Shortly thereafter, Mark Larkham was erroneously declared the winner despite the notable handicap of having retired from the race before said red flag was shown.

[1] Mark Skaife would also clinch his fourth Australian Touring Car championship with a round to spare after title rival Russell Ingall experienced a difficult weekend.

In 1996, the Mobil New Zealand Sprints saw the V8 Supercars come across the ditch for the first time, although these events were not part of the 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship calendar.

Owing to internal disputes, Briggs Motorsport announced that John Bowe would be replaced for the final two rounds by his endurance co-driver and newly-crowned Konica V8 Supercar champion, Simon Wills.

Wills' inclusion on the grid meant that the inaugural New Zealand championship event would have seven Kiwi drivers competing.

Ingall's quest to reign in Skaife's championship lead hit a setback when he encountered gearbox problems, relegating him to tenth.

With Skaife securing second on the grid, the defending champion needed only to finish ahead of Ingall in the first race of the weekend to clinch the title.

Jason Bright misjudged his braking heading into the hairpin, sending Craig Lowndes into a spin and left him stranded sideways across the track.

Multiple cars careened into him, including Glenn Seton, who incurred extensive damage to the front and rear of his Falcon.

Up the front, Murphy set the pace early on while Skaife and Marcos Ambrose opted to complete their mandatory pitstops as soon as possible.

The sheer pace of the Kmart driver and the short nature of the circuit meant Ambrose was immediately put a lap down.

Those on slick tyres were barely able to keep their cars on the track and were forced to drive at a significantly slower pace compared to those on wets.

At the same time, Murphy had passed Larkham for the lead at the hairpin as the Karcher Falcon struggled to put its power to the road, before eventually crashing at the same point where Morris had gone off moments before.

Down the field, Ambrose and Skaife completed the podium, with the latter claiming his fourth Australian Touring Car title with five races to spare.

Having clinched the title, Skaife pledged to assist teammate Bright to secure second in the championship ahead of Ingall in the remaining races.

Jason Richards began to struggle early as the lack of pace in the Team Kiwi Racing car became evident.

Murphy began to put some distance between them both, but then Skaife closed right back up behind again with four laps remaining, suggesting perhaps he was recovering his tyres for another attack near the end.

It would prove to be futile however, as Murphy remained undeterred; winning the second race of the weekend and keeping his dominant streak at Pukekohe intact.

To the adulation of the crowd, Murphy crossed the line as the victor, completing the clean sweep and remaining undefeated at Pukekohe.

Longhurst's eighth place meant he would finish fifth for the round; a tremendous result for the underfunded Rod Nash Racing outfit.