The 2000 Canberra 400 (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2000 GMC 400) was the sixth round of the 2000 Shell Championship Series and the inaugural running of the Canberra 400 event. It was held on the weekend of 9 to 11 June on the Canberra Street Circuit in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
The tight, twisty nature of the brand-new street circuit invoked chaos throughout the weekend. The first race was won by Greg Murphy after starting 14th on the grid. Todd Kelly claimed his first V8 Supercar victory by winning the reverse grid race, and Craig Lowndes won the final race with Holden Racing Team teammate Mark Skaife following a close second in a formation finish. Despite not winning any races and only scoring one podium, Steven Richards' consistency netted him the overall round victory honours.
Background The event was held on the weekend of 9 to 10 June 2001. It was the first V8 Supercar event to be held on the streets of Canberra, and consisted of two 100 km races followed by a 200 km final which would reward double points. Pitstops were compulsory for all races. Race two would feature a reverse grid race.
After seeing the benefits drawn from the Adelaide 500 event, the ACT government saw fit to bring the V8 Supercar series to the nations capital. The governing body AVESCO offered Canberra a five-year opportunity to stage a round of the V8 Supercars. Initially called the National Capital 100, the race was to be run inside the Parliamentary Triangle which created some debate in the media about the appropriateness of the event for Canberra in general, and for the zone in particular. In 1999, the then Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Kate Carnell put forward the idea to the ACT Legislative Assembly based on the success of the Adelaide 500. The Assembly voted to stage the event, with the only opposition coming from the Greens Party who believed that the race would create both air and noise pollution.
The Assembly voted to appropriate A$4.5million in capital works and A$2.5million for recurrent expenditure over five years to operate the event. This included the creation and removal of the concrete barriers that lined the circuit. Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation (CTEC) were given the responsibility of delivering the GMC 400 on time and within budget.
Entry list
There were 32 drivers entered into the event. Four entrants (Alan Heath, Paul Romano, Mike Imrie and Peter Doulman) from the previous round in Darwin would not enter the event.
Race report Qualifying Mark Larkham secured provisional pole position with a time three tenths clear of nearest competitor, Craig Lowndes. John Bowe initially qualified seventh but his time was disallowed after incurring a technical infringement and thus was required to start the first race from the rear of the grid.
Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:44.0931 2 1 Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 1:44.4543 3 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:44.5822 4 9 Tony Longhurst Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:44.7630 5 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 1:44.7741 6 15 Todd Kelly Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore (VT) 1:45.0015 7 40 Cameron McLean Greenfield Mowers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.1564 8 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.2054 9 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:45.2467 10 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.3722 11 12 Greg Murphy Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:45.4283 12 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.4875 13 7 Steven Richards Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:45.6118 14 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VT) 1:45.6209 15 54 Cameron McConville Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:45.6314 16 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:45.6841 17 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.6959 18 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VT) 1:45.7739 19 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VS) 1:45.8324 20 6 Neil Crompton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.9030 21 66 Mark Poole James Rosenberg Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:46.1212 22 13 Rodney Forbes Bob Forbes Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:46.2549 23 4 Craig Baird Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:46.6263 24 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:46.6850 25 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:46.8969 26 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:47.1298 27 32 Tomas Mezera Tomas Mezera Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:47.1754 28 23 Steve Reed Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 1:47.2046 29 50 Mick Donaher Dick Johnson Racing Holden Commodore (VS) 1:48.1149 30 3 Trevor Ashby Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VS) 1:51.3801 31 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:59.0575 EXC 600 John Bowe PAE Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.0354 Source:
Top fifteen shootout Pos No Name Team Vehicle Time 1 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:44.1103 2 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:44.6217 3 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 1:44.8469 4 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:44.8694 5 1 Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 1:44.9137 6 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VT) 1:44.9448 7 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.3292 8 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.5797 9 7 Steven Richards Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:45.7574 10 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:45.7941 11 54 Cameron McConville Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1:46.0805 12 9 Tony Longhurst Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:46.1623 13 15 Todd Kelly Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore (VT) 1:46.2347 14 12 Greg Murphy Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 1:46.5243 15 40 Cameron McLean Greenfield Mowers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:54.4873 Source:
