2006 PlaceMakers V8 International
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Saturday: Sunny
Sunday: Overcast, light rain
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| Round 2 of 13 in the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series | ||||||||||||||
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| Date | 21–23 April 2006 | |||||||||||||
| Location | Pukekohe, New Zealand | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Pukekohe Park Raceway | |||||||||||||
| Weather | Friday: Sunny Saturday: Sunny Sunday: Overcast, light rain | |||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||
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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.[1] 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 teams 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.
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. [2] From 2008, the round would change venues to a brand-new street race in Hamilton.[3]
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
Top Ten Shootout
| Pos. | No. | 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):[5] | |||||
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.
Race 2
Miraculously, Paul Weel Racing were able to repair Murphy's car overnight to have be able to compete come 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.
Race 3
The grid order was set based on an aggregate of results from races one and two. This left Skaife on pole position with Ingall alongside him on the front row. Extensive damage to the car meant Bowe would not start the final race.
Off the line, Bright bogged down heavily and rapidly fell down the order. Skaife established an affirmative lead while the rest of the pack finally managed to negotiate the hairpin without wanton destruction. Johnson held a strong fourth place but flat-spotted the tyres in the opening laps and ceded position to Lowndes. Winterbottom meanwhile was leaning heavily on Skaife for the lead after the pitstop cycle had finished; the Ford Performance Racing driver paying back the faith put into him after a tricky first couple of years as a main game driver. Will Davison struggled with the handling of his car under brakes and careened into the wall at turn two. He was able to continue the race, but only after being freed from the tyre bundle by the marshals. With marshals on a live race track, the safety car was brought out.
Max Wilson speared off the circuit with suspension damage and retired from the race. Todd Kelly's weekend was further compounded when he locked up into the hairpin, flat-spotting his front tyres, forcing him to pit, and fell toward the tail-end of the field. Winterbottom's charge began to fade and started to fall into the clutches of Lowndes. Dean Canto's car was leaking fluid and eventually expired with a handful of laps to go. Up the front, Skaife remained untroubled to the flag to take his first round win since Bathurst last year. In controversial circumstances, Lowndes finished in second after performing what looked to be a bump-and-run on Winterbottom, who finished in third.
Aftermath
Championship standings
| Pos. | No | Driver | Team | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 1 | Russell Ingall |
Stone Brothers Racing | 540 |
 |
2 | 15 | Rick Kelly |
HSV Dealer Team | 539 |
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3 | 16 | Garth Tander |
HSV Dealer Team | 502 |
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4 | 7 | Steven Richards |
Perkins Engineering | 482 |
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5 | 17 | Steven Johnson |
Dick Johnson Racing | 475 |
References
- ↑ "Skaife recovers in New Zealand". CarSales.com.au. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ↑ "Pukekohe confirmed as V8s venue for 2006-07". New Zealand Herald. 12 July 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ↑ "Hamilton grabs V8 Supercar event". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ↑ "PlaceMakers V8 International - 2006 V8 Supercar Series Rd 2 - PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Qualifying". natsoft.com.au. 22 April 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ↑ "PlaceMakers V8 International - 2006 V8 Supercar Series Rd 2 - PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Shootout". natsoft.com.au. 22 April 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ↑ "PlaceMakers V8 International - 2006 V8 Supercar Series Rd 2 - PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Race 1". natsoft.com.au. 22 April 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ↑ "PlaceMakers V8 International - 2006 V8 Supercar Series Rd 2 - PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Race 2". natsoft.com.au. 22 April 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ↑ "PlaceMakers V8 International - 2006 V8 Supercar Series Rd 2 - PUKEKOHE PARK RACEWAY - V8 SUPERCARS - Race 3". natsoft.com.au. 22 April 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
| Supercars Championship | ||
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2006 Supercars Championship | Next race: 2006 Perth V8 400 |
| Previous year: 2005 PlaceMakers V8 International |
PlaceMakers V8 International | Next year: 2007 PlaceMakers V8 Supercars |