The 2002 New Zealand Grand Prix (officially known as the 2002 P&O Nedlloyd New Zealand Grand Prix) was an open wheel racing car race held at Teretonga Park, near Invercargill on 13 January 2002. This event marked the first time the New Zealand Grand Prix was run using Formula Ford machinery. It also served as the fourth round of the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship and was held over two 18-lap segments.

The race was won by Fabian Coulthard in dominant fashion. The podium was completed by the two Team USA Scholarship drivers, Bryan Sellers and A. J. Allmendinger.

Race report Coulthard was virtually untouchable in the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship that season, having won every race in the series up to that point. In Teretonga, he continued that form by qualifying fastest in provisional qualifying and then topping the timesheets in the top-ten shootout session; both by some margin. Veteran Ken Smith was the closest competitor followed by Team USA Scholarship driver, Sellers. The Team USA Scholarship drivers of Sellers and Allmendinger were flown in to New Zealand a few days beforehand as part of a program organised by Jeremy Shaw and run by Kiwi John Crawford.

Unlike previous iterations of the event, the cars used for the marquee event were not equipped with fuel tanks large enough to cover the full distance of the race. Thus, the race was split up into two 18-lap segments, with the cars refueled in between. Any other modifications made to the cars in this time were prohibited. The second part of the race was then started under safety car. Coulthard led the opening portion of the race from Sellers, Allmendinger, Nicolas Ross, Simon Gamble, Simon Richards and Smith.

In the second portion of the race, Allmendinger, Ross and Gamble came to blows at turn one which forced Ross to climb back up the order and threw Gamble out of the race. Brady Kennett, winner of the 1995 event, struggled with oil pressure and would eventually have to settle for eleventh place. One of the biggest movers of the field was Nelson Hartley, brother of Formula One driver Brendon, who had climbed from 29th on the grid to finish sixth. Of all the cars however, it was Coulthard who reigned supreme. Taking the chequered flag to win the Grand Prix nearly four seconds ahead of Sellers, completing the race in just under an hour. Allmendinger recovered from his conflict with Ross and Gamble to take a consolatory third.

Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Car Q1 Q2 Grid 1 66 Fabian Coulthard Stealth Van Diemen RF94 1:02.553 1:02.891 1 2 11 Ken Smith Van Diemen Stealth 1:03.071 1:03.394 2 3 40 Bryan Sellers Van Diemen RF93 1:03.062 1:03.641 3 4 10 Nelson Hartley Van Diemen RF94 1:03.090 1:03.675 4 5 5 Simon Richards Van Diemen RF01 1:03.326 1:03.706 5 6 39 A. J. Allmendinger Van Diemen RF93 1:03.248 1:03.916 6 7 22 Chris Pither Spectrum 08 1:03.114 1:03.950 7 8 14 Nick Ross Van Diemen RF91 1:03.134 1:04.009 8 9 7 Simon Gamble Van Diemen RF90 1:03.245 1:04.186 9 10 6 Brady Kennett Van Diemen RF94 1:03.071 1:04.413 10 11 21 Todd Stewart Van Diemen RF92 1:03.878 11 12 12 Daniel Gaunt Van Diemen Stealth 1:04.295 12 13 57 Scott McKelvie Van Diemen RF92 1:04.363 13 14 47 David Payne Van Diemen Stealth 1:04.509 14 15 96 Karl Wilson Van Diemen RF94 1:04.707 15 16 76 Carl Wall Swift FB4 1:04.901 16 17 34 Steve Donaldson Van Diemen RF90 1:05.147 17 18 4 Andrew Higgins Van Diemen RF94 1:05.195 18 19 25 Stan Redmond Van Diemen RF92 1:05.506 19 20 70 Jayant Singh Van Diemen RF92 1:05.569 20 21 18 Ian Bisman Van Diemen RF96 1:05.684 21 22 15 Royce Bayer Swift SC92 1:06.065 22 23 72 Mashlino Buang Van Diemen RF92 1:06.139 23 24 33 Iskander Syed Van Diemen RF92 1:06.164 24 25 53 Robert Toshach Swift FB89 1:06.179 25 26 30 Ian Clements Lola 644G 1:06.315 26 27 86 John Clegg Reynard 84FF 1:06.394 27 28 85 Carmen Doran Ray 86F 1:06.478 28 29 77 Steve Edwards Swift FB88 1:07.017 29 30 88 Mathew Radisich Spectrum 08 1:07.213 30 31 43 Barry Leitch Van Diemen 1:07.305 31 32 27 Wayne Colville Van Diemen RF81 1:09.792 32 33 44 Noel Atley Crossle 55F 1:10.548 33 34 71 Robin Judkins Van Diemen RF89 1:10.565 34 35 36 Fred Hawthorne Van Diemen RF86 1:11.054 35 36 83 Fariqe Hairuman Van Diemen RF92 1:12.781 36 - 99 Matthew Hamilton Van Diemen RF91 no time Source(s):

