2012 New Zealand Grand Prix

  2012 New Zealand Grand Prix

Race details[1]
Race 3, Round 5 of 5 of the 2012 Toyota Racing Series
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 mi)
Distance	35 laps, 106.16 km (65.96 mi)
Weather	Fine
Pole position
Driver	Mitch Evans	Giles Motorsport
Time	1:03.392
Fastest lap
Driver	Mitch Evans	Giles Motorsport
Time	1:04.235 on lap 22
Podium
First	Nick Cassidy	Giles Motorsport
Second	Hannes van Asseldonk	Giles Motorsport
Third	Lucas Auer	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:^[4]

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

2. "Evans becomes youngest Grand Prix winner" Check |url= value (help). Toyota Racing Series. Retrieved 2011-02-14.

External links

• Toyota Racing Series