The 2003 New Zealand Grand Prix was an open wheel racing car race held at Teretonga Park, near Invercargill on 19 January 2003. It was the 48th New Zealand Grand Prix and was open to Formula Ford cars.

The event was dominated by Jonny Reid who completed a clean sweep of pole position, fastest lap and race win. Chris Pither and Daniel Gaunt rounded out the podium.

Race report As with the previous years event, the Grand Prix was held over two 20-lap segments. This was a measure implemented as the Formula Ford fuel tank did not have the capacity to negotiate the full 40 laps. Thus once the 20th lap was completed, all cars were brought into the pitlane for refuelling before resuming once again under a safety car restart.

Reid dominated proceedings and led the entire race distance. However, the second half of the race was beset with incidents that saw the safety car redeployed over again. Veteran Ken Smith was livid with the driving standards during the race and let know his feelings to the offenders. Reid took the overall race win with Pither in second and Gaunt in third.

Classification Qualifying Pos No. Driver Car Q1 Q2 Grid 1 9 Jonny Reid Van Diemen RF94 1:02.977 1:03.279 1 2 22 Chris Pither Spectrum 001 1:03.453 1:03.608 2 3 28 Nelson Hartley Stealth RF94 Evo 2 1:03.566 1:03.880 3 4 47 Daniel Gaunt Van Diemen Stealth 1:03.661 1:03.925 4 5 2 Simon Richards Van Diemen RF02 1:03.059 1:03.992 5 6 66 Bryce Washington Stealth Ford 1:03.736 1:04.194 6 7 34 Michael Shepherd Van Diemen Stealth 1:03.737 1:04.293 7 8 11 Ken Smith Van Diemen Stealth 1:03.417 1:04.310 8 9 4 Andrew Higgins Van Diemen RF94 1:03.728 1:04.798 9 10 7 Simon Gamble Van Diemen RF90 1:03.241 1:05.148 10 11 39 Ryan Millen Van Diemen 1:03.843 11 12 40 Bruce Henley Van Diemen RF92 1:04.448 12 13 26 Tim Edgell Van Diemen RF03 1:04.586 13 14 55 Christina Orr Stealth Ford RF94 1:04.633 14 15 14 Richard Reid Van Diemen RF92 1:04.678 15 16 88 Mathew Radisich Spectrum 010 1:04.992 16 17 53 Robert Toshach Swift FB89 1:05.148 17 18 70 Jayant Singh Van Diemen RF92 1:05.151 18 19 44 Noel Atley Crossle 55F 1:05.514 19 20 32 Gary Love Van Diemen RF92 1:05.671 20 21 25 Stan Redmond Van Diemen RF92 1:05.785 21 22 99 Marc Doran Van Diemen RF94 1:05.938 22 23 77 Steve Edwards Swift FB88 1:06.112 23 24 42 Tony Graham Swift SC92F 1:06.469 24 25 27 Wayne Colville Van Diemen RF81 1:06.891 25 26 85 Carmen Doran Rae 86F 1:07.108 26 27 37 Stephen Heffernan Van Diemen RF87 1:08.151 27 28 45 Jason Greer Van Diemen RF86 1:08.505 28 29 75 Munro Tall Swift FB4 1:08.619 29 30 71 Robin Judkins Lola 644 E 1:08.688 30 31 17 Gordon McIntyre Swift FB91 1:09.556 31 Source(s):

Race Pos No. Driver Car Laps Time Grid 1 9 Jonny Reid Van Diemen RF94 40 01hr 00min 16.078sec 1 2 22 Chris Pither Spectrum 010 40 + 2.163 s 2 3 47 Daniel Gaunt Van Diemen Stealth 40 + 3.059 s 4 4 28 Nelson Hartley Stealth RF94 Evo 2 40 + 9.698 s 3 5 7 Simon Gamble Van Diemen RF90 40 + 12.884 s 10 6 2 Simon Richards Van Diemen RF02 40 + 13.918 s 5 7 34 Michael Shepherd Van Diemen RF94 40 + 14.777 s 7 8 55 Christina Orr Stealth Ford RF94 40 + 14.816 s 14 9 14 Richard Reid Van Diemen RF92 40 + 15.618 s 15 10 26 Tim Edgell Van Diemen RF03 40 + 21.954 s 13 11 39 Ryan Millen Van Diemen 40 + 23.297 s 11 12 53 Robert Toshasch Swift FB89 40 + 27.555 s 17 13 88 Mathew Radisich Spectrum 010 40 + 27.646 s 16 14 4 Andrew Higgins Van Diemen RF94 40 + 29.364 s 9 15 32 Gary Love Van Diemen RF92 40 + 31.664 s 20 16 66 Bryce Washington Stealth Ford 39 + 1 lap 6 17 44 Noel Atley Crossle 55F 39 + 1 lap 19 18 99 Marc Doran Van Diemen RF94 39 + 1 lap 22 19 77 Steve Edwards Swift FB88 39 + 1 lap 23 20 27 Wayne Colville Van Diemen RF92 39 + 1 lap 25 21 17 Gordon McIntyre Swift FB91 38 + 2 laps 31 22 85 Carmen Doran Rae 86F 38 + 2 laps 26 23 71 Robin Judkins Lola 644 E 38 + 2 laps 30 24 45 Jason Greer Van Diemen RF86 37 + 3 laps 28 Ret 11 Ken Smith Van Diemen Stealth 35 Retired 8 Ret 40 Bruce Henley Van Diemen RF92 35 Retired 12 Ret 37 Stephen Heffernan Van Diemen RF87 33 Retired 27 Ret 25 Stan Redmond Van Diemen RF92 32 Retired 21 Ret 75 Munro Tall Swift FB4 15 Retired 29 DNS 42 Tony Graham Swift SC92F Did Not Start DNS 49 Grant Campbell Swift SC92F Did Not Start DNS 70 Jayant Singh Van Diemen RF92 Did Not Start Source(s):

References

External links New Zealand Formula Ford