Race 1 Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 12 Greg Murphy Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 29 01:00:13.3208 14 2 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 9.716 16 3 7 Steven Richards Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 9.907 9 4 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 10.465 18 5 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 29 + 30.583 17 6 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 32.720 24 7 66 Mark Poole James Rosenberg Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 33.103 21 8 23 Steve Reed Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 33.566 28 9 6 Neil Crompton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 29 + 33.909 20 10 3 Trevor Ashby Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 36.085 30 11 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 38.106 31 12 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 29 + 38.409 2 13 1 Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 38.734 5 14 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 38.987 3 15 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 29 + 39.464 7 16 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 48.885 6 17 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 29 + 49.712 4 18 9 Tony Longhurst Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 29 + 49.870 12 19 15 Todd Kelly Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 52.632 13 20 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VS) 29 + 56.452 19 21 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 29 + 56.513 10 22 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 29 + 56.918 8 23 40 Cameron McLean Greenfield Mowers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 29 + 1:04.453 15 24 13 Rodney Forbes Bob Forbes Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 29 + 1:35.782 22 25 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 27 + 2 laps 1 26 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 23 + 6 laps 26 27 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 22 + 8 laps 25 Ret 50 Mick Donaher Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VS) 26 Retired 29 Ret 600 John Bowe PAE Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 11 Retired 32 Ret 4 Craig Baird Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 10 Accident 23 Ret 54 Cameron McConville Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 1 Retired 11 Ret 32 Tomas Mezera Tomas Mezera Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 0 Retired 27 Fastest Lap: Craig Lowndes (Holden Racing Team) - 1:45.3569 on lap 18 Source:
Race 2 (Reverse grid) Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 15 Todd Kelly Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore (VT) 25 45:44.3771 9 2 6 Neil Crompton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 2.500 19 3 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 11.178 7 4 7 Steven Richards Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 25 + 26.201 25 5 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 29.218 1 6 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 25 + 29.807 14 7 11 Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VT) 25 + 31.346 12 8 5 Glenn Seton Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 32.313 16 9 18 Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 34.247 13 10 1 Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 25 + 36.727 15 11 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 38.577 11 12 12 Greg Murphy Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 25 + 40.094 27 13 35 Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 25 + 45.186 26 14 16 Dugal McDougall McDougall Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 25 + 55.700 22 15 66 Mark Poole James Rosenberg Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 25 + 57.067 21 16 3 Trevor Ashby Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 25 + 1:02.423 18 17 600 John Bowe PAE Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 1:10.190 31 18 43 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 1:23.626 23 19 9 Tony Longhurst Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 1:34.201 10 20 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 25 + 1:53.436 2 21 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 24 + 1 lap 3 22 32 Tomas Mezera Tomas Mezera Motorsport Holden Commodore (VT) 23 + 2 laps 29 23 13 Rodney Forbes Bob Forbes Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 24 + 4 laps 4 Ret 8 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VT) 18 Retired 24 Ret 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VS) 16 Accident 8 Ret 40 Cameron McLean Greenfield Mowers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 14 Retired 5 Ret 46 John Faulkner John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 13 Retired 17 Ret 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 12 Retired 6 Ret 54 Cameron McConville Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore (VT) 11 Retired 28 Ret 50 Mick Donaher Clive Wiseman Racing Holden Commodore (VS) 2 Retired 30 Ret 23 Steve Reed Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VT) 2 Retired 20 DNS 4 Craig Baird Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (AU) Did not start Fastest Lap: Craig Lowndes (Holden Racing Team) - 1:45.3569 on lap 18 Source:
Race 3