2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Game summaries, Georgia
In one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, Georgia completely dominated Auburn and took a convincing 37–15 win over the #5 ranked Tigers. Georgia entered the game with a 6–4 record and was coming off an upset loss to Kentucky, while the Tigers entered the game with a 9–1 record and hopes for a BCS bowl bid and an outside shot at playing for the national championship.


2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Game summaries, Georgia
Bulldogs freshman quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 219 yards, ran for 83 yards and scored 2 touchdowns against what had been the Nation's #13 ranked defense. Georgia tailback Kregg Lumpkin also rushed for 105 yards and scored two touchdowns. Georgia defensive back Tra Battle intercepted three passes by Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox in the first half, and returned one 30 yards for a touchdown to put Georgia ahead 24–0 with 4:56 remaining in the second quarter. The rainy weather matched the mood of the Auburn crowd, which looked on with gloom as the offense struggled to weather the storm.


2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Game summaries, Georgia
Auburn was limited to 171 yards total offense, including only 35 yards of passing offense, and managed only nine first downs as they were all but eliminated from contention in the SEC Western Division race.


2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Game summaries, Alabama
This in-state rivalry known as the Iron Bowl is considered one of the most bitter and intense in all of sports. The Tigers traveled to Tuscaloosa for only the sixth time, but kept their winning streak alive having never lost there. Auburn has currently won the last five meetings against Alabama and 13 of the last 21 games against the Crimson Tide, but Alabama still leads the series 38–32–1.


2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Game summaries, Alabama
Alabama scored first, on a first quarter field goal by Jamie Christensen. However, the Tide had marched inside the Auburn five-yard line, but was unable to get into the end zone. Two fumble recoveries deep in Alabama territory in the second quarter forced by Auburn's Quentin Groves enabled the Tigers to score touchdowns on short drives. Auburn running back Brad Lester ran for twelve yards to score first, with 11:12 to go in the quarter. Then, with 9:39 to go in the period, Kenny Irons rushed for eight yards to put the Tigers up 14–3. Alabama pulled to within five points late in the first half on a 52-yard touchdown pass from John Parker Wilson to Nikita Stover, making the score 14–9 at halftime.


2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Game summaries, Alabama
In the third quarter, Alabama went ahead on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Travis McCall, making the score 15–14. Alabama's second consecutive two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful. Auburn scored the decisive touchdown with 1:28 remaining in the third quarter, when sophomore receiver Prechae Rodriquez caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Tigers quarterback Brandon Cox to retake the lead at 20–15. A halfback option pass from Auburn's Carl Stewart to Lee Guess for a successful two-point conversion provided the final margin.


2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Game summaries, Nebraska (Cotton Bowl Classic)
Auburn's strong regular season led them to be invited to play Nebraska in the 71st annual Cotton Bowl Classic. While the Tigers managed just 178 yards total offense against Nebraska and their two touchdown drives totalled just 23 yards, the Tigers defeated the Cornhuskers 17–14. Quarterback Brandon Cox completed 10 of his 21 pass attempts for 111 yards, and senior running back Kenny Irons rushed for 72 yards on 24 carries in his final college game as the Tigers finished the season with a record of 11–2. Senior wide receiver Courtney Taylor capped off his college career by catching six passes for 70 yards, and during the game set the all-time Auburn career record for pass receptions. Nebraska finished the season with a record of 9–5.


2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Game summaries, Nebraska (Cotton Bowl Classic)
Fullback Carl Stewart scored both of the Tigers' touchdowns. The first score came in the first quarter on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Cox, and was set up by a 53-yard interception return by linebacker Karibi Dede. Stewart's second touchdown came on a one-yard rush in the second quarter. The Tigers' drive began at the Cornhuskers' 14-yard line after an unsuccessful fake punt. Senior placekicker John Vaughn's 42-yard field goal in the third quarter provided the winning points for the Tigers.


2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Game summaries, Nebraska (Cotton Bowl Classic)
The Tigers played the Cotton Bowl Classic without three players whose suspensions were announced by head coach Tommy Tuberville in December: linebackers Kevin Sears and Tray Blackmon, and running back Brad Lester.


2006 Auburn Tigers football team, Postseason awards, NFF National Honor Society
Three members of Auburn's 2006 senior class were among the inaugural inductees into the National Football Foundation National Honor Society, a recognition program for players who excel both on the field and in the classroom.


2006 Auckland Blackout
The 2006 Auckland Blackout was a major electrical blackout in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, on 12 June 2006. It started at 8:30 am local time, with most areas of Auckland regaining power by 2:45 pm local time. It affected some 230,000 customers and at least 700,000 people in and around the city.


2006 Auckland Blackout, Immediate effect
Power went off at around 8:30 am local time on 12 June 2006 over half of Auckland in New Zealand. Most of Southern and Central Auckland, including the central city were without power.


2006 Auckland Blackout, Cause
The cause of the blackout was traced back to the Otahuhu sub-station, the city's main transmission switching station. A corroded shackle connecting the Otahuhu to Penrose 220 kV line's earth wire had dislodged in 90 km/h (56 mph) winds, letting the earth wire fall across the 220 kV line and the 110 kV busbar below it, tripping both the line and three sections of the busbar, disconnecting lines to Mount Roskill, Penrose and Pakuranga. The trip also disconnected Otahuhu B and Southdown power stations from the national grid. The trip left only one line, the now-dismantled Arapuni to Pakuranga 110 kV line, supplying Pakuranga, Penrose, and the central city. Eight seconds after the failure, this line tripped from overloading, leaving Penrose, Pakuranga, and central city substations without power, as well as parts of Otahuhu and Mount Roskill substations.


2006 Auckland Blackout, Cause
Investigation of this incident found that maintenance of the electricity transmission system was not adequate and that this substation had major and minor design deficiencies.


2006 Auckland Blackout, Effects
Due to the power outage, many public services and business operations were disrupted:


2006 Auckland Blackout, Effects
Since the central city was without power from the morning rush hours, business operations and traffic were disrupted severely. Many businesses sent their staff home.


2006 Auckland Blackout, Restoration of service
Power was restored to Auckland central at 12:40 local time, 12 June 2006. It was estimated that all affected areas would have their power restored by 16:30 local time. At approximately 14:45, power was restored to most of Auckland, except Penrose, Glen Innes, East Tamaki, and Otahuhu.


2006 Auckland Blackout, Improving security of supply
The incident at Otahuhu in June 2006 had a major influence on subsequent decisions about the development of the grid.


2006 Auckland Blackout, Improving security of supply
On 11 December 2006, the Electricity Commission (NZ) received an application from Transpower for the establishment of a new 220 kV gas insulated switchgear (GIS) facility at Otahuhu, adjacent to but geographically separate from the existing outdoor 220 kV switchyard. This project was described as the Otahuhu substation diversity project, and included transferring approximately half of the circuits from the existing switchyard to the new GIS switchyard, to improve network resilience. The project was approved in August 2007.


2006 Auckland Blackout, Improving security of supply
Further steps have been taken to increase security of supply to Auckland, by reducing the dependence on Otahuhu. These include the diversity provided as part of the North Island Grid Upgrade Project by connecting the new Whakamaru to Brownhill Road transmission line to Pakuranga substation, rather than directly to Otahuhu. A second major project, the North Auckland and Northland grid upgrade project provides underground 220 kV cables from Pakuranga to Penrose, and from Penrose to Albany on the North Shore, via Hobson Street in the Auckland CBD. A 220 kV- capable overhead transmission line between Pakuranga and Otahuhu has also been upgraded from 110 kV to 220 kV.


2006 Auckland Open (darts)
2006 Auckland Open was a darts tournament that took place in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2006.


2006 Austin Wranglers season
The 2006 Austin Wranglers season was the 3rd season for the franchise. Looking to rebound from a 6–10 season in 2005, the Wranglers started the season with a 4–0 start. Finishing the season with a 10–6, reversal of last season, record the Wranglers were sent home in the first round by the Philadelphia Soul.


2006 Austin mayoral election
The 2006 Austin mayoral election was held on May 13, 2006 to elect the mayor of Austin, Texas. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Will Wynn.


2006 Australia Day Honours
The Australia Day Honours 2006 are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2006 by the Governor General of Australia, Michael Jeffrey.


2006 Australia Day Honours
The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, the first announced to coincide with Australia Day (26 January), with the other being the Queen's Birthday Honours, which are announced on the second Monday in June.


2006 Australia national soccer team season
This page summarises the Australia national soccer team fixtures and results in 2006.


2006 Australia national soccer team season, Summary
2006 was a historic year for the Men's National Team for a number of reasons. Football Federation Australia had been accepted into the Asian Football Confederation effective from 1 January and played their first fixture as an Asian member on 22 February when they travelled to Manama and defeated Bahrain 3-1 in an 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification match.


2006 Australia national soccer team season, Summary
However the major event of the year was the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Australia had qualified for the first time since 1974. Prior to the tournament Australia defeated Greece in a 'farewell' game in front of 95,000 spectators in Melbourne. This was followed by two warm-up games drawing 1-1 with Netherlands and defeating Liechtenstein 3-1.


2006 Australia national soccer team season, Summary
On 12 June, Australia defeated Japan 3–1 in their opening game in Kaiserslautern, with Tim Cahill scoring two goals and John Aloisi scoring one in the last eight minutes to claim their first World Cup finals victory. Their goals were the first ever scored by Australia in the World Cup Finals.


2006 Australia national soccer team season, Summary
Australia met Brazil in their second Group F game in Munich on 18 June. The Australians held Brazil to a 0–0 half time scoreline before Adriano put Brazil in front and substitute Fred scored to give Brazil a 2–0 win.


2006 Australia national soccer team season, Summary
On 22 June, Australia faced Croatia in Stuttgart. The final score was 2–2. A goal from Darijo Srna in the second minute put Australia on the back foot. Australia equalised with a penalty goal from Craig Moore in the 38th minute after Croatian defender Stjepan Tomas handballed near the Croatian goal. Niko Kovac gave Croatia a 2–1 lead after halftime before Australia equalised again through Harry Kewell in the 79th minute. Towards the end of the match, referee Graham Poll blew the final whistle at the moment that John Aloisi scored what would have been a winning goal. As Brazil beat Japan 4–1, Australia proceeded to the next round to face Italy.


