FORMULA HOLDEN

Australia's top open wheel class is Formula Holden. formed in 1989 and running under the banner of Formula Brabham for a few years the class changed its name to Formula Holden so the general public in Australia could indentify with it as not many people can recall the great effort sir Jack brabham put in while competing in F1.
so what is Formula Holden..basically it is Australian Formula 3000..they use Formula 3000 chassis carbon fibre and aluminium tubs (aluminium tubs run in the silver star class, sort of the lites class)wheelbase is 109 inches and all chassis of course have to be FIA crash tested.They use Dunlop radial tyres (a control tyre) and the fronts are 10 inch and the rears are 14 inch. the engine is a production based Holden V6 engine that pumps out an impressive 340 horsepower at 6,750 rpm making them the fastest race cars in Australia (even faster than V8 supercar) coupled to this is a 5 speed gearbox and sequential shift is allowed to be used.they weigh around 1,540 pounds (675kg)including driver and can reach a top speed in excess of 165 mph (260kph).

so as you can see these are quite potent little machines and are gaining a good following here in australia and the class is also used in New Zealand. many of australia's top drivers have come through this class including Craig lowndes,Jason Bright,Mark larkham and New Zealands Simon wills just to name a few.
so far in 2000 the points standings after 4 of 8 rounds stands as this.

overall standings (gold star award)
1.Christian Murchison 114
2.Simon wills 107
3.matthew halliday 79
4.paul Dumbrell 56
5.tim leahey 54

for the silver star
1.peter hill 110
2.Ian Peters 80
3.les Crampton 57
4.Mark Ellis 38
5.gary Haywood 35

so thats formula Holden..hope it helps some people realise what its all about and you can check out all the info on the series at http://www.fholden.asn.au

http://www.fholden.asn.au/photos/2000pi09.jpg

the start at Phillip Island.

http://www.fholden.asn.au/photos/2000ca04.jpg

championship leader Murchison locks it up.

(all picks from the formula holden website)



[Edited by marcus on 15th June 2000]

hope this helps Dan :)

I was looking for this to put the pics...obviously i need my eyes tested or something!:)

Cheers for the info... it would seem that Holden is everything the British F3000 was not!! But at least we have BOSS I guess. These cars are just too expensive to run.

It's only used in NZ for two races a year,which Simon Wills has dominated the last two years,Teretonga and Ruapuna make up the series,although next year it moves north to Manfield and Pukekohe.Scott Dixon and Jason Bright have both moved on to Indy Lights after competing in this class.

I had to look hard for it myself crash test..if ya want the old topics try moving the "show topics from last ** days section..and there you have all the old stuff.

hey warwick..i know they only use them for the tasman series thing..and i know you used to have formula pacific over there...but your post has got me thinking...what is the top level of openwheelers in NZ since these cars are only used for 2 races ????

"show topics from last ** days section.."
-I went for 100 days...i dont know what i was doing....

Well New Zealand has FFord doesn't it?