The 1989 .05 500 was an endurance race for Group 3A Touring Cars. The event was held at the Sandown circuit in Victoria, Australia on 10 September 1989 over 161 laps of the 3.10 km circuit, a total distance of 499 km. It was the 24th "Sandown 500". The race was sponsored by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation with the race name referencing the blood alcohol limit for driving on Victorian roads.Stefan Bartholomaeus, The Sandown 500 never shown on TV, www.v8sleuth.com.au Retrieved 17 November 2021
The race was won by Jim Richards and Mark Skaife driving a Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R for Nissan Motor Sport. It was the last race in Australia for six time "Sandown 500" winner and defending race winner Allan Moffat who retired at the end of 1989.
Classes Cars competed in three classes:Official Program, .05 - 500, Sandown, September 10, 1989 Class A: 2501cc & over Class B: 1601cc-2500cc Class C: under 1600cc
Top Ten Shootout The Top Ten Shootout, which determined the final grid order of the fastest ten cars from Qualifying, was run on a wet track. As a result, times were between 5 and 12 seconds slower than the drivers qualifying times. Pos No Team Driver Car TTS Qual Pole 17 Shell Ultra-Hi Racing Dick Johnson Ford Sierra RS500 1:20.61 1:15.22 2 05 Mobil 1 Racing Peter Brock Ford Sierra RS500 1:21.15 1:16.17 3 25 Benson & Hedges Racing Tony Longhurst Ford Sierra RS500 1:23.59 1:15.27 4 6 Miedecke Motorsport Andrew Miedecke Ford Sierra RS500 1:23.84 1:16.23 5 2 Nissan Motor Sport Jim Richards Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R 1:24.29 1:16.25 6 30 Peter Jackson Racing Glenn Seton Ford Sierra RS500 1:25.07 1:16.82 7 20 Benson & Hedges Racing Alan Jones Ford Sierra RS500 1:25.42 1:16.25 8 3 Nissan Motor Sport George Fury Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R 1:27.38 1:17.06 9 105 Mobil 1 Racing Brad Jones Ford Sierra RS500 1:28.75 1:17.26 10 18 Shell Ultra-Hi Racing Jeff Allam Ford Sierra RS500 1:29.57 1:17.23
Official results PositionAustralian Motor Racing Year, 1989/90, pages 250-252 & 300 Class No. Entrant Drivers Car Laps 1 A 2 Nissan Motor Sport Jim Richards Mark Skaife Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R 161 2 A 16 Holden Racing Team Win Percy Larry Perkins Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 160 3 A 3 Nissan Motor Sport George Fury Graeme Bowkett Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R 160 4 A 30 Peter Jackson Racing Glenn Seton John Goss Ford Sierra RS500 159 5 A 17 Shell Ultra Hi Racing Dick Johnson John Bowe Ford Sierra RS500 159 6 A 7 Holden Racing Team Neil Crompton Steve Harrington Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 155 7 A 105 Mobil 1 Racing Brad Jones Mark Larkham Peter Brock Ford Sierra RS500 155 8 A 6 Miedecke Motorsport Andrew Miedecke Charlie O'Brien Ford Sierra RS500 154 9 A 86 Gemspares Darryl Hendrick John White Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 148 10 C 32 Toyota Team Australia John Faulkner Peter McKay Toyota Corolla 143 11 C 33 Toyota Team Australia Michael Dowson Neal Bates Toyota Corolla 142 12 A 22 Lusty Engineering P/L Graham Lusty Alfredo Costanzo Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 136 13 B 50 W. R. Bryce Brett Riley Ludwig Finauer BMW M3 134 14 C 78 Team Maddison Racing Geoff Full Michael Adcock Toyota Corolla 133 15 C 39 David Sala Richard Vorst David Sala Toyota Corolla 130 16 A 45 Clive Smith Clive Smith Paul Trevethan Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 128 17 A 14 Murray Carter Murray Carter John Mann Ford Sierra RS500 122 DNF A 18 Shell Ultra Hi Racing Jeff Allam Tony Noske Ford Sierra RS500 111 NC C 51 Bob Holden Motors Dennis Rogers Mark Ducquet Kevin O'Neill Toyota Sprinter 105 NC C 13 Bob Holden Motors Bob Holden Tim Hall Toyota Corolla 98 NC A 36 P. J. Hudson Ian Carrig Ian Clark Peter Hudson BMW 635 CSi 95 DNF A 23 Beaurepaires Chris Lambden Greg Crick Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 90 DNF A 55 Playscape Racing Australia Kevin Waldock Bryan Thomson Ford Sierra RS500 87 DNF A 20 Benson & Hedges Racing Alan Jones Denny Hulme Ford Sierra RS500 87 DNF A 25 Benson & Hedges Racing Tony Longhurst Neville Crichton Ford Sierra RS500 87 DNF A 28 Joe Sommariva Joe Sommariva Warren McKellar BMW 635 CSi 75 DNF A 05 Mobil 1 Racing Peter Brock Paul Radisich Ford Sierra RS500 61 DNF A 24 Jagparts Racing Gerald Kay Alf Grant Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 53 DNF A 9 Allan Moffat Enterprises Allan Moffat Gregg Hansford Ford Sierra RS500 12 DNF A 19 Caltex CXT Race Team Colin Bond Garry Rogers Ken Mathews Ford Sierra RS500 2
Notes Pole Position - #17 Dick Johnson - 1:20.61 Fastest Lap - #6 Andrew Miedecke - 1:17.02
See also 1989 Australian Touring Car season
References
Further reading Australian Auto Action, September 22, 1989, pages 16–19 & 25-35 Australian Touring Car Racing Annual, 1989, pages 62–66