2000 Australian Drivers' Championship

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

Brenton Ramsay placed 20th driving a Reynard 94D (image from 2015)
Team Chassis No Driver Rounds
Birrana Racing Reynard 94D 1 New Zealand Simon Wills All
8 New Zealand LeRoy Stevenson All
9 Australia Brenton Ramsay 1, 3
D Samimi Ralt RT21 2 Australia Neville Wills 3
Stan Keen Shrike NB89H 5 Australia Stan Keen 8
Kmart Racing Reynard 93D 7 Australia Paul Dumbrell All
Ralt Australia Reynard 92D 11 Australia Chris Staff 1–5, 7
Reynard 94D 12 New Zealand Matt Halliday All
Chas Talbot March 87B 14 Australia Chas Talbot 1
3M Australia Racing Team Reynard 91D 15 Australia Les Crampton 1, 3, 8
Mantis Racing Reynard 92D 17 Australia Mark Ellis 3–6, 8
NRC Racing Reynard 94D 20 Australia Dale Brede All
Reynard 95D 25 Singapore Christian Murchison All
Greg Murphy Racing Reynard 92D 22 Australia Tim Leahey 2–7
Camtech Racing Reynard 91D 24 Australia Ian Peters All
Garry Haywood Reynard 91D 26 Australia Garry Haywood 1–2
Terry Clearihan Ralt RT23 27 Australia Terry Clearihan 4–8
Hocking Motorsport Reynard 97D 28 Australia Roger Oakeshott All
Reynard 97D 74 Australia Craig Bastian 1–2
Reynard 98D Japan Akihiro Asai 3
Reynard 97D Australia Steve Owen 4–8
Reynard 94D 75 New Zealand Andy Booth 1–5
Reynard 97D Australia Stuart Kostera Jr. 8
Laurentius Consultants Reynard 94D 36 Sweden Lars Johansson 1, 3
Bob Power Ralt RT23 48 Australia Bob Power 2, 4–5
Rohan Carrig Reynard 89D 49 Australia Rohan Carrig 3, 6, 8
Peter Hill Reynard 94D 66 Australia Peter Hill All
Damien Digby Reynard 92D 69 Australia Damien Digby 3

Schedule

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

Pos. Driver Victoria (state)
PHI 		New South Wales
EAS 		South Australia
ADE 		Australian Capital Territory
CAN 		Queensland
QUE 		Victoria (state)
WIN 		New South Wales
ORA 		South Australia
MAL 		Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1 New Zealand Simon Wills 1 1 1 Ret 8 2 1 7 1 2 2 2 1 1 3 1 244
2 Singapore Christian Murchison 3 4 2 1 1 5 3 2 2 1 Ret 6 3 2 1 6 208
3 New Zealand Matt Halliday 2 2 3 3 2 1 4 Ret 5 Ret 3 3 4 3 2 2 163
4 Australia Tim Leahey DNS 3 Ret Ret 3 3 2 Ret Ret Ret 1 1 2 Ret 109
5 New Zealand LeRoy Stevenson 5 12 Ret 4 7 6 7 4 6 3 12 4 8 6 5 5 97
6 Australia Paul Dumbrell 4 Ret 5 5 4 4 12 5 7 Ret 4 5 5 4 14 Ret 96
7 Australia Dale Brede 7 5 Ret Ret 12 Ret 5 3 4 12 6 Ret 7 7 4 3 80
8 Australia Chris Staff Ret DNS 7 2 5 7 6 1 11 4 63
9 New Zealand Andy Booth 6 13 4 6 6 8 9 Ret 10 6 6 5 57
10 Australia Steve Owen 10 6 3 5 5 Ret 9 8 6 4 56
11 Australia Peter Hill 9 7 6 DNS 9 9 8 Ret 13 11 7 7 10 10 9 7 37
12 Australia Ian Peters Ret 8 Ret 8 Ret 14 14 8 9 10 9 8 11 9 7 14 25
13 Australia Mark Ellis 10 16 15 9 12 7 10 9 11 9 12
14 Australia Garry Haywood Ret 6 8 Ret 9
15 Australia Les Crampton 8 9 11 10 12 15 8
16 Australia Roger Oakeshott Ret Ret Ret Ret 15 11 11 DNS 15 9 8 DNS Ret 11 Ret Ret 7
17 Australia Terry Clearihan 16 10 14 8 Ret 10 12 12 10 10 6
18 Australia Craig Bastian Ret 11 Ret 7 4
19 Australia Stan Keen 8 12 3
= Australia Brenton Ramsay Ret Ret 3
= Australia Robert Power Ret DNS 13 DNS 8 Ret 3
22 Sweden Lars Johansson 10 Ret Ret 12 2
23 Australia Chris Talbot 11 10 1
- Australia Rohan Carrig 16 DNS 11 Ret 13 13 0
- Japan Akihiro Asai Ret Ret 0
- Australia Stuart Kostera Jr Ret 11 0
- Australia Damien Digby 14 13 0
- Australia Neville Wills 13 15 0
Pos. Driver Victoria (state)
PHI 		New South Wales
EAS 		South Australia
ADE 		Australian Capital Territory
CAN 		Queensland
QUE 		Victoria (state)
WIN 		New South Wales
ORA 		South Australia
MAL 		Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2

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. ^ 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.

Further reading

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