2023 New Zealand Grand Prix

2023 New Zealand Grand Prix
Race 3, Round 4 of 5 of the 2023 Formula Regional Oceania Championship
Race details
Date	5 February 2023
Official name	LXVII New Zealand Grand Prix
Location	Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato, New Zealand
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.800 km (2.361 miles)
Distance	28 laps, 106.4 km (66.1 miles)
Weather	Friday: Rain Saturday: Sunny Sunday: Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Laurens van Hoepen	M2 Competition
Time	1:29.877
Fastest lap
Driver	Laurens van Hoepen	M2 Competition
Time	1:30.061 on lap 10
Podium
First	Laurens van Hoepen	M2 Competition
Second	Louis Foster	Giles Motorsport
Third	Callum Hedge	M2 Competition

The 2023 New Zealand Grand Prix event for open wheel racing cars was held at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in northern Waikato on 5 February 2023. It was the sixty-seventh New Zealand Grand Prix and utilised Formula Regional cars. The event also served as the third race of the fourth round of the 2023 Formula Regional Oceania Championship. This marked the Grand Prix's return after the 2022 iteration was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was the first to feature international drivers since 2020.

Dutch driver Laurens van Hoepen produced a victory in his debut weekend in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship. He won from the highly-fancied Louis Foster, with series leader Callum Hedge rounding out the podium.

Entry list

All drivers compete with identical Tatuus FT-60 chassis cars powered by 2.0L turbocharged Toyota engines. After the 2021 Grand Prix was run without any officially recognized teams, the event returned to a team-based format.[1]

Team	No.	Driver
Hamilton Motorsport Ltd.	4	Billy Frazer[2]
	84	Chris van der Drift[3]
Kiwi Motorsport	5	Lucas Fecury[4]
	8	Tom McLennan[5][6]
	21	Josh Mason[7]
	51	Jacob Abel[8]
	86	Brendon Leitch[9]
	98	James Penrose[10]
M2 Competition	7	Charlie Wurz[11]
	17	Callum Hedge[12]
	18	Laurens van Hoepen[13]
	23	Liam Sceats[14]
	77	David Morales[15]
	101	Ryder Quinn[16]
Giles Motorsport	15	Kaleb Ngatoa[17]
	26	Louis Foster[18]
	36	Adam Fitzgerald[19]
	55	Breanna Morris[20]
	66	Ryan Shehan[21]
	88	Chloe Chambers[22]

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	18	Laurens van Hoepen	M2 Competition	1:30.240	1:30.389	1:29.819	1
2	26	Louis Foster	Giles Motorsport	1:30.474	1:30.465	1:29.863	2
3	15	Kaleb Ngatoa	Giles Motorsport	1:30.340	1:30.461	1:29.978	3
4	17	Callum Hedge	M2 Competition	1:30.401	1:30.540	1:30.003	4
5	7	Charlie Wurz	M2 Competition	1:30.552	1:30.449	1:30.097	5
6	23	Liam Sceats	M2 Competition	1:30.545	1:30.631	1:30.133	6
7	51	Jacob Abel	Kiwi Motorsport	1:30.785	1:30.667	1:30.313	7
8	77	David Morales	M2 Competition	1:30.685	1:30.620	1:30.362	8
9	84	Chris van der Drift	Hamilton Motorsport	1:30.738	1:30.684	N/A	9
10	21	Josh Mason	Kiwi Motorsport	1:30.903	1:30.693	N/A	10
11	66	Ryan Shehan	Giles Motorsport	1:30.894	1:30.698	N/A	11
12	36	Adam Fitzgerald	Giles Motorsport	1:30.523	1:30.821	N/A	12
13	86	Brendon Leitch	Kiwi Motorsport	1:30.723	1:30.834	N/A	13
14	101	Ryder Quinn	M2 Competition	1:30.688	1:30.942	N/A	14
15	98	James Penrose	Kiwi Motorsport	1:31.108	N/A	N/A	15
16	88	Chloe Chambers	Giles Motorsport	1:31.290	N/A	N/A	16
17	5	Lucas Fecury	Kiwi Motorsport	1:31.329	N/A	N/A	17
18	4	Billy Frazer	Hamilton Motorsport	1:31.708	N/A	N/A	18
19	55	Breanna Morris	Giles Motorsport	1:31.793	N/A	N/A	19
-	8	Tom McLennan	Kiwi Motorsport	no time	N/A	N/A	-
107% time: 1:36.557
Source:[23][24][25]