2006 Australia national soccer team season, Summary
On 26 June, Australia met Italy in Kaiserslautern. Italy went down to 10 men due to the red card (51') given to Marco Materazzi for a two-footed tackle on Mark Bresciano. Almost three minutes into stoppage time, with the score still at 0–0 a penalty was awarded to Italy when Fabio Grosso fell under a Lucas Neill challenge in the final seconds of the match. Francesco Totti scored from the spot and the game ended immediately with Australia eliminated. The success achieved at the 2006 World Cup later saw the team named AFC National Team of the Year.


2006 Australia national soccer team season, Summary
Australia ended the year with their remaining Asian Cup qualifications matches against Bahrain and Kuwait and qualified for the tournament by topping the group.


2006 Australia national soccer team season, Match results, World Cup
Note 1: Šimunić was given three yellow cards in the match: the referee (Graham Poll) failed to send him off the pitch after the second yellow, and was only red carded after the third yellow.


2006 Australia rugby union tour of Europe
The 2006 Australian national rugby union team tour to Europe, known in Australia as the 2006 Wallabies Spring Tour, is part of a 2006 end-of-year rugby test series and takes place in November 2006. The tour consist of test matches against Wales, Italy, Ireland and Scotland as well as midweek games against Ireland A, Scotland A and Welsh team, the Ospreys.


2006 Australia rugby union tour of Europe
The tour is the first time this decade that Captain George Gregan will miss out on a Wallabies tour opting to miss in preparation ahead of the 2007 Rugby World Cup with this Stirling Mortlock was named captain but missed out on the opening match due to injury. Phil Waugh was subsequently named as captain.


2006 Australia rugby union tour of Europe
On 11 October Wallabies halfback Sam Cordingley announced that he would pull out of the tour to rest a nagging foot injury leaving Australia without its top two halfbacks. Another injury concern for the Wallabies is the injury to Prop Greg Holmes who announced that he was unable to tour due to a neck injury he sustained during training and with this announcement Brumbies prop Nic Henderson was called into the squad.


2006 Australia rugby union tour of Europe, Matches
Wales: 15.Kevin Morgan, 14.Gareth Thomas, 13.Tom Shanklin, 12.Gavin Henson, 11.Shane Williams, 10.Stephen Jones, 9.Dwayne Peel, 8.Ryan Jones, 7.Martyn Williams, 6.Jonathan Thomas, 5.Ian Evans, 4.Ian Gough, 3.Adam R. Jones, 2.Matthew Rees, 1.Gethin Jenkins,  – replacements: 17.Duncan Jones, 21.James Hook        –  No entry : 16.T. Rhys Thomas, 18.Alun-Wyn Jones, 19.Gavin Thomas, 20.Mike Phillips, 22.Mark JonesAustralia:


2006 Australia rugby union tour of Europe, Matches
15.Chris Latham, 14.Clyde Rathbone, 13.Lote Tuqiri, 12.Stephen Larkham, 11.Cameron Shepherd, 10.Mat Rogers, 9.Matt Giteau, 8.Wycliff Palu, 7.Phil Waugh (capt. ), 6.Rocky Elsom, 5.Dan Vickerman, 4.Nathan Sharpe, 3.Rodney Blake, 2.Tai McIsaac, 1.Al Baxter,  – replacements: 16.Brendan Cannon, 18.Mark Chisholm, 19.Stephen Hoiles, 20.Josh Valentine  –  No entry: 17.Benn Robinson, 21.Mark Gerrard, 22.Adam Ashley-Cooper


2006 Australia rugby union tour of Europe, Matches
Italy: 15.Gert Peens, 14.Marko Stanojevic, 13.Gonzalo Canale, 12.Mirco Bergamasco, 11.Pablo Canavosio, 10.Ramiro Pez, 9.Paul Griffen, 8.Sergio Parisse, 7.Mauro Bergamasco, 6.Alessandro Zanni, 5.Marco Bortolami (capt. ), 4.Santiago Dellape, 3.Martin Castrogiovanni, 2.Carlo Festuccia, 1.Andrea Lo Cicero,  – replacements: 17.Carlos Nieto, 19.Josh Sole        –  No entry : 16.Leonardo Ghiraldini, 18.Carlo Antonio del Fava, 20.Simon Picone, 21.Andrea Scanavacca, 22.Walter PozzebonAustralia: 15.Chris Latham, 14.Clyde Rathbone, 13.Stirling Mortlock (capt. ), 12.Stephen Larkham, 11.Lote Tuqiri, 10.Mat Rogers, 9.Matt Giteau, 8.Wycliff Palu, 7.George Smith, 6.Rocky Elsom, 5.Mark Chisholm, 4.Nathan Sharpe, 3.Guy Shepherdson, 2.Brendan Cannon, 1.Al Baxter,  – replacements: 16.Stephen Moore, 17.Nic Henderson, 18.Alister Campbell       –  No entry: 19.Stephen Hoiles, 20.Josh Valentine, 21.Mark Gerrard, 22.Cameron Shepherd


2006 Australia rugby union tour of Europe, Matches
Ireland: 15.Geordan Murphy, 14.Shane Horgan, 13.Brian O'Driscoll (capt. ), 12.Gordon D'Arcy, 11.Denis Hickie, 10.Ronan O'Gara, 9.Isaac Boss, 8.Denis Leamy, 7.David Wallace, 6.Neil Best, 5.Paul O'Connell, 4.Donncha O'Callaghan, 3.John Hayes, 2.Rory Best, 1.Bryan Young,  – replacements: 16.Frankie Sheahan, 17.Marcus Horan, 18.Malcolm O'Kelly, 19.Simon Easterby, 20.Peter Stringer, 21.Paddy Wallace, 22.Girvan Dempsey Australia: 15.Chris Latham, 14.Clyde Rathbone, 13.Lote Tuqiri, 12.Stirling Mortlock (capt. ), 11.Mark Gerrard, 10.Stephen Larkham, 9.Matt Giteau, 8.Wycliff Palu, 7.Phil Waugh, 6.Rocky Elsom, 5.Mark Chisholm, 4.Nathan Sharpe, 3.Guy Shepherdson, 2.Tai McIsaac, 1.Al Baxter,  – replacements: 16.Stephen Moore, 17.Benn Robinson, 18.Alister Campbell, 19.George Smith, 20.Josh Valentine, 21.Mat Rogers, 22.Scott Staniforth


2006 Australia rugby union tour of Europe, Matches
Scotland: 15.Chris Paterson (capt. ), 14.Sean Lamont, 13.Marcus di Rollo, 12.Andrew Henderson, 11.Simon Webster, 10.Dan Parks, 9.Mike Blair, 8.David Callam, 7.Kelly Brown, 6.Simon Taylor, 5.Scott Murray, 4.Alastair Kellock, 3.Euan Murray, 2.Dougie Hall, 1.Gavin Kerr,  – replacements: 16.Ross Ford, 17.Allan Jacobsen, 18.Jim Hamilton, 19.Alasdair Strokosch, 20.Rory Lawson, 21.Phil Godman, 22.Hugo Southwell Australia: 15.Chris Latham, 14.Mark Gerrard, 13.Stirling Mortlock (capt. ), 12.Scott Staniforth, 11.Lote Tuqiri, 10.Stephen Larkham, 9.Matt Giteau, 8.David Lyons, 7.George Smith, 6.Rocky Elsom, 5.Alister Campbell, 4.Nathan Sharpe, 3.Guy Shepherdson, 2.Stephen Moore, 1.Benn Robinson,  – replacements: 16.Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17.Al Baxter, 18.Mark Chisholm, 19.Phil Waugh, 20.Wycliff Palu, 21.Josh Valentine, 22.Mat Rogers


2006 Australian Carrera Cup Championship
The 2006 Australian Carrera Cup Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Cars. It was the fourth Australian Carrera Cup Championship.


2006 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, Calendar
The championship was contested over an eight round series with three races per round.


2006 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, Calendar
The series was administered by CupCar Australia and promoted as the “Wright, Patton, Shakespeare Carrera Cup Australia”.


2006 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, Points system
Championship points were awarded in each race on the following basis:


2006 Australian Drivers' Championship
The 2006 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title open to Formula 3 cars. The title was contested over an eight-round, 16 race series, with the winner being awarded the 2006 CAMS Gold Star. The series was organised and administered by Formula 3 Australia Inc. and was officially known as the "2006 Khumo Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the Australian Drivers' Championship". It is recognised by CAMS as the 50th Australian Drivers' Championship and as the 6th Australian Formula 3 Championship.


2006 Australian Drivers' Championship
British driver Ben Clucas dominated the series driving a Team BRM Dallara F304-Spiess Opel. Clucas won eleven of the twelve races he contested, finishing 52 points ahead of Tim Macrow (Dallara F301-Spiess Opel). Michael Trimble finished third in the points standings, driving a Dallara F304-Renault. Macrow was the only driver to defeat Clucas for a race win before the British driver left the series after Round 6 with an unassailable lead in the points. Macrow also won three of the other four races with Trimble winning the first of the two races held at Queensland Raceway.


2006 Australian Drivers' Championship, Calendar
The championship was contested over an eight-round series with two races per round.


2006 Australian Drivers' Championship, Class structure
The relevant FIA Formula 3 regulations were subject to specific amendments for Australian competition, as outlined in the championship regulations.


2006 Australian Drivers' Championship, Points system
Points were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the first ten positions in each class in each race. One point was awarded to the driver setting the fastest qualifying time in each class for each race and one point was awarded to the driver setting the fastest race lap in each class in each race, but only if that driver was classified as a finisher in the race.


2006 Australian Film Institute Awards
The 48th Annual Australian Film Institute Awards ceremony, honouring the best in film and television acting achievements for the year 2006 in the cinema of Australia, took place on 6–7 December 2006. During the ceremony, the Australian Film Institute presented Australian Film Institute Awards (commonly referred to as AFI Awards) in 40 categories including feature films, television, animation, and documentaries. It was hosted by Geoffrey Rush.


2006 Australian Film Institute Awards, Winners of major awards
This is a breakdown of winners of major awards categories only. For a complete list of nominees and winners, see


2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship
The 2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Formula Ford racing cars. It was the 37th national series for Formula Fords to be held in Australia and the 14th to carry the Australian Formula Ford Championship name. The 1600cc Ford “Duratec” engine as used in the Ford Fiesta was introduced for the 2006 championship, replacing the Ford “Kent” engine that had been mandatory for Formula Ford in Australia for over 30 years.


