The 2006 PlaceMakers V8 International was a motor race for V8 Supercars held on the weekend of 21–23 April 2006. The event was held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway in Pukekohe, New Zealand, and consisted of three races culminating in 400 kilometers. It was the second round of thirteen in the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series and the first of two international events on the calendar.
After a tough start to the season, Mark Skaife stayed largely dominant to take two race wins and the overall round win. Mark Winterbottom repaid Ford Performance Racing's faith in him by achieving his first podiums (race and round) by finishing second overall while Russell Ingall rounded out the overall podium. Local hero Greg Murphy endured a tough round. Already dissatisfied with his team's move to Perkins engines, the four-time winner of the event was taken out early in race one and struggled to move forward in both races.
This round also saw the return of the reverse-grid race. Although its return wasn't met with much enthusiasm and would not feature at any future Pukekohe events going forward.
Background After the bids of Auckland and Wellington to host the New Zealand round of the V8 Supercar championship fell through, Pukekohe was confirmed to once again play host for 2006 and 2007. From 2008, the round would change venues to a brand-new street race in Hamilton.
John Bowe would make his 200th V8 Supercar round start; joining Peter Brock, Dick Johnson and Glenn Seton as the only drivers achieved such a feat. His car was assigned the number 200 to commemorate the occasion.
The Holden Racing Team were issued a suspended $20,000 fine for exceeding the freight allowance set for the international event.
Results Qualifying
Driver Team Car Time 1 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 55.8074 2 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 55.8380 3 6 Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 55.8562 4 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 55.8666 5 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 55.8785 6 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 55.8844 7 1 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 55.9203 8 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.1106 9 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 56.1476 10 51 Greg Murphy Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.1633 11 7 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.1726 12 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.2498 13 11 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.2595 14 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.2794 15 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 56.3272 16 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 56.3974 17 200 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 56.4141 18 50 Cameron McConville Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.4511 19 10 Jason Bargwanna WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 56.5380 20 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 56.5388 21 34 Dean Canto Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.5432 22 021 Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.6596 23 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.6647 24 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.6973 25 23 Andrew Jones Tasman Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.7329 26 39 Fabian Coulthard Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.8556 27 25 Warren Luff Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 56.8622 28 14 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 56.8932 29 55 Steve Owen Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.9694 30 26 Mark Porter MSport Holden Commodore (VZ) 57.1100 31 20 Marcus Marshall Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 57.7586 Source(s):
Top Ten Shootout
Driver Team Car Time 1 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 55.7253 2 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 55.7930 3 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 55.8742 4 1 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 55.9789 5 6 Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 56.0083 6 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 56.1302 7 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon (BA) 56.1637 8 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.1683 9 51 Greg Murphy Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 56.4231 10 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:07.4133 Source(s):
Race 1 It didn't take long for chaos to ensue. Rick Kelly stalled at the start and left drivers scrambling every which way to avoid hitting the rear of his stranded car. A couple hundred meters down the road, cars began ricocheting off each other. Caught out in the melee was local favourite, Murphy. The damage sustained was enough to force him out of the race then and there.
To add to local fans woes, Paul Radisich was spun at the hairpin on the safety car restart and relegated him to the rear of the field. Tander was judged to have jumped the start and was issued a drive-through penalty. Mark Skaife assumed the lead of the race with Russell Ingall in hot pursuit. Andrew Jones was issued a drive-through penalty for failing to stay in formation at the safety car restart. A couple laps after taking said penalty, he slid off the track at turn one and spun. Teammate Jason Richards was struggling with faulty power steering. Multiple laps down, the Kiwi kept circulating for points and to attain a good grid slot for the reverse grid race on Sunday.
