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.
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. 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.
Results
Qualifying Pos No Driver Team Time Grid 1 1 Mitch Evans Giles Motorsport 1:03.178 1 2 2 Nick Cassidy Giles Motorsport 1:03.391 2 3 5 Bruno Bonifacio Giles Motorsport 1:03.518 3 4 52 Nathanaël Berthon M2 Competition 1:03.711 4 5 16 Hannes van Asseldonk Giles Motorsport 1:03.791 5 6 15 Lucas Auer Giles Motorsport 1:03.817 6 7 10 Josh Hill ETEC Motorsport 1:03.967 7 8 42 Jordan King M2 Competition 1:03.980 8 9 87 Damon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 1:04.146 9 10 53 Raffaele Marciello M2 Competition 1:04.201 10 11 6 Félix Serrallés Giles Motorsport 1:04.285 11 12 43 Tanart Sathienthirakul M2 Competition 1:04.353 12 13 7 Jono Lester ETEC Motorsport 1:04.403 13 14 4 Chris Vlok Victory Motor Racing 1:04.492 14 15 20 Dmitry Suranovich Victory Motor Racing 1:04.584 15 16 8 Melvin Moh ETEC Motorsport 1:04.729 16 17 88 Michela Cerruti Victory Motor Racing 1:04.809 17 18 11 Shahaan Engineer ETEC Motorsport 1:04.847 18 19 9 Ken Smith ETEC Motorsport 1:05.394 19 20 51 Sheban Siddiqi M2 Competition 1:05.950 20 Source(s):
Race Pos No Driver Team Laps Gap Grid 1 2 Nick Cassidy Giles Motorsport 35 40min 18.327sec 2 2 16 Hannes van Asseldonk Giles Motorsport 35 + 0.509s 5 3 15 Lucas Auer Giles Motorsport 35 + 4.800s 6 4 5 Bruno Bonifacio Giles Motorsport 35 + 7.772s 3 5 52 Nathanaël Berthon M2 Competition 35 + 8.363s 4 6 7 Jono Lester ETEC Motorsport 35 + 11.723s 13 7 6 Félix Serrallés Giles Motorsport 35 + 12.294s 11 8 20 Dmitry Suranovich Victory Motor Racing 35 + 18.280s 15 9 8 Melvin Moh ETEC Motorsport 35 + 24.164s 16 10 43 Tanart Sathienthirakul M2 Competition 35 + 28.179s 12 11 4 Chris Vlok Victory Motor Racing 35 + 28.265s 14 12 88 Michela Cerruti Victory Motor Racing 35 + 28.683s 17 13 9 Ken Smith ETEC Motorsport 35 + 39.874s 19 14 51 Sheban Siddiqi M2 Competition 35 + 1:01.730s 20 15 11 Shahaan Engineer ETEC Motorsport 34 + 1 lap 18 16 87 Damon Leitch Victory Motor Racing 30 + 5 laps 9 Ret 1 Mitch Evans Giles Motorsport 28 Engine 1 Ret 10 Josh Hill ETEC Motorsport 17 Retired 7 Ret 53 Raffaele Marciello M2 Competition 15 Retired 10 Ret 42 Jordan King M2 Competition 4 Retired 8 Source(s):
References
External links Toyota Racing Series