 5 3 28 New Zealand Brendon Hartley Victory Motorsport 34 + 1.406 s 8 4 20 New Zealand Daynom Templeman Kiwi American Racing 34 + 1.764 s 10 5 5 New Zealand Marc Doran Auto Motion 34 + 4.152 s 9 6 87 New Zealand Ben Crighton Ben Crighton Racing 34 + 6.446 s 13 7 9 New Zealand Matthew Hamilton Karcher Racing 34 + 7.034 s 16 8 15 New Zealand Marc Williams Victory Motorsport 34 + 13.975 s 11 9 4 New Zealand Andrew Higgins Motorsport Solutions 34 + 14.184 s 14 10 76 New Zealand Duane Spurdle Spurdle Motorsport 34 + 18.312 s 15 11 55 New Zealand Christina Orr Mark Petch Motorsport 34 + 18.760 s 12 12 66 New Zealand Hamish Cross ESWA Racing 34 + 45.230 s 17 13 7 New Zealand Ben Harford Cobra Vehicle Security 33 + 1 lap 3 14 48 New Zealand Dale Williams International Motorsport 33 + 1 lap 4 Ret 6 New Zealand Jayant Singh Jayant Singh Motorsport 15 Retired 18 Ret 40 New Zealand Mark Munro Auto Motion 9 Retired 19 Ret 22 GBR Jay Howard Mark Petch Motorsport 8 Spun off 1 Ret 70 New Zealand Chris van der Drift International Motorsport 8 Accident 2 DNS 11 New Zealand Ken Smith Ken Smith Racing 0 Did Not Start DSQ 97 New Zealand Andy Knight Knight Motorsport 34 Disqualified 6 Fastest Lap: Andy Knight (Knight Motorsport) on lap 30 – 1:01.545 Source: R16 - Toyota Racing Series (3) - Grid Speedhive MYLAPS https://speedhive.mylaps.com/sessions/261159 17 December 2024 References External links Toyota Racing Series New Zealand Grand Prix 2005 New Zealand Grand Prix 2006 2007 New Zealand Grand Prix expanded Category:New Zealand Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:Toyota Racing Series