2000 New Zealand Grand Prix

CUST Race 4 of the 2000 Tasman Cup New Zealand New Zealand Pukekohe_Park_Raceway_(1990).png 2 December, 2000 XLVI New Zealand Grand Prix Permanent racing facility Pukekohe Park Raceway, Pukekohe, New Zealand 1.765 2.841 40 70.60 113.64 Fine Simon Wills Birrana Racing 52.777 NZL Matt Halliday NRC International 53.587 34 NZL Andy Booth NRC International NZL Matt Halliday NRC International NZL Paul Dumbrell Wynns Racing AUSThe 2000 New Zealand Grand Prix event for open wheel racing cars was held at Pukekohe Park Raceway near Auckland on 2 December 2000. It was the forty-sixth New Zealand Grand Prix and was open to Formula Holden cars. This was the first time the marque event had been held at the Pukekohe circuit since 1991, and following the demolition of the circuit in 2023, it would also prove to be the last time the event would be held here. The race was won by New Zealand driver Andy Booth driving a Reynard 95D belonging to the Arthur Abrahams-run NRC International. Booth's teammate Matt Halliday finished second ahead of Australian driver Paul Dumbrell finished third. The event was also the final race of that years Tasman Cup. It would also prove to be the final race in the revived Tasman Series established in 1998 for Formula Holden as it would be discontinued for 2001. Race report Simon Wills entered the weekend as the favourite, having won the previous two iterations of the event. He backed this up by securing pole position by nearly eight tenths over his teammate, LeRoy Stevenson. He further cemented his form by winning the preliminary race on early Sunday. Wills romped off the line into an early lead while Andy Booth passed Stevenson for second place on the opening lap. American driver Emerson Newton-John also enjoyed a strong start and was nestled behind Stevenson in fourth place. Stevenson was forced to pit with car issues later in the race while Newton-John spun on the exit of the hairpin and found himself beached on the kerb. While the safety car was deployed to retrieve Newton-John's grief-stricken car, the paddock was shocked with news that Wills had retired from the race after having completely dominated the event up to that point. This left Booth in the lead with Matt Halliday in second place. Halliday began to set the pace and began to rein Booth in. With a handful of laps to go, Booth descended upon lapped traffic. One of the lapped cars, Ian Lloyd, was lapping considerably slower than anybody else on track. When Booth reached him, the pace disparity caused the race leader to check up. This caught out a fast-approaching Halliday who spun exiting turn four in a bid to avoid crashing into the rear of Booth's car. This left Booth with a clear run to the finish. He would take the chequered flag to win the New Zealand Grand Prix and the Tasman Cup. Halliday recovered from his spin to take second place while Australian driver Paul Dumbrell rounded out the podium. Classification Qualifying Pos No. Driver Team Time Grid 1 1 NZL Simon Wills Birrana Racing 0:52.777 1 2 8 NZL LeRoy Stevenson Birrana Racing 0:53.528 2 3 20 NZL Andy Booth NRC International 0:53.536 3 4 19 NZL Matt Halliday NRC International 0:53.943 4 5 7 AUS Paul Dumbrell Wynns Racing 0:54.013 5 6 22 USA Emerson Newton-John Greg Murphy Racing 0:54.307 6 7 74 AUS Steve Owen Hocking Motorsport 0:54.497 7 8 66 AUS Peter Hill Greg Murphy Racing 0:55.008 8 9 75 AUS Stuart Kostera Hocking Motorsport 0:55.306 9 10 28 AUS Roger Oakeshott Sportsmed Racing 0:55.634 10 11 17 AUS Mark Ellis Mantis Racing 0:55.794 11 12 27 AUS Terry Clearihan 0:56.564 12 13 24 AUS Ian Peters Camtech Racing 0:56.680 13 14 18 NZL Dean Cockerton 0:57.218 14 15 10 NZL Ian Lloyd 0:58.756 15 Source(s):http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Results/021200FHq2.htm MotorSport New Zealand - Pukekohe 2/12/00 - Formula Holden Qualifying 2 7 June 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20010304125840/http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Results/021200FHq2.htm 4 March 2001 dead Race Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 20 NZL Andy Booth NRC International 40 38min 25.383sec 3 2 19 NZL Matt Halliday NRC International 40 + 13.445 s 4 3 7 AUS Paul Dumbrell Wynns Racing 40 + 16.523 s 5 4 74 AUS Steve Owen Hocking Motorsport 40 + 17.723 s 7 5 66 AUS Peter Hill Greg Murphy Racing 40 + 32.020 s 8 6 75 AUS Stuart Kostera Hocking Motorsport 40 + 45.313 s 9 7 8 NZL LeRoy Stevenson Birrana Racing 39 + 1 lap 2 8 18 NZL Dean Cockerton 39 + 1 lap 14 9 24 AUS Ian Peters Camtech Racing 39 + 1 lap 13 10 17 AUS Mark Ellis Mantis Racing 36 + 4 laps 11 11 22 USA Emerson Newton-John Greg Murphy Racing 35 + 5 laps 6 Ret 10 New Zealand Ian Lloyd 27 Retired 15 Ret 1 New Zealand Simon Wills Birrana Racing 17 Retired 1 Ret 28 Australia Roger Oakeshott Sportsmed Racing 7 Retired 10 DNS 27 Australia Terry Clearihan Did Not Start 12 Source(s):http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Results/031200FHr2.htm MotorSport New Zealand - Pukekohe 3/12/00 - Formula Holden Race 2 7 June 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20010304125000/http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Results/031200FHr2.htm 4 March 2001 dead References New Zealand Grand Prix 1999 New Zealand Grand Prix 2000 2002 New Zealand Grand Prix expanded Category:New Zealand Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:Formula Holden New Zealand