Race

Race classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Teams	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1	18	Laurens van Hoepen	M2 Competition	28	42min 16.570sec	1
2	26	Louis Foster	Giles Motorsport	28	+ 0.846 s	2
3	17	Callum Hedge	M2 Competition	28	+ 12.329 s	4
4	84	Chris van der Drift	Hamilton Motorsport	28	+ 12.673 s	9
5	15	Kaleb Ngatoa	Giles Motorsport	28	+ 14.923 s	3
6	23	Liam Sceats	M2 Competition	28	+ 15.525 s	6
7	7	Charlie Wurz	M2 Competition	28	+ 16.173 s	5
8	51	Jacob Abel	Kiwi Motorsport	28	+ 16.604 s	7
9	77	David Morales	M2 Competition	28	+ 17.499 s	8
10	101	Ryder Quinn	M2 Competition	28	+ 18.051 s	14
11	66	Ryan Shehan	Giles Motorsport	28	+ 23.107 s	11
12	21	Josh Mason	Kiwi Motorsport	28	+ 24.859 s	10
13	98	James Penrose	Kiwi Motorsport	28	+ 26.756 s	15
14	86	Brendon Leitch	Kiwi Motorsport	28	+ 28.049 s	13
15	4	Billy Frazer	Hamilton Motorsport	28	+ 32.652 s	18
16	36	Adam Fitzgerald	Giles Motorsport	28	+ 35.056 s	12
17	88	Chloe Chambers	Giles Motorsport	28	+ 36.342 s	16
18	55	Breanna Morris	Giles Motorsport	28	+ 47.490 s	19
19	5	Lucas Fecury	Kiwi Motorsport	28	+ 48.132 s	17
WD	8	Tom McLennan	Kiwi Motorsport	0	Withdrew
Fastest lap: Laurens van Hoepen (M2 Competition) – 1:30.061 (lap 10)
Source:[26]

References

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3. "Van Der Drift gets wild card for NZ GP". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
4. Wood, Ida (2022-09-01). "Lucas Fecury the first driver to sign up for 2023 Toyota Racing Series". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
5. "Aussie Porsche racer McLennan returns to single seaters for 2023 TRS". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
6. "More drivers confirmed for the Formula Regional Oceania Championship in New Zealand". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
7. "Mason signs up with Kiwi Motorsport for 2023 New Zealand campaign". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2022-12-28. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
8. "Indy Nxt racer more than Abel to succeed in Formula Regional Oceania". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
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10. "Penrose finally gets his chance to shine". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
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13. "Van Hoepen joins Castrol Toyota FR Oceania for final two rounds". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2023-01-02. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
14. "Sceats joins race to inaugural Castrol Toyota Formula Regional title". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2022-12-29.
15. "Morales adds more US flavour to 2023 Castrol TRS Championship". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
16. "Quinn to take on 2023 Castrol TRS with M2 Competition". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
17. "Twenty cars to start 67th New Zealand Grand Prix". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2023-01-02. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
18. "Indy Pro 2000 champ joins title chase in NZ". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
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20. "Morris confirmed for Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Championship". Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ. 2022-12-20. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
21. Wood, Ida (2022-10-19). "US F4 race-winner Ryan Shehan signs up for Toyota Racing Series". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
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23. "CTFROC - Q8 - CTFROC - Qualify 1". MYLAPS Speedhive. 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
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25. "CTFROC - Q8 - CTFROC - Qualify 3". MYLAPS Speedhive. 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
26. "CTFROC - R25 - CTFROC - NZ Grand Prix (28 Laps)". MYLAPS Speedhive. 2023-02-05. Retrieved 2023-02-05.

Preceded by 2021 New Zealand Grand Prix

New Zealand Grand Prix 2023

Succeeded by 2024 New Zealand Grand Prix