A grid of 20 cars will start the 67th New Zealand Grand Prix – being held at the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park round of the Super Sprint MotorSport New Zealand Championship this weekend 3-5 February.
The penultimate round of the 2023 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship, the event brings an additional four entrants to the series.
Last contested in 2021 it was won by Shane van Gisbergen. The 2023 entry list includes eight Kiwi hopefuls.
In terms of prestige New Zealand hosts one of only two FIA-recognised national Grand Prix events that are not part of the Formula One World Championship. For all those competing the win is a holy grail achievement.
First held in 1950 at the Ohakea RNZAF air force base the New Zealand Grand Prix became a summer holiday fixture for the world’s top drivers. Previous winners include Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and more recently, current F1 drivers Lance Stroll and Lando Norris.
Boasting multiple race winners in the last three consecutive weekends of racing that build up to the Grand Prix, the competition is close. Currently headed by Austrian Charlie Wurz, he has a slender six-point lead in the standings. Qualifying times at the previous Manfeild weekend placed 13 of the 16 cars within 0.783sec of pace setter Wurz.
A change weekend introduces a new format to the race determining qualifying session. Following the Formula One style, the session will be divided into thirds, a 15 minute segment, 10 minute segment and a final 12 minute segment.
There are three races for the Toyota FT-60 cars contesting the New Zealand Grand Prix – a 20-lap race on Saturday and Sunday morning, with the main event of 28 laps from 4pm Sunday.
Prize money on offer this weekend will reward fastest in qualifying with $500 through to $5,000 for winning the Grand Prix event on Sunday afternoon.
The weekend also includes the opening round of the Valvoline D1NZ drift series – who take to the circuit following the day’s race programme on Friday and Saturday.
Adding to the show is the return of the Golden Homes GT NZ category – swelling to 25 cars.
The TradeZone GTRNZ field boasts 69 entrants, with a further 18 cars from Central Muscle Cars, plus the Toyota 86 category, Hi Q Formula First and NAPA Formula Ford – which includes former V8 Supercar driver Greg Murphy.
The weekend will be televised live on Sky Sport 5 and Fox Sport Australia (as well as Pasifika TV). Coverage begins 10am Saturday morning through to 7:30pm, and 8:30am to 5:30pm on Sunday. TV3 will broadcast from 1pm Sunday to 5:00pm.
Tickets can be pre-purchased online with gate sales also available.
Entry list – 2023 New Zealand Grand Prix (Car#, Driver, Age, Nationality, Team)
1/ 4 Billy Frazer 19 New Zealand Hamilton Motorsport
2/ 5 Lucas Fecury 19 Brazil Kiwi Motorsport
3/ 7 Charlie Wurz 17 Austria M2 Competition
4/ 8 Tom McLennan 18 Australia Kiwi Motorsport
5/ 15 Kaleb Ngatoa 21 New Zealand Giles Motorsport
6/ 17 Callum Hedge 19 New Zealand M2 Competition
7/ 18 Laurens van Hoepen 17 Netherlands M2 Competition
8/ 21 Josh Mason 20 Great Britain Kiwi Motorsport
9/ 23 Liam Sceats 17 New Zealand M2 Competition
10/ 26 Louis Foster 19 Great Britain Giles Motorsport
11/ 36 Adam Fitzgerald 19 Ireland Giles Motorsport
12/ 51 Jacob Abel 21 USA Kiwi Motorsport
13/ 55 Breanna Morris 19 New Zealand Giles Motorsport
14/ 66 Ryan Shehan 17 USA Giles Motorsport
15/ 77 David Morales 19 USA M2 Competition
16/ 84 Chris van der Drift 36 New Zealand Hamilton Motorsport
17/ 86 Brendon Leitch 27 New Zealand Kiwi Motorsport
18/ 88 Chloe Chambers 18 USA Giles Motorsport
19/ 98 James Penrose 27 New Zealand Kiwi Motorsport
20/ 101 Ryder Quinn 17 Australia M2 Competition
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