The 2000 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of cars conforming to Formula Holden regulations.[1] The title was contested over an 8-round, 16 race series with the winner awarded the 2000 CAMS Gold Star. The championship, which was promoted as the 2000 Holden Australian Drivers' Championship,[2] was the 44th Australian Drivers' Championship and the 12th to be contested with Formula Holden or Formula Brabham cars.

Teams and drivers

Schedule

Brenton Ramsay placed 20th driving a Reynard 94D (image from 2015)

The championship was contested over an eight-round series with two races per round.[3]

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team
1 R1 Victoria (state) Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
(Phillip Island, Victoria)		 13 February New Zealand Simon Wills New Zealand Simon Wills New Zealand Simon Wills Birrana Racing
R2 New Zealand Simon Wills New Zealand Simon Wills Birrana Racing
2 R1 New South Wales Eastern Creek International Raceway
(Eastern Creek, New South Wales)		 26 March Australia Tim Leahey Australia Tim Leahey New Zealand Simon Wills Birrana Racing
R2 Australia Tim Leahey Singapore Christian Murchison NRC Racing
3 R1 South Australia Adelaide Street Circuit
(Adelaide, South Australia)		 8–9 April New Zealand Simon Wills New Zealand Simon Wills Singapore Christian Murchison NRC Racing
R2 New Zealand Simon Wills New Zealand Matt Halliday Ralt Australia
4 R1 Australian Capital Territory Canberra Street Circuit
(Canberra, Australian Capital Territory)		 10–11 June Australia Tim Leahey New Zealand Simon Wills New Zealand Simon Wills Birrana Racing
R2 New Zealand Simon Wills Australia Chris Staff Ralt Australia
5 R1 Queensland Queensland Raceway
(Ipswich, Queensland)		 2 July New Zealand Simon Wills New Zealand Matt Halliday New Zealand Simon Wills Birrana Racing
R2 New Zealand Simon Wills Singapore Christian Murchison NRC Racing
6 R1 Victoria (state) Winton Motor Raceway
(Benalla, Victoria)		 16 July Australia Tim Leahey New Zealand Simon Wills Australia Tim Leahey Greg Murphy Racing
R2 Singapore Christian Murchison Australia Tim Leahey Greg Murphy Racing
7 R1 New South Wales Oran Park Raceway
(Sydney, New South Wales)		 30 July New Zealand Simon Wills Australia Tim Leahey New Zealand Simon Wills Birrana Racing
R2 New Zealand Simon Wills New Zealand Simon Wills Birrana Racing
8 R1 South Australia Mallala Motor Sport Park
(Mallala, South Australia)		 27 August New Zealand Simon Wills New Zealand Simon Wills Singapore Christian Murchison NRC Racing
R2 Singapore Christian Murchison New Zealand Simon Wills Birrana Racing

Points System

Championship points were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first ten finishers in each race.[4]

Review

New Zealand racer Simon Wills won his second Australian Drivers' Championship driving a Birrana Racing Reynard 94D Holden.[5] Wills won eight of the 16 races to finish 33 points ahead of Singaporean born West Australian Christian Murchison (Reynard 95D & 97D). Another New Zealander, Matt Halliday (Reynard 94D Holden) finished third in the points, 58 points behind Wills. It was the sixth Australian Drivers' Championship victory in seven years for a Birrana Racing driver.