2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship, Calendar
The title was contested over an eight-round series with three races per round.


2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship, Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 basis to the top ten classified finishers in each race. An additional point was awarded to the driver gaining pole position for each round.


2006 Australian GT Championship
The 2006 Australian GT Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of closed, production based sports cars. It was open to vehicles approved by the FIA for International GT3 competition and to similar models as approved by CAMS. The title, which was the tenth Australian GT Championship, was won by Greg Crick driving a Dodge Viper GTS ACR.


2006 Australian GT Championship, Points system
Three championship points were awarded to the fastest qualifier for each round. For rounds composed of three races, points were awarded on a 38-32-28-25-23-21-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 to the first 25 finishers in each race. All other rounds attracted the same total number of points regardless of the number of races.


2006 Australian GT Championship, Championship results
Note: Total points scored and championship positions attained have been adjusted to override points summation errors in the published results retrieved from  www.gtchampionship.com.au


2006 Australian Grand Prix
The 2006 Australian Grand Prix (officially the 2006 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park, Melbourne on 2 April 2006. The 57-lap race was the 22nd Australian Grand Prix as part of the World Championship, and the 71st Australian Grand Prix overall.


2006 Australian Grand Prix
It was also the third round of the 2006 Formula One season; the Australian Grand Prix had been the season opener since 1996, but this race was held later due to the 2006 Commonwealth Games being held in Melbourne at the time of the opening round. The season was instead opened in Bahrain, and Australia regained its first round of the season slot for 2007.


2006 Australian Grand Prix
The race was won by Renault's Fernando Alonso (Renault's third win from three races), with the McLaren of Kimi Räikkönen second. Ralf Schumacher finished in third place to take the last podium of his career with the Toyota team. Polesitter Jenson Button retired from the race when his engine blew on the final lap. He eventually stopped roughly ten metres from the finish line, losing a points scoring position (fifth place) in the process.


2006 Australian Grand Prix
Murray Walker made a return to the commentary box for a one-off with Australia's Network Ten.


2006 Australian Grand Prix
When Mark Webber took the lead on lap 21 in his Williams-Cosworth he became the first Australian driver to lead his home Grand Prix since John Bowe led the early laps of the non-championship 1984 race driving a Ralt RT4 Ford.


2006 Australian Grand Prix
This was the last race until the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix that neither Ferrari was classified.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying, Friday drivers
The bottom 6 teams in the 2005 Constructors' Championship and Super Aguri were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
The race began with an unusual spin of Juan Pablo Montoya as he completed the formation lap. He lined up at the back of the grid, however Fisichella then stalled his engine on the grid, forcing the start to be red-flagged. Fisichella had to start from the pitlane, while Montoya reclaimed his grid position.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
As in 2002, the race had a first-lap accident. Felipe Massa was the victim in an incident involving himself, Nico Rosberg and Christian Klien. The Williams and Red Bull effectively sandwiched Massa's Ferrari as the Brazilian attempted to squeeze through a gap too small, pitching him into the wall hard and out of the race. Rosberg returned to the pits without the rear wing. Klien continued the race unharmed.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
These incidents called the Safety Car on the very first lap. Fisichella spun but continued, again in the Jones corner. Alonso passed Button when the SC was recalled two laps later, in the start/finish straight.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
On the third lap, Christian Klien had some problem with his suspension and crashed the barriers near Clark Chicane, and destroyed his car. Klien went out walking, happily. This crash had left many pieces of debris on the track and the Safety Car went out again to help the stewards clean the zone. When the race continued, Räikkönen attacked Button and gained his place. Montoya tried that as well, though unsuccessful for many laps.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Vitantonio Liuzzi made an exciting pass on Michael Schumacher, by the Sports Centre turn.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
The race continued uneventful for another 10 laps when pit stops began with Montoya, Button and Trulli. Fernando and Räikkönen stopped, giving Mark Webber the lead of his home Grand Prix. A gearbox failure then eliminated him.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Another uneventful stint was run until lap 32 when Montoya touched the grass in the Prost turn, but managed to return to the track. Michael Schumacher also had the same grass cross, although the German champion could not make it back and struck the barriers. He himself said that his car was not easy to drive, and that the tires were not warm enough. This incident called the Safety Car for the third time. Many drivers used this SC situation to go to pits. Räikkönen entered just before Montoya, making a queue. Thankfully for the Woking Team there was not much delay.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
On lap 35 the Safety Car was off and the race restarted. Alonso had a strategy to give an enormous gap with the SC and slow down the cars behind, and then blasted off and leave Räikkönen and Heidfeld with the trouble of Albers, creating a 3-second gap between the two leading cars.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
The 36th lap called the Safety Car once again. Vitantonio Liuzzi had jumped to the grass, crossed the road, bumped the left barrier, crossed the road again and struck the right barrier near Whiteford, leaving his car completely destroyed. The race restarted on lap 40, and Fernando did exactly the same thing and got a little advantage from Räikkönen. After the incident Liuzzi blamed Villeneuve, saying that the Canadian had screwed up one of his best races.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Lap 39 brought another incident to the race. Tiago Monteiro abandoned due to a mechanical problem. Lap 46 took Montoya out of the race as he crossed the kerbs in the curve where Schumacher had had his accident. This caused the car to jump momentarily, causing an electrical problem which forced a total shutdown of the car, thus making him retire.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
The Australian Grand Prix was not free of incidents in the last laps. On the very final lap, in the final 2 corners, Jenson Button blew his engine, causing Fisichella right behind him to be covered in oil and struggling to control the car. Button ended up stalling the car about 10 metres from the finish line. He did so deliberately, giving up a points-scoring position, to avoid a 10 place position penalty in the next race.


2006 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Alonso wrapped up his tenth career victory, while Räikkönen grabbed the second place on the podium and Ralf Schumacher scored what proved to be the sole podium for Toyota in the season, and ultimately, his final podium in Formula One. This was despite a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. After the race, the stewards were busy, handing out a reprimand to Takuma Sato for failing to pay attention to blue flags, and a 25-second penalty to Scott Speed for a similar offence, albeit with yellow flags. The American driver was also fined $5000 for using abusive language during a post-race hearing.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill
A leadership spill of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) was held on 4 December 2006. Opposition Leader Kim Beazley was challenged by Shadow Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, while Deputy Opposition Leader Jenny Macklin was challenged by Shadow Health Minister Julia Gillard in a joint-ticket. Rudd defeated Beazley, after which Macklin resigned, leaving Gillard to become Deputy Leader unopposed.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Background
Kim Beazley was elected unopposed to become Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition for a second time on 28 January 2005, replacing Mark Latham who resigned after Labor's 2004 election defeat.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Background
Shortly after his election, Beazley's opinion poll ratings fell to a level between 30 and 35% and never recovered. By November 2006, media sources were claimed that consistently bad polls demonstrated that Beazley did not have the "ability to cut through", and The Australian's editorial complained on 22 November that "after 10 years and 10 months of Kim Beazley, it is still virtually impossible to say what he stands for". In addition, a series of embarrassing media gaffes, including referring to TV presenter Rove McManus as Karl Rove when extending condolences to McManus over his wife's death, raised questions about his ability and capacity to lead.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Background
Despite Beazley's personal unpopularity, the Labor Party was performing very well in the polls, consistently recording 50% and sometimes higher in two-party preferred polls. This was mostly attributed to interest rate rises, the AWB scandal, WorkChoices and many other policies and decisions of the Howard Government. Despite this, primary vote polls consistently had Labor below 40%, and it was widely opined that Labor would not be able to win the next election with Beazley as Leader.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Background
Throughout 2006 the Right of the Labor Party, especially in New South Wales and Victoria, had quietly canvassed replacing Beazley and his deputy Jenny Macklin with Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, respectively. Rudd was loosely aligned with the Right, while Gillard was a moderate left-winger. Labor sources later indicated that Rudd and Gillard had not themselves actively undermined Beazley, but had been effectively drafted. Rudd's public profile in particular had increased considerably during 2006, mostly through his effective attacks on Foreign Minister Alexander Downer over the AWB scandal.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Background
In addition, he had appeared on the Sunrise program on a weekly basis for seven years alongside Liberal MP Joe Hockey, and in October 2006 had written an essay, "Faith in Politics", in national magazine The Monthly that sought to prove that conservative parties did not have a monopoly on the religious vote. According to media reports, the Right of the Labor Party promised to throw its support behind Rudd for the leadership provided he challenge Beazley before Christmas.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Background
A Newspoll conducted in late November concluded that both Rudd and Gillard were significantly more popular than Beazley, and that Labor would be able to win the next election if it was led by either of them. An AC Nielsen poll conducted on 30 November came to exactly the same conclusion.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Background
On 30 November 2006, Rudd met with Beazley and told him that he intended to challenge him for the leadership. On 1 December, Beazley announced a leadership spill, after which Gillard announced she would challenge Macklin alongside Rudd as part of a joint-ticket. Both sides claimed that they were in a winning position, with Rudd claiming his team had a "bucketload of energy", while Beazley claimed that he had more experience.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Results
The election was held on Monday 4 December; Kevin Rudd was declared the winner by 49 votes to 39. Immediately after Rudd had been elected Leader, Jenny Macklin withdrew from the election and resigned as Deputy Leader, allowing Gillard to be elected unopposed.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Aftermath
Following the result, Beazley said of his political future, "For me to do anything further in the Australian Labor Party I would say is Lazarus with a quadruple bypass. So the time has come for me to move on, but when that gets properly formalised I will let you know." It was also revealed that his brother David had died of a severe heart attack at age 53, shortly before the vote took place.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Aftermath
Under the leadership of Rudd and Gillard, Labor went on to win the 2007 federal election by a landslide, ending eleven and a half years of the Howard Government. The pair were duly sworn in as Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively on 3 December 2007. However Rudd would be deposed by Gillard in 2010 sparking a leadership crisis one which may have been in retrospect been prevented if Rudd hadn't rolled Beazley in 2006.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Aftermath
After her own demise as Prime Minister, Gillard has expressed her regret in teaming up with Rudd to bring down Beazley as leader.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Aftermath
On her reflection on this spill in her 2014 memoir, Gillard said:"Was I wrong in my judgement of Kim Beazley in 2006? I fear I may have been, that what I inferred as his lack of interest in the work of opposition was really a more nuanced understanding of electoral politics than I then possessed … Kim may rightly have judged that we were so likely to win that a quieter biding of time in the lead-up to election day was a better approach than strenuous political exertion."


