1998 New Zealand Grand Prix

Last updated
1998 New Zealand Grand Prix
Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park (Grand Prix Circuit).svg
Race details
Date6 December 1998
Official name XLIV New Zealand Grand Prix
Location Ruapana Park, Christchurch, New Zealand
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 2.841 km (1.765 miles)
Distance 34 laps, 96.6 km (60 miles)
Weather Light rain/overcast
Pole position
Driver SH Racing
Time 1:15.782
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of New Zealand.svg Greg Murphy Greg Murphy Racing
Time 1:17.031 on lap 32
Podium
First Birrana Racing
Second SH Racing
Third Greg Murphy Racing

The 1998 New Zealand Grand Prix event for open wheel racing cars was held at Ruapana Park near Christchurch on 6 December 1998. This event marked the events return after a two-year hiatus. It was the forty-fourth New Zealand Grand Prix and was the first to be run to Formula Holden regulations. The event also served as part of the briefly revived Tasman Series.

Contents

The event was won by Simon Wills driving for Birrana Racing, while Scott Dixon and Greg Murphy rounded out the podium.

Background

Ever since the inaugural event in 1950, the New Zealand Grand Prix had attracted some of the best racing drivers from home and abroad, with the honours roll consisting of some of the greatest drivers in the sports history. However, by the turn of the 1990s, the relevance of the event began to wane and eventually culminated in the 1995 iteration only receiving seven entries. The event would lay dormant for two years before making its return in 1998, with the aim to restore the status of the marquee event back to its golden years.

Running to Formula Holden regulations, the grid contained drivers from a mixture of different backgrounds. This included front-running drivers in the Australian Drivers' Championship, which also utilised Formula Holden cars. An array of local drivers were also entered, one of whom was former All Blacks player, Graham Sims. There were also three international drivers, which included Wouter van Eeuwijk from the Netherlands, Robert Lechner from Austria and Akihiro Asai from Japan, who had also been running in the Australian Drivers' Championship that season. [1]

The favourites heading into the event were Greg Murphy and Scott Dixon. Murphy had won the 1994 iteration of the event and by this stage was an established driver throughout the Australasian motor racing scene. Dixon was still in his formative years of racing but had won the national Formula First and Formula Ford championships back-to-back. He had also competed in the Australian Drivers' Championship the previous year, finishing third, and would go on to win the championship later this year.

Race report

Dixon once again proved his pace by securing the pole position, setting a time almost eight-tenths faster than the second-placed driver, Simon Wills. The Birrana Racing driver was regarded as a promising talent but compared to the likes of Dixon especially, had a disappointing season in British Formula Three and was thus never regarded as a favourite for the race. The preliminary race held on Saturday and Wills defied the critics by capitalising on a mistake from Dixon to take victory. Dixon had not only lost places to Wills off the start, but also to Murphy. Australian-based Kiwi Chris Staff spun on lap two, losing a bundle of positions while Dixon eventually wormed his way past Murphy at turn one a couple laps later. Dixon left Murphy behind but Wills was able to stabilise the gap and even with having to negotiate traffic every so often, never ceded position to the fast-charging Dixon. With a couple laps remaining, Dixon resigned himself to second place and Wills crossed to line 3.3 seconds ahead of his fellow Aucklander.

Two drivers - Lechner and Ross Rutherford - would be forced to withdraw from the race. Lechner owing to internal disputes with NRC Racing while Rutherford was thwarted by a lack of spare parts. Minutes before the start, light rain started to fall upon the circuit. This made track conditions quite slippery and resulted in Murphy and Asai spinning on the formation lap. Off the line, Dixon once again got a poor start and lost a bundle of positions. Wills shot through to the lead while van Eeuwijk scythed through to second place. The elation for the Dutchman was short-lived as he would be taken out of the race by Murphy at turn three on the first lap, with the Kiwi misjudging the track conditions. In the melee, Murphy fell right down the order while up the front, Dixon had worked his way up to Wills and passed him for the lead. Soon after, cars down the field began to drop out of the race. Sims had retired on lap four due to a faulty clutch while the Birrana car of Brenton Ramsay went out with a valve spring. Asai would once again be caught out by the conditions and retired from the race on lap 20.

Dixon had established an affirmative lead early on. However, as the race wore on, Wills began to rein him in. Feeling the pressure, Dixon ran wide at the first corner as Wills got to within one second of his lead. A couple corners later, Wills had taken the lead. Dixon, desperate to keep up, speared off the circuit just a couple corners later with the greasy track conditions catching him out. Once again, Dixon was forced to remain content with second place as, even without the mistake, Wills' pace was so absolute that, save for a mistake, the result was beyond doubt. Wills crossed the line to take victory with Dixon in second and Murphy a distant third.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNo.DriverTeamTimeGrid
135 Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon SH Racing1:15.7821
28 Flag of New Zealand.svg Simon Wills Birrana Racing 1:16.6332
322 Flag of New Zealand.svg Greg Murphy Greg Murphy Racing 1:17.0933
412 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris StaffChallenge Recruitment Racing1:17.4754
57 Flag of New Zealand.svg Jason LieftingRalt Australia1:17.6095
619 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Wouter van EeuwijkNRC Racing1:17.6376
774 Flag of Japan.svg Akihiro Asai Chris Hocking Racing1:17.7477
89 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brenton Ramsay Birrana Racing 1:18.5708
96 Flag of New Zealand.svg Graham Sims 1:20.9049
1015 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Les CramptonSun Wipes Formula Racing Team1:22.16110
1124 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian PetersPeters Racing1:22.35511
1269 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Damien DigbyDamien Digby Racing1:22.36112
-28 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Roger OakshottBarshott Racingno time13
Source(s): [2]

Race

PosNo.DriverTeamLapsTimeGrid
18 Flag of New Zealand.svg Simon Wills Birrana Racing 3448min 23.870sec2
235 Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon SH Racing34+ 8.3201
322 Flag of New Zealand.svg Greg Murphy Greg Murphy Racing 34+ 24.4913
47 Flag of New Zealand.svg Jason LieftingRalt Australia33+ 1 lap5
512 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris StaffChallenge Recruitment Racing32+ 2 laps4
615 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Les CramptonSun Wipes Formula Racing Team31+ 3 laps10
769 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Damien DigbyDamien Digby Racing30+ 4 laps12
824 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian PetersPeters Racing29+ 5 laps11
Ret74 Flag of Japan.svg Akihiro Asai Chris Hocking Racing20Spun off7
Ret28 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Roger OakshottBarshott Racing19Retired13
Ret9 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brenton Ramsay Birrana Racing 10Valve spring8
Ret6 Flag of New Zealand.svg Graham Sims 4Clutch9
Ret19 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Wouter van EeuwijkNRC Racing0Spun off6
Wth Flag of Austria.svg Robert LechnerNRC RacingWithdrawn
Wth Flag of New Zealand.svg Ross RutherfordWithdrawn
Fastest lap: Greg Murphy (Greg Murphy Racing) - 1:17.031 on lap 32
Source(s):

References

  1. "Tasman Express New Zealand GP Preview" . Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  2. "Simon Wills Wins New Zealand Grand Prix". Speedsport Ltd. December 1998. pp. 12–17, 60.
Preceded by New Zealand Grand Prix
1998
Succeeded by