# 2000 New Zealand Grand Prix

The 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 | Simon Wills | Birrana Racing | 0:52.777 | 1 |
| 2 | 8 | LeRoy Stevenson | Birrana Racing | 0:53.528 | 2 |
| 3 | 20 | Andy Booth | NRC International | 0:53.536 | 3 |
| 4 | 19 | Matt Halliday | NRC International | 0:53.943 | 4 |
| 5 | 7 | Paul Dumbrell | Wynns Racing | 0:54.013 | 5 |
| 6 | 22 | Emerson Newton-John | Greg Murphy Racing | 0:54.307 | 6 |
| 7 | 74 | Steve Owen | Hocking Motorsport | 0:54.497 | 7 |
| 8 | 66 | Peter Hill | Greg Murphy Racing | 0:55.008 | 8 |
| 9 | 75 | Stuart Kostera | Hocking Motorsport | 0:55.306 | 9 |
| 10 | 28 | Roger Oakeshott | Sportsmed Racing | 0:55.634 | 10 |
| 11 | 17 | Mark Ellis | Mantis Racing | 0:55.794 | 11 |
| 12 | 27 | Terry Clearihan | | 0:56.564 | 12 |
| 13 | 24 | Ian Peters | Camtech Racing | 0:56.680 | 13 |
| 14 | 18 | Dean Cockerton | | 0:57.218 | 14 |
| 15 | 10 | Ian Lloyd | | 0:58.756 | 15 |
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### Race

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid |
| 1 | 20 | Andy Booth | NRC International | 40 | 38min 25.383sec | 3 |
| 2 | 19 | Matt Halliday | NRC International | 40 | + 13.445 s | 4 |
| 3 | 7 | Paul Dumbrell | Wynns Racing | 40 | + 16.523 s | 5 |
| 4 | 74 | Steve Owen | Hocking Motorsport | 40 | + 17.723 s | 7 |
| 5 | 66 | Peter Hill | Greg Murphy Racing | 40 | + 32.020 s | 8 |
| 6 | 75 | Stuart Kostera | Hocking Motorsport | 40 | + 45.313 s | 9 |
| 7 | 8 | LeRoy Stevenson | Birrana Racing | 39 | + 1 lap | 2 |
| 8 | 18 | Dean Cockerton | | 39 | + 1 lap | 14 |
| 9 | 24 | Ian Peters | Camtech Racing | 39 | + 1 lap | 13 |
| 10 | 17 | Mark Ellis | Mantis Racing | 36 | + 4 laps | 11 |
| 11 | 22 | Emerson Newton-John | Greg Murphy Racing | 35 | + 5 laps | 6 |
| Ret | 10 | Ian Lloyd | | 27 | Retired | 15 |
| Ret | 1 | Simon Wills | Birrana Racing | 17 | Retired | 1 |
| Ret | 28 | Roger Oakeshott | Sportsmed Racing | 7 | Retired | 10 |
| DNS | 27 | Terry Clearihan | | | Did Not Start | 12 |
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