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Aftermath
Peter Garrett, an ALP caucus member who voted for Rudd would also regret this vote saying it was "certainly the biggest" mistake he made in his political career.


2006 Australian Labor Party leadership spill, Aftermath
In October 2016, almost a decade after Beazley's ousting as leader, journalist Chris Mitchell stated that Beazley was the best Prime Minister Australia never had.


2006 Australian Lacrosse League season
Results and statistics for the Australian Lacrosse League season of 2006.


2006 Australian Open
The 2006 Australian Open was played between 16 and 29 January 2006.


2006 Australian Open
Marat Safin could not defend his 2005 title, due to an injury he suffered in late 2005. Roger Federer won his second Australian Open title, defeating Marcos Baghdatis in the final in four sets. Serena Williams was unsuccessful in defending her 2005 title, losing in the third round against Daniela Hantuchová. Amélie Mauresmo won her first Australian Open title, defeating 2004 champion Justine Henin in the final; Henin-Hardenne was forced to retire at 1–6, 0–2 down due to a stomach virus. It began Henin-Hardenne's run of reaching the final of all four Grand Slam events, winning the French Open.


2006 Australian Open, Leadup
Several leading men's players declined to attend the Open due to injury, including Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and defending champion Marat Safin. The women's tournament had no absentees among the top 20 ranked players.


2006 Australian Open, Leadup
It was Martina Hingis' first grand slam event in her comeback to the game. Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams were among those who welcomed her return to the circuit as a positive step forward for women's tennis.


2006 Australian Open, Finals, Seniors, Men's Doubles
Bob Bryan /  Mike Bryan defeated  Martin Damm /  Leander Paes, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4


2006 Australian Open, Finals, Seniors, Women's Doubles
Yan Zi /  Zheng Jie defeated  Samantha Stosur /  Lisa Raymond, 2–6, 7–6(7), 6–3


2006 Australian Open, Finals, Seniors, Mixed Doubles
Martina Hingis /  Mahesh Bhupathi defeated  Elena Likhovtseva /  Daniel Nestor, 6–3, 6–3


2006 Australian Open, Finals, Juniors, Boys' Doubles
Błażej Koniusz /  Grzegorz Panfil defeated  Kellen Damico /  Nathaniel Schnugg, 7–6(5), 6–3


2006 Australian Open, Finals, Juniors, Girls' Doubles
Sharon Fichman /  Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated  Alizé Cornet /  Corinna Dentoni, 6–2, 6–2


2006 Australian Open, Wheelchair, Men's Doubles
Robin Ammerlaan /  Martin Legner defeated  Michael Jeremiasz /  Satoshi Saida, 3–6, 6–3 7–6(5)


2006 Australian Open, Wheelchair, Women's Doubles
Jiske Griffioen /  Esther Vergeer defeated  Yuka Chokyu /  Mie Yaosa, 6–2, 6–0


2006 Australian Open – Boys' Doubles
Błażej Koniusz and Grzegorz Panfil won the title by defeating Kellen Damico and Nathaniel Schnugg 7–6(7–5), 6–3 in the final.


2006 Australian Open – Boys' Singles
Alexandre Sidorenko defeated Nick Lindahl 6–3, 7–6(7–4) in the final.


2006 Australian Open – Girls' Doubles
Sharon Fichman and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won the title by defeating Alizé Cornet and Corinna Dentoni 6–2, 6–2 in the final.


2006 Australian Open – Girls' Singles
Victoria Azarenka was the defending champion, but she was already participating in the women's tournament.


2006 Australian Open – Girls' Singles
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Caroline Wozniacki (1–6, 6–2, 6–3) in the final.


2006 Australian Open – Men's Doubles
First-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan defeated seventh-seeded Martin Damm and Leander Paes 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 to win the Men's Doubles title at the 2006 Australian Open.


2006 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer defeated Marcos Baghdatis, 5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–2, in the final to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 2006 Australian Open. It was his second Australian Open title and his seventh major title overall. Baghdatis became the first unseeded Australian Open finalist since Thomas Enqvist in 1999, as well as the first Cypriot player to reach a major final.


2006 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Marat Safin was the defending champion but withdrew due to an injury.


2006 Australian Open – Men's Singles Qualifying
This article displays the qualifying draw for the Men's singles at the 2006 Australian Open.


2006 Australian Open – Mixed Doubles
Martina Hingis and Mahesh Bhupathi defeated Elena Likhovtseva and Daniel Nestor in the final 6–3, 6–3 to win the Mixed Doubles title at the 2006 Australian Open. With this win, Bhupathi completed the Career Grand Slam in Mixed Doubles, becoming the 14th player to do so. This was Hingis' first Grand Slam Mixed Doubles title; she would also later complete the Career Grand Slam in this discipline.


2006 Australian Open – Mixed Doubles
Samantha Stosur and Scott Draper were the defending champions, but Draper retired from the sport in 2005. Stosur participated with Paul Hanley, but lost in the semifinals to Hingis and Bhupathi.


2006 Australian Open – Women's Doubles
Twelfth-seeded Yan Zi and Zheng Jie defeated first-seeded Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur, 2–6, 7–6 (7), 6–3 to win the Women's Doubles title at the 2006 Australian Open.


2006 Australian Open – Women's Singles
Third seed Amélie Mauresmo defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final 6–1, 2–0 ret., to win the Women's Singles tennis title at the 2006 Australian Open. Henin was suffering from stomach cramps resulting from the accidental misuse of anti-inflammatories for a chronic shoulder injury. This was the third match Mauresmo played during the tournament where her opponent retired. Mauresmo and Henin-Hardenne would have a rematch in the final of Wimbledon later that year, where Mauresmo would win in three sets.


2006 Australian Open – Women's Singles
Serena Williams was the defending champion, but she was defeated in the third round by Daniela Hantuchová.


2006 Australian Open – Women's Singles
This tournament saw three-time Australian Open champion Martina Hingis make her Grand Slam comeback since 2002 US Open after a three-year absence from the WTA Tour, and was also the first Grand Slam in which future World No. 1 and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka competed in the main draw.


2006 Australian Open – Women's Singles Qualifying
This article displays the qualifying draw for the Women's singles at the 2006 Australian Open.


2006 Australian Performance Car Championship
The 2006 Australian Performance Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing championship  for production-based touring cars. It was the second championship to be contested under the Australian Performance Car Championship name with similar titles having been run in 2003 and 2004 as the Australian GT Performance Car Championship. GT Performance Racing Pty Ltd was appointed by CAMS as the Category Manager for the 2006 championship.


2006 Australian Performance Car Championship
The championship was won by Gary Holt driving a Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo VIII. It was Holt's first title after racing in various categories of high performance sedans from V8 Supercars to Production Cars since 1999. Beric Lynton was second in a BMW M3 with defending champion Peter Floyd third in a HSV GTS.


2006 Australian Performance Car Championship, Classes
Car competed in two classes, Outright and Privateer. The latter class was for non-current model vehicles running on a control tyre.


2006 Australian Performance Car Championship, Points system
Championship points were awarded on the results of each race as per the following table:


2006 Australian Performance Car Championship, Points system
In addition, 3 points were awarded to the driver gaining Pole Position for Race 1 at each round.


2006 Australian Performance Car Championship, Points system
The same points score structure was applied for the Privateers Cup award.


2006 Australian Production Car Championship
The 2006 Australian Production Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group 3E Series Production Cars. The championship, which was administered by the Production Car Association of Australia, was the 13th Australian Production Car Championship.


2006 Australian Production Car Championship, Calendar
The title was contested over a seven-round series with three races per round.


2006 Australian Production Car Championship, Calendar
Race 1 at each round employed a massed start with Races 2 & 3 each utilising a handicap start.


2006 Australian Production Car Championship, Class Structure
Cars competed in three classes, designated A, B & C, as per the published Vehicle Eligibility Schedule. Additional entries competed in the Trophy Class, these being cars with a record of competition in the championship, but not included on the 2006 eligibility list. Drivers of Trophy Class cars were not eligible to score championship points.


2006 Australian Production Car Championship, Points system
Outright championship points were allocated on a 30-25-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 basis for the first 14 finishers in each handicap race. One point was awarded to all other finishers in these races.


2006 Australian Production Car Championship, Points system
Points towards the three class awards were allocated on a 30-25-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 basis to the first 14 finishers in each class in each race. One point was awarded to each of the other finishers in each race and three points were awarded to the fastest driver in each Class in qualifying at each round.


2006 Australian Provincial Championship
The 2006 Australian Provincial Championship (APC), held in September, was the inaugural season of a competition between Australia's four Super 14 rugby union sides. Following a round robin phase, a final was held between the two top sides, with the Brumbies victorious over the Queensland Reds.


2006 Australian Provincial Championship, Tiebreaker rules
At the end of the regular season, the two top teams will advance to the final. However, if one or more teams finish on the same number of points, tiebreakers will be applied in the following order:


2006 Australian Saloon Car Championship
The 2006 Australian Saloon Car Championship was open to drivers of Saloon Cars complying with CAMS Group 3K regulations. The title was contested over a seven round series with three races per round.


2006 Australian Saloon Car Championship
Points were awarded based on the results of each race as follows


2006 Australian Saloon Car Championship
The results of this, the first Australian Saloon Car Championship, are given below.


2006 Australian Saloon Car Championship
Note : The Paul Fiore listed in 6th position and the Paul Fiore listed in 26th position are undoubtedly the same driver. This duplication appears in the results published at www.tascco.com.au and also those published in The Annual.


2006 Australian federal budget
The 2006 Australian federal budget for the Australian financial year ended 30 June 2007 was presented on 16 May 2006 by Peter Costello, the Treasurer of Australia in the Howard Government.


2006 Australian federal budget
The budget provided for an underlying cash surplus of $10.8 billion, the Government's ninth surplus. The net government debt was zero in the 2006/07-year, the first time in three decades, from a peak of 18.5% of GDP ($96 billion) in 1995/96.


