The 2000 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of cars conforming to Formula Holden regulations.Australian Title Conditions, 2000 CAMS Manual of Australian Motor Sport, Page 7-11 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,Sporting Regulations - Administration Retrieved from www.formulaholden.com via web.archive.org on 17 January 2011 was the 44th Australian Drivers' Championship and the 12th to be contested with Formula Holden or Formula Brabham cars.
Teams and drivers
Team Chassis No Driver Rounds Birrana Racing Reynard 94D 1 Simon Wills All 8 LeRoy Stevenson All 9 Brenton Ramsay 1, 3 D Samimi Ralt RT21 2 Neville Wills 3 Stan Keen Shrike NB89H 5 Stan Keen 8 Kmart Racing Reynard 93D 7 Paul Dumbrell All Ralt Australia Reynard 92D 11 Chris Staff 1–5, 7 Reynard 94D 12 Matt Halliday All Chas Talbot March 87B 14 Chas Talbot 1 3M Australia Racing Team Reynard 91D 15 Les Crampton 1, 3, 8 Mantis Racing Reynard 92D 17 Mark Ellis 3–6, 8 NRC Racing Reynard 94D 20 Dale Brede All Reynard 95D 25 Christian Murchison All Greg Murphy Racing Reynard 92D 22 Tim Leahey 2–7 Camtech Racing Reynard 91D 24 Ian Peters All Garry Haywood Reynard 91D 26 Garry Haywood 1–2 Terry Clearihan Ralt RT23 27 Terry Clearihan 4–8 Hocking Motorsport Reynard 97D 28 Roger Oakeshott All Reynard 97D 74 Craig Bastian 1–2 Reynard 98D Akihiro Asai 3 Reynard 97D Steve Owen 4–8 Reynard 94D 75 Andy Booth 1–5 Reynard 97D Stuart Kostera Jr. 8 Laurentius Consultants Reynard 94D 36 Lars Johansson 1, 3 Bob Power Ralt RT23 48 Bob Power 2, 4–5 Rohan Carrig Reynard 89D 49 Rohan Carrig 3, 6, 8 Peter Hill Reynard 94D 66 Peter Hill All Damien Digby Reynard 92D 69 Damien Digby 3
Schedule The championship was contested over an eight-round series with two races per round.2000 Holden Australian Drivers Championship Race Results Sheets Retrieved from www.formulaholden.com via web.archive.org on 17 January 2011
Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 R1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit(Phillip Island, Victoria) 13 February Simon Wills Simon Wills Simon Wills Birrana Racing R2 Simon Wills Simon Wills Birrana Racing 2 R1 Eastern Creek International Raceway(Eastern Creek, New South Wales) 26 March Tim Leahey Tim Leahey Simon Wills Birrana Racing R2 Tim Leahey Christian Murchison NRC Racing 3 R1 Adelaide Street Circuit(Adelaide, South Australia) 8–9 April Simon Wills Simon Wills Christian Murchison NRC Racing R2 Simon Wills Matt Halliday Ralt Australia 4 R1 Canberra Street Circuit(Canberra, Australian Capital Territory) 10–11 June Tim Leahey Simon Wills Simon Wills Birrana Racing R2 Simon Wills Chris Staff Ralt Australia 5 R1 Queensland Raceway(Ipswich, Queensland) 2 July Simon Wills Matt Halliday Simon Wills Birrana Racing R2 Simon Wills Christian Murchison NRC Racing 6 R1 Winton Motor Raceway(Benalla, Victoria) 16 July Tim Leahey Simon Wills Tim Leahey Greg Murphy Racing R2 Christian Murchison Tim Leahey Greg Murphy Racing 7 R1 Oran Park Raceway(Sydney, New South Wales) 30 July Simon Wills Tim Leahey Simon Wills Birrana Racing R2 Simon Wills Simon Wills Birrana Racing 8 R1 Mallala Motor Sport Park(Mallala, South Australia) 27 August Simon Wills Simon Wills Christian Murchison NRC Racing R2 Christian Murchison 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.Sporting Regulations - Awards and Pointscores Retrieved from www.formulaholden.com via web.archive.org on 17 January 2011
Review New Zealand racer Simon Wills won his second Australian Drivers' Championship driving a Birrana Racing Reynard 94D Holden. 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 PHI EAS ADE CAN QUE WIN ORA MAL Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 Simon Wills 1 1 1 Ret 8 2 1 7 1 2 2 2 1 1 3 1 244 2 Christian Murchison 3 4 2 1 1 5 3 2 2 1 Ret 6 3 2 1 6 208 3 Matt Halliday 2 2 3 3 2 1 4 Ret 5 Ret 3 3 4 3 2 2 163 4 Tim Leahey DNS 3 Ret Ret 3 3 2 Ret Ret Ret 1 1 2 Ret 109 5 LeRoy Stevenson 5 12 Ret 4 7 6 7 4 6 3 12 4 8 6 5 5 97 6 Paul Dumbrell 4 Ret 5 5 4 4 12 5 7 Ret 4 5 5 4 14 Ret 96 7 Dale Brede 7 5 Ret Ret 12 Ret 5 3 4 12 6 Ret 7 7 4 3 80 8 Chris Staff Ret DNS 7 2 5 7 6 1 11 4 63 9 Andy Booth 6 13 4 6 6 8 9 Ret 10 6 6 5 57 10 Steve Owen 10 6 3 5 5 Ret 9 8 6 4 56 11 Peter Hill 9 7 6 DNS 9 9 8 Ret 13 11 7 7 10 10 9 7 37 12 Ian Peters Ret 8 Ret 8 Ret 14 14 8 9 10 9 8 11 9 7 14 25 13 Mark Ellis 10 16 15 9 12 7 10 9 11 9 12 14 Garry Haywood Ret 6 8 Ret 9 15 Les Crampton 8 9 11 10 12 15 8 16 Roger Oakeshott Ret Ret Ret Ret 15 11 11 DNS 15 9 8 DNS Ret 11 Ret Ret 7 17 Terry Clearihan 16 10 14 8 Ret 10 12 12 10 10 6 18 Craig Bastian Ret 11 Ret 7 4 19 Stan Keen 8 12 3 = Brenton Ramsay Ret Ret 3 = Robert Power Ret DNS 13 DNS 8 Ret 3 22 Lars Johansson 10 Ret Ret 12 2 23 Chris Talbot 11 10 1 - Rohan Carrig 16 DNS 11 Ret 13 13 0 - Akihiro Asai Ret Ret 0 - Stuart Kostera Jr Ret 11 0 - Damien Digby 14 13 0 - Neville Wills 13 15 0 Pos. Driver PHI EAS ADE CAN QUE WIN ORA MAL Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
References
Further reading Connor McNally, "Simply Simon", Motor Racing Australia, No 55, Dec 2000 / Jan 2001, page 44
External links 2000 Australian Drivers' Championship results at www.teamdan.com