Rick Kelly was experiencing the unique issue of a faulty clutch from the opening laps. Aside from some difficulty in engaging first gear after his pitstop, Kelly managed to nurse his car to the end. With a handful of laps to go, Steven Richards slid off at the hairpin and lost a top five placing. Todd Kelly was also suffering from power steering issues and retired a few laps from home owing to a fire within the cockpit. For teammate Skaife however, there were no such issues. Winning his first race of the season ahead of Ingall, with Jason Bright rounding out the podium. Driver Team Laps Time / Retired Grid 1 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team 36 39min 35.1429sec 2 2 1 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 36 + 1.422 4 3 6 Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing 36 + 7.181 5 4 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing 36 + 12.549 6 5 888 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering 36 + 13.880 3 6 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing 36 + 22.732 10 7 7 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering 36 + 24.485 11 8 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing 36 + 25.425 15 9 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing 36 + 26.260 16 10 11 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering 36 + 27.629 13 11 10 Jason Bargwanna WPS Racing 36 + 28.312 19 12 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team 36 + 28.892 8 13 50 Cameron McConville Paul Weel Racing 36 + 29.193 18 14 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport 36 + 33.408 24 15 88 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 36 + 36.065 7 16 34 Dean Canto Garry Rogers Motorsport 36 + 37.762 21 17 200 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing 36 + 38.426 17 18 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing 36 + 38.628 20 19 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport 36 + 41.212 23 20 16 Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team 36 + 43.501 1 21 021 Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Racing 36 + 44.963 22 22 14 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing 36 + 47.046 28 23 26 Mark Porter MSport 36 + 55.150 30 24 25 Warren Luff Britek Motorsport 35 + 1 lap 27 25 55 Steve Owen Rod Nash Racing 35 + 1 lap 29 26 20 Marcus Marshall Paul Cruickshank Racing 35 + 1 lap 31 27 23 Andrew Jones Tasman Motorsport 34 + 2 laps 25 28 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport 29 + 7 laps 12 Ret 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team 29 Power steering 14 Ret 39 Fabian Coulthard Paul Morris Motorsport 16 Retired 26 Ret 51 Greg Murphy Paul Weel Racing 0 Accident 9 Fastest lap: Garth Tander (HSV Dealer Team), 0:56.4767 Source(s):
Race 2 Miraculously, Paul Weel Racing were able to repair Murphy's car overnight in time for race two and would start from the pitlane. It was a reverse-grid race with both Tasman Motorsport cars starting on the front row; a silver lining to their torrid first race on Saturday.
Richards led away from his teammate with Steve Owen following through into third. Being the first reverse-grid race in four years, carnage was expected. And it did not disappoint. At the usual trouble spot of the hairpin, Warren Luff sent Mark Porter into a spin. In the process, the rear of Porter's car tagged Radisich, sending the Team Kiwi racer around as well. Porter and Luff got away but Radisich was left facing the wrong way. Dean Canto managed to stop in time, only for the following cars - who could not see the chaos ahead - to slam into the back of Canto and into Radisich. The incident inflicted extensive damage to the cars of Jamie Whincup, Bowe, Jason Bargwanna and Steven Richards. Along with the cosmetic damage, Richards' power steering had failed. Bargwanna's front spoiler had broken and trapped the front wheels, forcing him off into the gravel trap at the hairpin on the next lap. Predictably, all of this led to the deployment of the safety car. And to further compound these troubles, rain started to fall upon the circuit.
Aided with a fast car and optimal grid position, Tander began making his way up the order. Despite the threat of rain, drivers still came in for their compulsory stops as planned. Precipitation not sufficient to warrant concern amongst the teams. Luff was issued a drive-through penalty for his first lap misdemeanors. Bowe suffered a major crash at the end of the front straight as a result of a jammed throttle. With extensive damage inflicted upon the barrier, the red flag was thrown and the race was stopped. Because the race was effectively 'reset', the restart was conducted as a standing start. The regulations permitted Whincup and Radisich to take the restart despite 'retiring' before the red flag was shown.
Tander led away from Richards at the restart. Porter exacted his revenge on Luff on lap 13, only for the local driver having to retire from the race due to damage. McConville and Brad Jones came to blows at the hairpin, and multiple drivers behind inflicted damage upon each other. Jones came in to retire whilst Bright pitted for what he believed was a puncture. Whincup's race eventually came to an end due to mechanical problems. James Courtney was experiencing braking problems which led to him spinning Murphy at the ever-so-troublesome hairpin. Lowndes received a drive-through penalty for a driving infringement pertaining to Rick Kelly. Tander cruised home to victory with Jason Richards second and Mark Winterbottom in third.