2006 Australian federal budget
The budget included further personal tax reform including tax cuts worth $36.7 billion over four years. Major improvements to business taxation to encourage take‑up of new technology and to simplify taxes for small business. There was also a plan to dramatically simplify and streamline superannuation. Other key initiatives include $2.3 billion for road and rail infrastructure, including to upgrade key sections of the Hume, Bruce and Pacific highways more quickly, a $1.9 billion boost to funding for mental health services, and families, older Australians and carers were to receive more support.


2006 Australian football code crowds
This is a list of crowd figures for 2006 Australian football codes.


2006 Australian football code crowds
Several football codes have national competitions in Australia. Specifically, the list includes home matches in the following seasons:


2006 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2006 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the fourteenth race of the 2006 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 15–17 September 2006 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.


2006 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round fourteen has concluded.


2006 Austrian Figure Skating Championships
The 2006 Austrian Figure Skating Championships (German: Österreichischen Staatsmeisterschaften im Eiskunstlauf 2006) took place between 16 and 18 December 2005 in Innsbruck. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dancing. The results were used to choose the Austrian teams to the 2006 Winter Olympics, the 2006 World Championships, and the 2006 European Championships.


2006 Austrian Open
The 2006 Austrian Open was men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 36th edition of the Austrian Open, and was part of the International Series Gold of the 2006 ATP Tour. It took place at the Kitzbühel Sportpark Tennis Stadium in Kitzbühel, Austria, from 24 July through 30 July 2006. Ninth-seeded Agustín Calleri won the singles title.


2006 Austrian Open, Finals, Doubles
Stefan Koubek /  Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated  Oliver Marach /  Cyril Suk 6–2, 6–3


2006 Austrian Open – Doubles
Leoš Friedl and Andrei Pavel were the defending champions, but chose not to participate together. Friedl played alongside František Čermák, but lost in the first round to Juan Ignacio Chela and Luis Horna. Pavel teamed up with Rogier Wassen, but lost in the first round to Tomáš Cibulec and Łukasz Kubot.


2006 Austrian Open – Doubles
Philipp Kohlschreiber and Stefan Koubek won the title, defeating Oliver Marach and Cyril Suk in the final, 6–2, 6–3.


2006 Austrian Open – Singles
Gastón Gaudio was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Agustín Calleri.


2006 Austrian Open – Singles
Calleri went on to win the title, defeating Juan Ignacio Chela 7–6(11–9), 6–2, 6–3 in the final.


2006 Austrian legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Austria on 1 October 2006 to elect the 23rd National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.


2006 Austrian legislative election
The governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) suffered substantial losses and was unexpectedly overtaken by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). The Greens became the third largest party for the first time, while the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) fell to fourth for the first time. The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), competing in its first national election, narrowly passed the 4% electoral threshold, despite opinion polling which indicated it would fall short.


2006 Austrian legislative election
After the 2002 election, the ÖVP formed government with the FPÖ; in 2005, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) split from the FPÖ. Most of the FPÖ's National Council deputies joined the new party, which replaced the FPÖ as the junior partner in government. As a result of the 2006 election, the ÖVP–BZÖ coalition lost its majority. After three months of negotiations, the SPÖ and ÖVP formed a grand coalition under SPÖ leader Alfred Gusenbauer, which took office on 11 January 2007.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Contesting parties
The table below lists parties represented in the 22nd National Council.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Contesting parties, Qualified parties
In addition to the parties already represented in the National Council, eight parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot. Three of these were cleared to be on the ballot in all states, five of them only in some.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Austrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party contested the election with Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel as its leader. It was the first federal election in Austria since 1970 the party entered as strongest party. Slogans used by the party in the campaign were "Secure. Austria" (Sicher. Österreich), "Austria. Here, we are well." (Österreich. Hier geht's uns gut.) and "Austria. Stays better." (Österreich. Bleibt besser.) They also attacked the Social Democratic Party, attesting them a lack of economic competence, repeatedly bringing up the so-called "BAWAG-Affair".


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Austrian People's Party
The ÖVP cited a rising number of academics and shorter study periods, according to them because of the introduction of tuition fees, as some of their successes. They also capitalized on their women’s policies, including being the first Austrian cabinet with half the ministers being women and appointing a woman as president of the Supreme Court for the first time.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party was led by Alfred Gusenbauer in the election campaign. Themes of their campaign included a rising in youth unemployment, criticism of the Schüssel government's pension reform as well as the order of Eurofighter Typhoon fighters which they wanted to cancel in the case of them entering government. They also criticized the abolishment of the Ministry for Women and promised to abolish tuition fees for universities.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Social Democratic Party of Austria
After coming in first in opinion polls for a long time, from March 2006 onwards the Austrian People's Party was ahead of them. The main reason for this was believed to be the "BAWAG-Affair": the Bank for Work and Economy (Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft), in which the Social Democratic dominated Austrian Trade Union Federation held a majority, was hurled into turbulences, leading to disputes in the party.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Social Democratic Party of Austria
On 3 September 2006 the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Forum formed an electoral alliance with the goal to prevent a further ÖVP-led government.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria campaigned with party leader Heinz-Christian Strache as their leading candidate.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Freedom Party of Austria
Media considered the initiative "Stay free Austria" (Volksbegehren "Österreich bleib frei") as start of their campaign. Some points of their party programme they highlighted were: No accession of Turkey to the European Union and rejection of the European Constitution, no rising of Austria's contributions to the European Union, aggravation of citizenship laws, stopping immigration and fighting abuse of asylum.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, The Greens - The Green Alternative
Leading candidate for the Green Party was party leader Alexander Van der Bellen.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, The Greens - The Green Alternative
The Greens started their pre-election campaign in May 2006 with the presentation of two "Black Books". The "Black Book black" concentrated on their criticism of the People's Party government, the "Black Book red" criticized the opposition performance of the Social Democratic Party. The Greens accused both parties of violations of human rights, with their main criticism being the 2005 reform of the asylum and foreigner's rights laws, to which the Social Democratic Party had agreed. Central to their campaign were promotion of alternative energy, improving the situation of working women, introduction of a demand orientated basic social security (Grundsicherung), an education reform and introduction of a point-system for immigration, favouring highly qualified immigrants.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, The Greens - The Green Alternative
They stated abolishment of tuition fees for universities and cancelling the order for Eurofighter as conditions for entering a government.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Alliance for the Future of Austria
The BZÖ entered the campaign with Peter Westenthaler, former floor leader of the Freedom Party, as its leading candidate.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Alliance for the Future of Austria
Peter Westenthaler was elected as party leader on a special party summit on 23 June 2006. The party contested the election as "The Freedom-minded – Westenthaler's List – BZÖ" (Die Freiheitlichen – Liste Westenthaler – BZÖ). After the Freedom Party obtained a preliminary injunction, the BZÖ had to remove the phrase "The Freedom-minded" from its billboards – it remained on ballot papers nonetheless.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Alliance for the Future of Austria
The party presented an election programme with the title "10 points against a shift to the left in Austria". Policies included: lowering of number of foreigners by 30%, limits for the share of non-native German speakers in classes and termination of the European Union's accession talks with Turkey.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Alliance for the Future of Austria
On 25 September, six days before the election, Minister of Justice Karin Gastinger, deputy leader of the BZÖ and the party's leading candidate in Styria announced her leaving the party. As reason for her decision she stated that she "doesn’t want to be active in a political movement that is xenophobic, that operates with fear".


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Minor parties, Communist Party of Austria
Leading candidate for the Communist Party of Austria was Mirko Messner. Hoping for a basic mandate in the constituency Graz, the Communist Party made heavy use of the Styrian politician Ernest Kaltenegger, who managed to secure one of the best election results in the history of the party when gaining 20% of the votes in the municipal elections in Graz. Points of their election campaign included a tax for the rich as well as higher minimal pensions and wages.


2006 Austrian legislative election, Campaign, Minor parties, Dr. Martin's List
Hans-Peter Martin, MEP, announced in July 2006 that he intended to run with his own party. He concentrated on criticizing the established parties and trying to attract protest votes. Due to a limit on party’s short names on ballot papers to five letters the party ran as MATIN.


2006 Auto Club 500
The 2006 Auto Club 500 was the second race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was held on February 26, 2006 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.


2006 Auto Club 500, Summary
Body styles and engines were the story of the second race of the Nextel Cup season. Kurt Busch won the pole (187.086 mph) using a 2004 Dodge Intrepid-styled body, as opposed to the new Dodge Charger, which his Penske Racing team believed was aerodynamically superior. Bobby Labonte and the #43 team ran the Intrepid as well. Others, including Evernham Motorsports drivers Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne, drove the Charger.


2006 Auto Club 500, Summary
On race day, Greg Biffle dominated, leading 168 of the first 218 laps. Biffle won last year's spring race at California, finished second in the fall, and had won the Busch race the day before. Tony Stewart was the fastest Chevy in the early going. He overcame the car falling off the jack on a pit stop and an unscheduled stop for a flat tire to claw his way back among the leaders only to have an engine failure at lap 215, ending a string of 30 straight races without a DNF. Biffle continued up front until lap 226.


2006 Auto Club 500, Summary
He reported to the crew that his engine had lost a cylinder and a few laps later, he retired to the garage. This left Matt Kenseth to take the lead and only a late-race caution kept him from pulling away. Smoke and oil from the #4 car of Scott Wimmer brought out a yellow with three laps to go. Kenseth easily held off Jimmie Johnson in the green-white-checker finish to earn his 11th career win.


2006 Auto Club 500, Race results
Failed to qualify: Travis Kvapil (#32), Hermie Sadler (#00), Derrike Cope (#74), Randy LaJoie (#34), Morgan Shepherd (#89)


2006 Avtury ambush
Avtury GRU ambush was the July 4, 2006 ambush in Chechnya.


2006 Avtury ambush, The attack
15-20 Chechen rebel fighters led by Abu Hafs al-Urduni and armed with heavy machine guns, assault rifles, grenade launchers and rocket-propelled grenades opened fire from a forested area in Avtury on a motorized column of the GRU Spetsnaz 16th Brigade from  Tambov, composed of several military trucks and one armored personnel carrier.


2006 Avtury ambush, The attack
The attack, which lasted for about an hour, completely destroyed the motorized column, killed between 7 and 30 Russian soldiers, and wounded as many as 30 others; effectively stopping the flow of reinforcements and weapons to Russian troops in Avtury Chechnya, according to Russian sources. Separatist websites announced the attack was a "meticulously planned act of revenge" by Commanders Abu Hafs al-Urduni and Abu Yassir for the death of the Chechen rebel leader Abdul-Halim Sadulayev. They said the Russians lost "close to 40" men and that they themselves suffered no casualties. A video of the attack which circulates on the internet was made giving a tribute to Abdul-Halim Sadulayev and then showing the planning and execution of the attack.


