2000 Superleague season
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The 2000 Superleague season was the first GPVWC Superleague season. It used Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 3 and saved qualifying and race files were submitted to the league for checking and classification.
The inaugural GPVWC season started late in the year and consisted of just nine races in total. Despite this, 2000 wasn't the shortest season in GPVWC history - strife for the league meant that the 2001 season was even shorter.
Interest in the league was very high in the first year, with no less than fifteen team brands being involved, and well over forty drivers scheduled to take part in race events over the season. None of the team brands survive to the present day and none of the drivers from the first season remained to take part in the GPVWC Superleague competition beyond the 2003 season.
Contents
Format
The qualifying, race and in-season testing sessions were all driven off-line and the saved game files were then submitted to the GPVWC for validation and classification in accordance with set deadlines. Saving the game at any point (for the session to be continued) was unrestricted.
The top twelve finishers scored points in the race.
Report
Teams and drivers
† Mal McKee replaced himself as test/reserve driver with Liam Hatchell after the Japanese grand prix.
‡ Adam Rouse pulled out of the competition after the Austrian grand prix.
New entries
All the teams in the first season were new entrants. During the season there were many team changes and a few re-branded team names, with some changing management staff.
Team changes
Sparshot Racing was the first casualty of the season, when it was announced the day after the Hungarian qualifying session that its manager Nick Douglas had resigned. It followed Peter Kent's unexplained resignation from the team after the first race and Samuel Manier's failure to attend the Hungarian qualifying session. GPVWC founder and administrator, Dan Lawrence, who was also the team's lead driver, bought the team (resigning as the team's driver in the process). However, Manier withdrew the rights to the team's name and so the outfit was re-branded as Dan Lawrence Racing. After the Hungarian race meeting, Borje Johnston was hired by DL Racing to replace Lawrence.
Feilerfuf were temporarily ejected from the competition after the Hungarian qualifying session, having not fielded any drivers at all in the first race and none for the Hungarian qualifying session. New Zealander Barry Gifford's Pacific Racing was entered in place of Feilerfuf, initially with a Britten power plant, having entered a partnership with Brendan Maw's Britten Racing. Pacific had to settle for a Fondmetal engine from Japan, though it had initially been announced they were going with Supertec. For what turned out to be the team's last race entry however (they qualified at Spa), they went back to the Britten engine.
Millennium ironically never actually survived into the new millennium, with 2000 being its first and only year with the GPVWC.
Steve White quit as a driver for Devils Racing after Hungary, to become manager of TBA Racing. Also after Hungary, Dave Harland took over Kugla Racing and re-branded it Team Racebase, and subsequently hired Thomas Floate to partner Peter Visscher, and also Larry Karam in the role of Test Driver.
Driver changes
Samuel Manier quit Sparshot Racing on hearing of the resignation of team manager Nick Douglas, the day after the Hungarian qualifying session. Canadian driver Scott Smith was hired by Sparshot Racing to replace him on the same day, scheduled to make his début in Australia.
Miroslav Polacek was fired from Silver Angels for failing to compete in the Australian GP.
After losing Steve White, Devils Racing hired Peter Knif (on loan from BA Racing), and also newcomer Reurink Roald as Test Driver.
2000 Calendar
Qualifying
Results and standings
Grands Prix
Scoring system
Points are awarded to the top 10 classified finishers.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Drivers standings
|
Bold - Pole |
* Fastest laps are currently unknown for Hungary, Australia † Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.
Constructors standings
|
Bold – Pole |
† Cars did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.
| Preceded by: None |
2000 Superleague season 2000 |
Succeeded by: 2001 Superleague season |
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