2012 New Zealand Grand Prix
| 2012 New Zealand Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3, Round 5 of 5 of the 2012 Toyota Racing Series | |||
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| Race details[1] | |||
| Date | 12 February 2012 | ||
| Official name | LVII New Zealand Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding, New Zealand | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 3.033 km (1.885 miles) | ||
| Distance | 35 laps, 106.16 km (65.96 miles) | ||
| Weather | Fine | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Giles Motorsport | ||
| Time | 1:03.392 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Mitch Evans | Giles Motorsport | |
| Time | 1:04.235 on lap 22 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Giles Motorsport | ||
| Second | Giles Motorsport | ||
| Third | Giles Motorsport | ||
The 2012 New Zealand Grand Prix event for open wheel racing cars was held at Manfeild Autocourse near Feilding on 12 February 2012. It was the fifty-seventh New Zealand Grand Prix and was open to Toyota Racing Series cars. The event was also the third race of the fifth round of the 2012 Toyota Racing Series, the final race of the series.
Twenty Tatuus-Toyota cars started the race which was won by 17-year-old New Zealander Nick Cassidy who became the who became the second teenager in as many years to claim the Grand Prix after sixteen-year-old Mitch Evans the previous year.[2]
The Giles Motorsport team dominated the race, filling all three podium positions. Dutch driver Hannes van Asseldonk finished second, 05 seconds behind Cassidy. Third was Austrian driver Lucas Auer. Cassidy inherited the lead after the retirement of fellow Giles Motorsport driver and defending champion Mitch Evans who held a three-second lead when his car failed on lap 28.[3] Completing Giles Motorsport's dominance of the race, Brazilian driver Bruno Bonifacio finished fourth. Nathanaël Berthon was the first driver from any other team, finishing fifth for M2 Competition.
Cassidy's win also wrapped up a success championship campaign for Cassidy, winning his first major championship with the 2012 Toyota Racing Series crown.
Classification
Results:[1]
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Nick Cassidy
|
Giles Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | 40m 18.328s |
| 2 | 16 |  Hannes van Asseldonk
|
Giles Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +0.5 |
| 3 | 15 |  Lucas Auer
|
Giles Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +4.8 |
| 4 | 5 |  Bruno Bonifacio
|
Giles Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +7.8 |
| 5 | 52 |  Nathanaël Berthon
|
M2 Competition | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +8.4 |
| 6 | 7 | Jono Lester
|
ETEC Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +11.7 |
| 7 | 6 |  Felix Serralles
|
Giles Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +12.3 |
| 8 | 20 |  Dmitry Suranovich
|
Victory Motor Racing | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +18.3 |
| 9 | 8 |  Melvin Moh
|
ETEC Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +24.2 |
| 10 | 43 |  Tanart Sathienthirakul
|
M2 Competition | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +28.2 |
| 11 | 4 | Chris Vlok
|
Victory Motor Racing | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +28.3 |
| 12 | 88 |  Michela Cerruti
|
Victory Motor Racing | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +28.7 |
| 13 | 9 | Ken Smith
|
ETEC Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +39.9 |
| 14 | 51 |  Sheban Siddiqi
|
M2 Competition | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 35 | +1:01.7 |
| 15 | 11 | Shahaan Engineer
|
ETEC Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 34 | + 1 lap |
| 16 | 87 | Damon Leitch
|
Victory Motor Racing | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 30 | + 5 laps |
| DNF | 1 | Mitch Evans
|
Giles Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 28 | Engine |
| DNF | 10 |  Josh Hill
|
ETEC Motorsport | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 17 | |
| DNF | 53 | Raffaele Marciello
|
M2 Competition | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 15 | |
| DNF | 42 | Jordan King
|
M2 Competition | Tatuus TT104ZZ Toyota | 4 |
References
- ^ a b "mylaps.com". Archived from the original on 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
- ^ "Evans becomes youngest Grand Prix winner". Toyota Racing Series. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
- ^ "Cassidy claims GP title". Stuff. Retrieved 13 July 2018.