2006 Avtury ambush, The attack
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the term "combat operations" can no longer be used with regards to Chechnya: "There are outbursts of terrorist actions, but no combat actions in Chechnya," Putin said.


2006 Azad Kashmiri general election
General elections were held in Azad Kashmir on 11 July 2006 to elect the members of eighth assembly of Azad Kashmir. Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan and Raja Zulqarnain Khan were respectively elected as Prime Minister and President of Azad Kashmir. The All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference won 31 out of 49 seats.


2006 Azad Kashmiri general election, Reliability of Results
Candidates from the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and other pro-independence groups were not allowed to run; local law prohibits persons expressing views counter to "the ideology of Pakistan, the ideology of the State’s accession to Pakistan or the sovereignty, integrity of Pakistan" from running for office. Opposition groups saw the vote as rigged in favour of the Pakistani federal government. Result for la 13Raja mubasher  3700Attiq Ahmed 12451


2006 BA-CA-TennisTrophy
The 2006 BA-CA-TennisTrophy was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 32nd edition of the event known that year as the BA-CA-TennisTrophy, and was part of the International Series Gold of the 2006 ATP Tour. It took place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, from 9 October through 15 October 2006.


2006 BA-CA-TennisTrophy, Finals, Doubles
Petr Pála /  Pavel Vízner defeated  Julian Knowle /  Jürgen Melzer, 6–4, 3–6, [12–10]


2006 BA-CA-TennisTrophy – Doubles
Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor were the defending champions, but did not participate this year.


2006 BA-CA-TennisTrophy – Doubles
Petr Pála and Pavel Vízner won in the final 6–4, 3–6, [12–10], against Julian Knowle and Jürgen Melzer.


2006 BA-CA-TennisTrophy – Singles
Ivan Ljubičić was the defending champion, and defended his title defeating Fernando González 6–3, 6–4, 7–5 in the final.


2006 BBL Champions Cup
The 2006 BBL Champions Cup was the first edition of the super cup game in German basketball, and was played on September 21, 2006.


2006 BC Lions season
The 2006 BC Lions season was the 49th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 53rd overall. The Lions finished in first place in the West Division for a third consecutive season with a 13–5 record and won the 94th Grey Cup over the Montreal Alouettes. Lions quarterback Dave Dickenson was named the game's Most Valuable Player after completing 18 of 29 passes for 184 yards and rushing for 53 yards on six carries. Placekicker Paul McCallum tied a Grey Cup record by kicking six field goals en route to being named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian. The Lions won their fifth Grey Cup championship in franchise history and first since 2000 when they also defeated the Alouettes.


2006 BC Lions season
During the regular season, the Lions were dominant, led by slotback Geroy Simon who caught 105 passes for a club record 1856 yards and 15 touchdowns. Simon was named the league's Most Outstanding Player, becoming the fifth BC Lions player to win the award. Defensive end Brent Johnson was named the league's Most Outstanding Canadian and Most Outstanding Defensive Player, defensive tackle Aaron Hunt was named the league's Most Outstanding Rookie, and offensive tackle Rob Murphy was named the league's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman.


2006 BC Lions season
Defensive back Mark Washington was awarded the CFLPA's Outstanding Community Service Award and head coach Wally Buono won the Annis Stukus Trophy as the CFL's Coach of the Year, making it the third time he won the award. The only CFL major trophy not won by the Lions was the CFL's Most Outstanding Special Teams Award, won by Calgary Stampeders kicker Sandro DeAngelis. The Lions had 10 Western All-Stars and a league leading seven Western All-Stars.


2006 BC Lions season, Playoffs, West Final
Dave Dickenson completed 27-of-37 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns, as the BC Lions defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 45–18, to score a franchise playoff-record points total and reach the 94th Grey Cup against Montreal. The Lions will play the Montreal Alouettes, who beat the Toronto Argonauts 33–24 in the East Final. BC, who finished first in the West Division for the third straight season, lost the 2004 Grey Cup to Toronto and were downed by Edmonton in the 2005 West Final.


2006 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup, Scoring summary
BC Lions (25) – TDs, Ian Smart; FGs Paul McCallum (6); cons., McCallum.


2006 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup, Scoring summary
Montreal Alouettes (14) – TDs, Robert Edwards; FGs Damon Duval; cons., Duval; safety touch (2).


2006 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup, Scoring summary
First Quarter BC—FG McCallum 34-yard field goal 4:49 BC—FG McCallum 35-yard field goal 12:26 BC—FG McCallum 24-yard field goal 14:15


2006 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup, Scoring summary
Second Quarter BC—TD Smart 25-yard run (McCallum convert) 4:12 MTL—FG Duval 43-yard field goal 13:18 BC—FG McCallum 30-yard field goal 15:00


2006 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup, Scoring summary
Third Quarter MTL—Safety McCallum concedes in end zone 8:47 MTL—TD Edwards 2-yard run (Duval convert) 13:00


2006 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup, Scoring summary
Fourth Quarter BC—FG McCallum 21-yard field goal 4:17 BC—FG McCallum 47-yard field goal 6:28 MTL—Safety McCallum concedes in end zone 13:17


2006 BCR Open Romania
The 2006 BCR Open Romania was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 14th edition of the event known that year as the BCR Open Romania, and was part of the International Series of the 2006 ATP Tour. It took place at the Arenele BNR in Bucharest, Romania, from September 11 through September 17, 2006.


2006 BCR Open Romania, Finals, Doubles
Mariusz Fyrstenberg /  Marcin Matkowski defeated  Martín García /  Luis Horna, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5), [10–8].


2006 BCR Open Romania – Singles
The Men’s Singles tournament of the 2006 BCR Open Romania tennis championship took place in Bucharest, Romania, between 11 September and 17 September 2006. 32 players from 13 countries competed in the 5-round tournament. The final winner was Jürgen Melzer of Austria, who defeated Filippo Volandri of Italy. The defending champion from 2005, Florent Serra, lost in the semifinals to Volandri.


2006 BCS computer rankings
In American college football, the 2006 BCS computer rankings are a part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) formula that determines who plays in the BCS National Championship Game as well as several other bowl games. Each computer system was developed using different methods which attempts to rank the teams' performance. For 2006, the highest and lowest rankings for a team are dropped and the remaining four rankings are summed. A team ranked #1 by a computer system is given 25 points, #2 is given 24 points and so forth.


2006 BCS computer rankings
The summed values are then divided by 100 (the maximum value a team can earn if they received four first place votes that were summed). The values are then ranked by percentage. This percentage ranking is then averaged with the Coaches Poll and Harris Poll average rankings, each receiving equal weight, and the results become the BCS Rankings.


2006 BCS computer rankings, BCS computer rankings average
For 2006, the rankings were released beginning with the eighth week of the season on October 14. Data taken from . There are missing values in the table because the BCS Rankings only list the top 25 of the BCS Rankings, providing data on how those teams achieved their top 25 ranking. The computers ranking may include teams that do not make the top 25 BCS Rankings once averaged with the AP and Coaches Polls.


2006 BCS computer rankings, Anderson & Hester
Jeff Anderson and Chris Hester are the owners of this computer system that has been a part of the BCS since its inception. The Anderson & Hester Rankings claim to be distinct in four ways:


2006 BCS computer rankings, Anderson & Hester
The margin of victory was once allowed by the BCS for the computers, but was removed following the 2004 season. Therefore, all six computer systems do not include margin of victory. However, this computer system has never included it in its formula. In addition, only human polls (specifically the AP Poll and Coaches Poll in this reference) "prejudge" teams by releasing pre-season polls with the expected rankings of teams before they have played any games. The last two claims are subjective opinions by the authors of this computer system.


2006 BCS computer rankings, Billingsley
Richard Billingsley is the owner of this computer system. Self-described as not a mathematician or computer-geek; simply a devout college football fan since the age of 7. The main components in the formula are: Won-Loss Records, Opponent Strength (based on the opponent’s record, rating, and rank), with a strong emphasis on the most recent performance. Very minor consideration is also given to the site of the game, and defensive scoring performance.


2006 BCS computer rankings, Billingsley
Billingsley did use margin of victory, but removed it after the 2001 season. It had accounted for 5% of the total ranking for his system and was part of the system for 32 years. Also, this computer system releases rankings each week, using a complex formula to incorporate the previous season's rank (but not ranking score) into the early parts of the current season.


2006 BCS computer rankings, Billingsley
For the 2006 season, this computer ranking uniquely favored Penn State and TCU.


2006 BCS computer rankings, Colley Matrix
Wes Colley, creator of the Colley Matrix, has a Ph.D from Princeton University in Astrophysical Sciences. He attended Virginia and is therefore a Virginia fan. His brother, Will Colley played for Georgia. Colley claims 5 advantages using his system:


2006 BCS computer rankings, Colley Matrix
While all computer systems are not biased towards the "Name recognition" of a school, Colley's system doesn't include any information that doesn't involve the current season. No pre-season poll and no carry-over from the previous season. Colley's focus on strength of schedule without including opponents' strength of schedule is unique.


2006 BCS computer rankings, Massey
Kenneth Massey is the owner of this complex computer system. He was a Ph.D candidate of Mathematics at Virginia Tech. Only the score, venue, and date of each game are used to calculate the Massey ratings. However, Massey calculates an offensive and defensive ratings which combine to produce a power ranking as well. The overall team rating is a merit based quantity, and is the result of applying a Bayesian win-loss correction to the power rating.


2006 BCS computer rankings, Sagarin
Jeff Sagarin is the owner of this computer system published in USA Today. He olds an MBA from Indiana. This system uses the Elo Chess system where winning and losing are the sole factors. He also publishes a "Predictor" system that uses margin of victory. However, the BCS only uses the Elo Chess system.


2006 BCS computer rankings, Wolfe
Peter Wolfe uses a Bradley-Terry model for his computer system. It uses wins and losses but also uses game location as a factor. In addition, he ranks all teams that can be connected by schedule played (over 700 involving Division I-A, I-AA, II, III and NAIA).


2006 BDO Classic Canadian Open
The 2006 BDO Classic Canadian Open curling Grand Slam tournament was held January 5–8, 2006 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.