Race Pos No Driver Car Laps Time Grid 1 66 Fabian Coulthard Stealth Van Diemen RF94 36 59min 07.569sec 1 2 40 Bryan Sellers Van Diemen RF93 36 + 3.714 s 3 3 39 A. J. Allmendinger Van Diemen RF93 36 + 8.834 s 6 4 11 Ken Smith Stealth Van Diemen 36 + 11.252 s 2 5 5 Simon Richards Van Diemen RF01 36 + 16.634 s 5 6 10 Nelson Hartley Van Diemen RF94 36 + 17.328 s 4 7 14 Nick Ross Van Diemen RF91 36 + 19.462 s 8 8 21 Todd Stewart Stealth Van Diemen 36 + 21.338 s 11 9 12 Daniel Gaunt Stealth Van Diemen 36 + 22.119 s 12 10 22 Chris Pither Spectrum 08 36 + 22.231 s 7 11 6 Brady Kennett Van Diemen RF94 36 + 22.879 s 10 12 96 Karl Wilson Van Diemen RF94 36 + 22.903 s 15 13 47 David Payne Stealth Van Diemen 36 + 42.852 s 14 14 57 Scott McKelvie Van Diemen RF92 36 + 42.921 s 13 15 34 Steven Donaldson Van Diemen RF90 36 + 53.748 s 17 16 76 Carl Wall Swift FB87 36 + 53.934 s 16 17 15 Royce Bayer Swift SC92F 35 + 1 lap 22 18 53 Robert Toshach Swift FB89 35 + 1 lap 25 19 44 Noel Atley Crossle 55F 35 + 1 lap 33 20 25 Stan Redmond Van Diemen RF92 35 + 1 lap 19 21 18 Ian Bisman Van Diemen RF96 35 + 1 lap 21 22 99 Matthew Hamilton Van Diemen RF91 35 + 1 lap PL 23 85 Carmen Doran Van Diemen RF96 34 + 2 laps 28 24 77 Steve Edwards Swift FB88 34 + 2 laps 29 25 86 John Clegg Reynard 84FF 34 + 2 laps 27 26 36 Fred Hawthorne Van Diemen RF86 33 + 3 laps 35 27 30 Ian Clements Lola 644G 30 + 6 laps 26 Ret 72 Mashlino Buang Van Diemen RF92 30 Retired 23 Ret 88 Mathew Radisich Spectrum 010 26 Retired 30 Ret 7 Simon Gamble Van Diemen RF90 24 Accident 9 Ret 71 Robin Judkins Van Diemen RF89 19 Retired 34 Ret 4 Andrew Higgins Van Diemen RF94 17 Retired 18 Ret 43 Barry Leitch Van Diemen 12 Retired 31 Ret 33 Iskander Syed Van Diemen RF92 5 Retired 24 Ret 70 Jayant Singh Van Diemen RF92 3 Retired 20 Ret 83 Fariqe Hairuman Van Diemen RF92 2 Retired 36 DNS 9 Jonny Reid Van Diemen RF94 Did Not Start DNS 17 Gordon McIntyre Swift FB91 Did Not Start Source(s):

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