In addition to Wills' eight wins, Murchison took four race victories and Tim Leahey (Reynard 92D Holden) took two with single victories recorded by Halliday and Chris Staff (Reynard 92D Holden)

Championship results

          Phillip Island Eastern Creek Adelaide Canberra Qld. Raceway Winton Oran Park Mallala  
Position[6] Driver[6] No.[6] Car[6] Entrant[3] R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Total[6]
1 Simon Wills 1 Reynard 94D Holden Birrana Racing 20 20 20 - 3 20 20 4 20 15 15 15 20 20 12 20 244
2 Christian Murchison 25 Reynard 95D Holden NRC Racing 12 10 15 20 20 10 12 15 15 20 - 6 12 15 20 6 208
3 Matt Halliday 12 Reynard 94D Holden Ralt Australia 15 15 12 12 15 - 10 - 8 - 12 12 10 12 15 15 163
4 Tim Leahey 22 Reynard 92D Holden Greg Murphy Racing - 12 - - 12 15 15 - - - 20 20 15 - - - 109
5 LeRoy Stevenson 8 Reynard 94D Holden Birrana Racing 8 - - 10 4 8 4 10 6 12 - 10 3 6 8 8 97
6 Paul Dumbrell 7 Reynard 93D Holden K Mart Racing 10 - 8 8 10 12 - 8 4 - 10 8 8 10 - - 96
7 Dale Brede 20 Reynard 94D Holden NRC Racing 4 8 - 2 - - 8 12 10 - 6 - 4 4 10 12 80
8 Chris Staff 11 Reynard 92D Holden Ralt Australia - - 4 15 8 - 6 20 - 10 - - - - - - 63
9 Andy Booth 75 & 11 Reynard 97D Holden Hocking Motorsport 6 - 10 6 6 6 2 - 1 6 - - 6 8 - - 57
10 Steve Owen 74 Reynard 97D Holden Hocking Motorsport - - - - - - 1 6 12 8 8 - 2 3 6 10 56
11 Peter Hill 66 Reynard 94D Holden Peter Hill 2 4 6 - 2 4 3 - - - 4 4 1 1 2 4 37
12 Ian Peters 24 Reynard 91D Holden Ian Peters - 3 2 3 - - - 3 2 1 2 3 - 2 4 - 25
13 Mark Ellis 17 Reynard 92D Holden Mark Ellis - - - - 1 - - 2 - 4 1 2 - - - 2 12
14 Garry Haywood 26 Reynard 91D Holden Garry Haywood - 6 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9
15 Les Crampton 15 Reynard 91D Holden 3M Australia Racing Team 3 2 - - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - 8
16 Roger Oakeshott 28 Reynard 97D Holden Roger Oakeshott - - - - - 2 - - - 2 3 - - - - - 7
17 Terry Clearihan 27 Ralt RT23 Holden Terry Clearihan - - - - - - - - - 3 - 1 - - 1 1 6
18 Craig Bastian 74 Reynard 97D Holden Hocking Motorsport - - - 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - 4
19 Stan Keen 5 Shrike NB89H Holden Stan Keen - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 - 3
20 Brenton Ramsay 9 Reynard 94D Holden Birrana Racing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 3
21 Bob Power 48 Ralt RT23 Holden Bob Power - - - - - - - - 3 - - - - - - - 3
22 Lars Johansson 36 Reynard 94D Holden Laurentius Consultants 1 - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - 2
23 Chas Talbot 14 March 87B Holden Chas Talbot - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1

References

  1. ↑ Australian Title Conditions, 2000 CAMS Manual of Australian Motor Sport, Page 7-11
  2. ↑ Sporting Regulations - Administration Retrieved from www.formulaholden.com via web.archive.org on 17 January 2011
  3. 1 2 2000 Holden Australian Drivers Championship Race Results Sheets Retrieved from www.formulaholden.com via web.archive.org on 17 January 2011
  4. ↑ Sporting Regulations - Awards and Pointscores Retrieved from www.formulaholden.com via web.archive.org on 17 January 2011
  5. ↑ "Gold Star Winners - 1957 - 2009". formula3.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 2000 Holden Australian Drivers Championship – Points Allocation - retrieved from www.formulaholden.com.au/archive/2000hadc_pa.htm in December 2001 – page no longer live

Further reading

  • Connor McNally, "Simply Simon", Motor Racing Australia, No 55, Dec 2000 / Jan 2001, page 44
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