2006 BDO Classic Canadian Open
Jeff Stoughton and his hometown Winnipeg rink of Jon Mead, Garry Vandenberghe and Steve Gould won his third career Grand Slam event, defeating Calgary's John Morris rink in the final.


2006 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2006 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was held from 7 to 15 January 2006 at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. Defending champion Raymond van Barneveld was aiming to win a fifth BDO world title, equalling the record set by Eric Bristow. However, he was beaten 7–5 in the final by Dutch qualifier Jelle Klaasen; the final was the first and only World Darts Championship final to not feature a British player.


2006 BDO World Darts Championship
Klaasen became the youngest World Champion at age 21 and became the first qualifier to win the World Championship since Keith Deller in 1983, who became the youngest World Champion himself, aged 23. This would eventually be Van Barneveld's last appearance at the Lakeside as he would switch to the rival Professional Darts Corporation the next month.


2006 BDO World Darts Championship, Changes
The 2006 championship was the last to be staged under the eight seeds format. For the 2007 event the number of seeded players for the men's championship was increased to 16. 2006 would also see a new format for the tournament with second round matches extended to the best of seven sets, as had been requested by numerous players down the years. The semi-finals were also extended to best of 11 sets and the final a best of 13 set affair.


2006 BDO World Darts Championship, Prize money
The prize money was £209,000 for the men's event and £11,000 for the women's event.


2006 BDO World Darts Championship, Prize money
There was also a shared 9 Dart Checkout prize of £52,000, along with a High Checkout prize of £2,000 per event. Source:


2006 BDO World Darts Championship, The 2006 Lakeside Woman World Professional Darts Championship
In the women's tournament, Trina Gulliver continued her domination of the women's game by winning her sixth successive title, defeating Francis Hoenselaar 2–0. It was the third successive year that Gulliver and Hoenselaar had met in the final and the fourth time in five years.


2006 BET Hip Hop Awards
The first show in 2006 was hosted by Katt Williams in Atlanta.


2006 BFL season
The 2006 season of the Belgian Football League (BFL) is the regular season played in the Belgium. The West Flanders Tribes won Belgian Bowl XIX against the Tournai Phoenix by a score of 23-14.


2006 BFL season, Regular season, Regular season standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against


2006 BL8
2006 BL8 is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as near-Earth object of the Apollo group, that flew by Earth on 26 July 2013 at about 9 lunar distances It is reported to be about 48 meters (157 ft) in diameter.


2006 BL8
2006 BL8 was detected by the Catalina Sky Survey on January 24, 2006.


2006 BL8
Some other NEOs noted for there Earth flybys in the summer of 2013, include 2009 FE (June 4, 2013 at 9.6 LD), 2003 DZ15 (on July 29, 2013 passed at 7.6 LD), and  2005 WK4 (on August 9, 2013 passed at 8.1 LD).


2006 BMW Championship
The 2006 BMW Championship was the 52nd edition of the BMW Championship, an annual professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was held 25–28 May at the West Course of Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England, a suburb southwest of London.


2006 BMW Championship
David Howell cruised to a five stroke victory over Simon Khan to claim his first BMW Championship.


2006 BMW Open
The 2006 BMW Open was an Association of Tennis Professionals men's tennis tournament held in Munich, Germany. The tournament was held from 1 May until 8 May 2006. Fifth-seeded Olivier Rochus won the singles title.


2006 BMW Open, Finals, Doubles
Andrei Pavel /  Alexander Waske defeated  Alexander Peya /  Björn Phau 6–4, 6–2


2006 BMW Open – Doubles
Mario Ančić and Julian Knowle were the defending champions. Ančić did not participate this year. Knowle partnered with Jürgen Melzer, losing in the first round.


2006 BMW Open – Doubles
Andrei Pavel and Alexander Waske won in the final 6–4, 6–2, against Alexander Peya and Björn Phau.


2006 BMW Open – Singles
David Nalbandian was the defending champion, but did not participate this year.


2006 BMW Open – Singles
Olivier Rochus won the title, defeating Kristof Vliegen 6–4, 6–2 in the all Belgian final.


2006 BNP Paribas Masters
The 2006 Paris Masters (also known as the BNP Paribas Masters for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 34th edition of the Paris Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2006 ATP Tour. It took place at the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 30 October through 6 November 2006.


2006 BNP Paribas Masters
The announced singles draw featured World No. 1, Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion, French Open runner-up, Indian Wells, Miami, Toronto and 2006 Madrid Masters winner Roger Federer, ATP No. 2 French Open, Monte Carlo and Rome titlist Rafael Nadal, and third-ranked Australian Open and French Open semifinalist, Estoril winner David Nalbandian. Also lined up were US Open semifinalist, Pörtschach, Sopot, New Haven and Moscow champion Nikolay Davydenko, Vienna, Madrid and Basel finalist Fernando González, Tommy Robredo, James Blake and Tomáš Berdych.


2006 BNP Paribas Masters, Finals, Doubles
Arnaud Clément /  Michaël Llodra defeated  Fabrice Santoro /  Nenad Zimonjić, 6–3, 7–6(7–4).


2006 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals this year.


2006 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles
Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra won in the final 7–6(4), 6–2, against Fabrice Santoro and Nenad Zimonjić.


2006 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Nikolay Davydenko defeated Dominik Hrbatý in the final, 6–1, 6–2, 6–2, to win the Singles title at the 2006 Paris Masters.


2006 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Tomáš Berdych was the defending champion, but lost to Hrbatý in the quarterfinals.


2006 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. All sixteen seeds received a bye into the second round.


2006 BWF World Junior Championships
The 2006 BWF World Junior Championships is the eight tournament of the BWF World Junior Championships. It was held in Incheon, South Korea at the Samsan World Gymnasium, between 2–11 November 2006.


2006 BWF World Junior Championships, Team competition
A total of 28 countries competed at the team competition in 2006 BWF World Junior Championships.


2006 BWF World Junior Championships – Boys' doubles
The Boys' doubles tournament of the 2006 BWF World Junior Championships is a badminton world junior individual championships for the Eye Level Cups, held on November 6–11. The defending champion of the last edition were Hoon Thien How and Tan Boon Heong from Malaysia. The host pair Lee Yong-dae and Cho Gun-woo won the gold medal in this event after beat Liu Xiaolong and Li Tian of China in straight games with the score 21–12, 21–16.


2006 BWF World Junior Championships – Boys' singles
The Boys' Singles tournament of the 2006 BWF World Junior Championships is a badminton world junior individual championships for the Eye Level Cups, held on November 6–11. The defending champion of the last edition is Chen Jin from China. The host player Hong Ji-hoon won the gold medal in this event after beat Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the rubber game with the score 21–13, 10–21, 21–16.


2006 BWF World Junior Championships – Girls' doubles
The Girls' doubles tournament of the 2006 BWF World Junior Championships is a badminton world junior individual championships for the Eye Level Cups, held on November 6–11. The defending champion of the last edition were Tian Qing and Yu Yang from China. The Chinese pair Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli won the gold medal in this event after beat Hong Soo-jung and Sun In-jang of South Korea in straight games with the score 21–13, 21–18.


2006 BWF World Junior Championships – Girls' singles
The Girls' singles tournament of the 2006 BWF World Junior Championships is a badminton world junior individual championships for the Eye Level Cups, held on November 6–11. The defending champion of the last edition is Cheng Shao-chieh from Chinese Taipei. The top seeded Wang Yihan of China won the gold medal in this event after beat Saina Nehwal of India in straight games with the score 21–13, 21–9.


2006 BWF World Junior Championships – Mixed doubles
The Mixed doubles tournament of the 2006 BWF World Junior Championships is a badminton world junior individual championships for the Eye Level Cups, held on November 6–11. The defending champion of the last edition were He Hanbin and Yu Yang from China. The host pair Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Hyun-young won the gold medal in this event after beat Li Tian and Ma Jin of China in rubber games with the score 18–21, 21–19, 21–14.


2006 BYU Cougars football team
The 2006 BYU Cougars football team represents Brigham Young University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cougars won the Mountain West Conference (MWC) championship outright with an 11–2 record (8–0 in the MWC), their first unbeaten conference play since 2001. This was also BYU's third season with at least a share of the MWC title (co-champions with CSU and Utah in 1999, and sole champions in 2001). The Cougars play their home games at LaVell Edwards Stadium, named after its legendary coach, LaVell Edwards.


2006 BYU Cougars football team, Pre-season
Among the returning starters were quarterback John Beck, running back Curtis Brown, linebacker Cameron Jenson and tight end Jonny Harline.


2006 BYU Cougars football team, During the season
The Cougars started the season unranked in either the Coaches Poll or the AP Poll, and would not enter the polls until they had won their eighth game. They steadily rose in the rankings mainly on the strength of an offense that finished the regular season 5th in the nation in scoring and 4th in passing yards of 323.5 per game. The key to their offense was quarterback John Beck, who was one of the nation's top quarterbacks, running back Curtis Brown, and tight end Jonny Harline. They averaged a 465.5 yards and 36.8 points per game.


2006 BYU Cougars football team, During the season
The Cougars played five bowl-bound teams during the season—Boston College, their second opponent from one of the six BCS conferences; Tulsa; TCU; the New Mexico; and their conference rivals, the Utah Utes. Notably, BYU defeated TCU (then ranked #15) by 31-17 putting an end to the Horned Frogs' 13-game winning streak.


2006 BZ8
2006 BZ8 is a dark centaur and damocloid on a retrograde and highly eccentric orbit from the outer region of the Solar System. It was first observed on 23 January 2006 by the Catalina Sky Survey at the Catalina Station near Tucson, Arizona, United States. It has not been observed since 2008. This unusual object is estimated around 9–23.5 kilometers (5.6–15 miles) in diameter.


2006 Baden-Württemberg state election
The 2006 Baden-Württemberg state election was held on 26 March 2006 to elect the members of the 13th Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Günther Oettinger was re-elected with an increased majority and continued in office.


2006 Baden-Württemberg state election, Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Baden-Württemberg.


2006 Badminton World Cup
The 2006 Badminton World Cup was the twenty-first edition of the international Badminton World Cup tournament. The event was held at the Olympic Sports Park in Yiyang, Hunan, China from 24 to 28 October 2006. It was organized by the Table Tennis and Badminton Administration Center under General Administration of Sport of China, hosted by the Hunan Sports Bureau and the Yiyang People's Government, and also co-organized by China Mobile Group Hunan Co., Ltd., with a total prize money of US$250,000.


2006 Badminton World Cup
Some of top players declined to participate, since there is no ranking points awarded in this tournament, and tight competition schedule at that year, with also held the World Championship, Thomas & Uber Cup, Asian Games, and the European Club League. In the end, the host Chinese national team won the men's singles, women's singles and women's doubles, while the men's and mixed doubles won by Indonesian players.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
The 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially the 2006 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain on 12 March 2006. The 57-lap race was the opening round of the 2006 Formula One season and the third running of the Bahrain Grand Prix. It was won by the 2005 World Champions, Fernando Alonso and the Renault team. Ferrari driver and polesitter Michael Schumacher began his final season in Formula One (before his return with Mercedes in 2010) with second position. Kimi Räikkönen completed the podium after he finished in third place with the McLaren team, despite starting in last position.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
The race was the first Grand Prix for future world champion Nico Rosberg, son of World Champion Keke Rosberg, who raced with the Williams team. He set the fastest lap of the race and, at the age of 20 years and 258 days, broke the record for the youngest driver to do so, which he held until Max Verstappen scored his first fastest lap, at age 19, at the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix. It was also the debut race for the BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Midland F1 and Super Aguri teams, and drivers Scott Speed and Yuji Ide.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
It also saw the début of the 2.4 litre (146.4 cu in) naturally-aspirated V8 engines which were used by all teams except Toro Rosso, who were still using the 3.0 litre (183 cu in) V10 engines that were used from 1995 to 2005, as the team's chassis, the STR1, was reused from the Red Bull RB1 from the 2005 season. This race notably marked the first time teams had fielded V8-powered cars, since the 1997 European Grand Prix.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Practice, Friday drivers
The bottom six teams in the 2005 Constructors' Championship and Super Aguri were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
The race was the first run under the new 2006 qualifying rules, in which the one-hour session is split into three 'knock out' parts. The first part eliminated Kimi Räikkönen (rear wishbone failure) and Ralf Schumacher, who was caught out by the red flag after Räikkönen's accident and failed to set a competitive time, as well as the MF1's and the two Super Aguris. The second part saw fewer surprises, with the expected runners lining up for the final top 10 part. The result was that the Ferraris swept the front row.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Race
At the start of the race, Fernando Alonso moved up to second in the first lap, only for Michael Schumacher to begin to pull away. Alonso was involved in a near collision with Schumacher's teammate Felipe Massa, who spun at the first corner. Massa was never a threat after this point, not helped by a delay in his pit stop to change tyres the same lap. Alonso's teammate Giancarlo Fisichella also played little part in the race due to an engine mapping problem which restricted power. He retired on the 21st lap due to hydraulic failure.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Race
A live team radio broadcast in which the team informed him that he would have to cope with the engine as well as he could led to Fisichella swearing in response; this incident resulted in future team radio broadcasts being time-delayed. To the surprise of few, Kimi Räikkönen quickly moved his way up the field, only being delayed by Jacques Villeneuve and Fisichella for a short period of time, before passing both men.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Race
Further down the field, Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg, who was making his Grand Prix début, touched at the first corner. Both men were significantly delayed, but recovered. Heidfeld's day continued to get worse, as an incident with David Coulthard was investigated after the race.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Race
Juan Pablo Montoya finished 5th in his McLaren, having never been a threat throughout the race. It was a good day for Williams on a whole, as Mark Webber finished in 6th, while Rosberg was the surprise of the race though, ending up a very respectable 7th, passing Christian Klien after catching him in the last few laps of the race, putting Klien down to a still impressive 8th. Rosberg set the fastest lap of the race, becoming the youngest driver ever to achieve this in a Grand Prix, breaking a record held by Alonso.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Race
Honda suffered mixed fortunes throughout the race. Early on fans were treated to a fight between Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, as Button slipped down the order due to a slow getaway. Button eventually fought his way back up, twice passing Juan Pablo Montoya at the end of the straight but losing out again in pitstops. He eventually finished 4th, 0.6 seconds behind Räikkönen in 3rd. Räikkönen fought hard throughout the race, stopping only once on his way to the last podium spot. He rose 19 places in the race which is more than any driver since Fabrizio Barbazza started 25th and finished sixth in the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Race
At the second set of pit stops, Alonso was able to take advantage of staying out longer than Schumacher by coming out of the pit lane side by side with Schumacher. As they came into the first corner both cars were neck and neck, but Alonso was able to pull out in front of the former world champion. Despite coming under heavy pressure from Schumacher towards the end, the reigning champion started off the season with a well earned victory.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Race
After a tussle with David Coulthard, Nick Heidfeld was reprimanded by stewards post-race for positioning his car in a way that forced Coulthard off the race circuit. Coulthard suffered engine failure on cool-down lap and received a 10-place grid penalty for 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix.


2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, Report, Race
This was the first race for the Midland, BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Honda F1 and Super Aguri teams, although only Super Aguri was a completely new team, the others all representing buyouts or rebrandings of existing teams. Along with Rosberg, Scott Speed and Yuji Ide were also making their Grand Prix débuts.


2006 Bahraini Crown Prince Cup
The 2006 Bahraini Crown Prince Cup was the 6th edition of the cup tournament in men's football (soccer). This edition featured the top four sides from the Bahraini Premier League 2005-06 season.


2006 Bahraini general election
General elections were held in Bahrain in November and December 2006 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives. The first round of voting was held on 25 November, with a second round on 2 December 2006.


2006 Bahraini general election
Voter turnout was 72% in the first round, in which Shi'a and Sunni Islamists dominated, winning a clean sweep of the 29 seats that were decided in the first round, while liberal and ex-communist MPs lost all their seats. Four candidates of the left-wing National Democratic Action (also known as Wa'ad) made it through to second round run-off, which decided the remaining 11 seats.


2006 Bahraini general election
The elections were preceded by a major political realignment that saw the four opposition parties that boycotted the 2002 elections agree to take part in the political process. These included the Shia Islamist party, Al Wefaq, the radical Shia Islamist Islamic Action Society, the left-wing National Democratic Action Society and the Nationalist Democratic Rally Society. To meet the challenge posed by Al Wefaq, the two main Sunni Islamist parties, the salafist Asalah and the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Al-Menbar Islamic Society, agreed to form a coalition to maximise their votes.


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
With Al Wefaq entering the political arena after boycotting the 2002 elections, competing candidates turned their attention to its agenda, particularly the party's relationship with the highest Shia religious body in Bahrain, the Islamic Scholars Council. Several candidates claimed that they were being forced out of the race, including Jassim Abdulaal of the Economists Bloc, by influential clerics who told their congregations whom to vote for. The criticism became more pointed after the Council described Al Wefaq as the 'Bloc of Believers'.


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
The Shia Islamist Al Amal, which has close links with the 'Shirazi faction', was most specific in its criticism. Its head, Sheikh Mohammad Ali Al Mahfood, complained: "The Islamic Scholars Council should not dictate how people vote and should allow them to make their own personal choices about the most competent candidates. It looks as if the Council has turned into a partisan umbrella for a specific society and this diminishes its authority and confines its influence. We have often blamed the government for appointing 40 members to the bi-cameral parliament, yet we are doing the same thing and hijacking the people's right to make their own choices."


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
Al Wefaq in turn denied that it intimidated opponents; its leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, told a press conference "Let's make it clear to those campaigning against us, that we respect our competitors, whoever they are, and would do nothing to harm them."


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
Al Wefaq campaigned for greater government subsidies for low income families, with the party's candidate, Dr Jasim Husain, who is the University of Bahrain Research Deanship Economic Research Unit Head, saying "People today have to pay rent, electricity, telephone, Internet and water bills, in addition to other fees. They have to buy food, clothing, pay for car installments and even recreation. But this is impossible, because many fall short as their salaries are not enough."


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
Dr Husain said that government complacency was a problem, especially after the latest United Nations Human Development Report 2006 ranks Bahrain 39th out of 177 countries and second only to Kuwait in the Arab world. Dr Husain said that the country could do better by looking to the future: "The government should be giving more money to education and training, rather than defence and police. We are not saying that defence and police are not important, but they should be given less attention."


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
The government responded to criticism on social welfare by announcing that it will put forward legislation so that Bahrain becomes the first Arab country to introduce unemployment benefit. According to economist, Alaa al-Yousuf, Bahrain has an unemployment rate of 15%, with women very over-represented. The government's announcement is interpreted as pre-emptive of an expected move by the new parliament to draft legislation to bring in unemployment benefit, which would allow MPs to claim the credit.


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
The introduction of unemployment benefit was not supported by all candidates, National Unity Bloc candidate in Hamad Town, Abbas Ayed, portrayed the move as symptomatic of a government approach that recognises problems after they happen, but has failed to take preventative measures to stop them in the first place. Instead, Mr Ayed called for greater investment in training and education for Bahraini workers: "Train them and remove expatriate workers and see if they can do their jobs or not."


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
Al Wefaq and the other three parties that boycotted the 2002 poll have stated that they will use their presence in the 2006 parliament to campaign for a single elected legislature, and Al Wefaq has gone further and committed itself to reform of the judiciary. The party wants to see the Supreme Judiciary Council elected by all the judges in the country instead of being appointed by its Supreme Chairman King Hamad. Al Wefaq candidate Sayed Haidar Al Sitri has proposed that the elected president of the Council should be independent ensure and neither influenced by the National Assembly nor the government, saying: "Bahrain is developing and also its judiciary system, which we hope will be completely independent."


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
The outgoing parliamentary speaker, Khalifa Al Dhahrani, beat a strong challenge in his constituency in Riffa from Sheikh Salman Bin Saqr Al Khalifa, who is a member of the Al Khalifa family and journalist with the Al Wasat newspaper. Sheikh Salman said that as a member of the royal family he hopes his decision to contest the elections will stimulate other members of the ruling families in the Persian Gulf countries to contest national elections and "end a tradition of not running in public polls."


2006 Bahraini general election, Campaign
Al Dhahrani, who is backed by Sunni Islamists, has a further challenge in retaining the speakership after his previous performance was criticised for failing to control radical Islamist MPs in the debating chamber. Al Wefaq leader Ali Salman may run for speaker post elections.