[William Dale Jr]

Enzed 500
Sandown Park, VIC (11/9/1988)

Circuit Length: 3.90 km
Race Distance: 126 laps
Weather: Cloudy

Subtle changes were made to the track in advance of November's WSPC round. A couple of the corners in the tight infield section had been eased at the apex to increase speed and improve its flow, but it would be the last time touring cars would use the full "Grand Prix" circuit. The entry list drew out everyone who was serious about their Bathurst preparations. Holden Special Vehicles were out in force with the new VL but without Tom Walkinshaw, Armin Hahne stepping into the seat of the 11 car. Longhurst's car now bore the yellow of Benson & Hedges, Johnson/Bowe were in a new car while Johnson's ATCC-winner was shipped back from the UK, and most of the Commodore privateers had upgraded to the new Group A SS spec. The Nissan team were back to full strength, with the #15 car repaired after rolling at Caltex Chase during the Tooheys 1000 launch day at Bathurst.

Johnson dominated qualifying, stoppping the clocks over a second quicker than Longhurst in second. The Nissans appeared to be more competitive, Seton putting his third, while the HSV Commodores lined up sixth and ninth on their debut.

Shades of the ATCC round at the start as Longhurst made a good initial jump, but broke a driveshaft. The time lost would put the #25 car out of contention, but its speed augered well for Bathurst. Meanwhile, Seton's good grid spot went for naught when the gearbox broke. It would prove to be Seton's last complete racing lap for the Nissan team. Johnson led early, before recurring overheating problems forced him to drop back. The lead swapped between Moffat, Fury and Perkins, before the second Skyline stopped with a broken tailshaft. Meanwhile, the two Mobil BMWs suffered reliability problems, and didn't appear to be fast enough to win anyway. Moffat/Hansford went on to take a comfortable win - Moffat's first since 1984 - from Perkins/Hulme. Confusion surrounded third place as Johnson/Bowe limped their Sierra to the line on the starter motor, having spent the last few laps in the pits overheating. Fourth-placed Noske/Moore contended that they had completed more laps than the Shell duo, but the result stood.

Position	Number	Entrant	Drivers	Car	Class	Race Time/Laps	Retirement Cause	Fastest Time	Qualifying Time	Grid Position
1	9	Allan Moffat Racing	Allan Moffat / Gregg Hansford	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	4h04m11.24s		1m50.23s	1m50.40s	7
2	10	Holden Special Vehicles	Larry Perkins / Denny Hulme	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	4h04m42.41s		1m50.94s	1m50.18s	6
3	17	Shell Ultra Hi Racing	Dick Johnson / John Bowe	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	125 laps		1m47.65s	1m46.94s	1
4	26	Strathfield Car Radios	Tony Noske / Graham Moore	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	124 laps		1m54.86s	1m54.73s	14
5	25	Benson & Hedges Racing	Tony Longhurst / Tomas Mezera	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	123 laps		1m48.45s	1m48.30s	2
6	18	Shell Ultra Hi Racing	Alf Costanzo / John Smith	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	123 laps		1m50.12s	1m53.50s	12
7	05	Mobil 1 Racing	Peter Brock / Jim Richards / David Parsons	BMW M3	B	122 laps		1m52.03s	1m50.04s	4
8	46	Sunliner Campmobiles	Tony Hunter / Steve Harrington	Holden Commodore VK	A	121 laps		1m57.33s	2m00.42s	23
9	22	Lusty Engineering P/L	Graham Lusty / Ken Lusty	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	121 laps		1m56.04s	1m57.47s	20
10	24	Jagparts Racing	Gerald Kay / Geoff Munday	Holden Commodore VK	A	117 laps		1m57.44s	1m56.63s	17
11	88	Bryan Sala	Bryan Sala / Ross Burbidge	Nissan Gazelle	C	109 laps		2m00.59s	2m01.35s	24
12	42	Hella Australia P/L	Matt Wacker / Larry Kogge	Nissan Skyline DR-30	A	99 laps		1m57.44s	2m06.93s	32
NC	13	Bob Holden Motors	Bob Holden / Garry Jones / Damon Beck	Toyota Corolla AE86 Liftback	C	81 laps	insufficient laps	2m05.14s	2m09.07s	33
DNF	30	Peter Jackson Nissan Racing	George Fury / Mark Skaife	Nissan Skyline GTS-R HR-31	A	94 laps	tailshaft	1m50.63s	1m50.68s	8
DNF	36	Everlast Automotive	Bill O'Brien / Ray Lintott	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	81 laps		1m54.92s	1m56.47s	16
DNF	87	Joe Sommariva	Joe Sommariva / Darrell Belskyj / Warren McKellar	BMW 635CSi	A	79 laps		1m59.47s	2m01.92s	25
DNF	38	Grellis Marketing	Ray Ellis / Bruce Williams	Holden Commodore VL (HDT)	A	78 laps		1m57.48s	1m56.95s	19
DNF	34	Phil Ward Automotive Services Motor Racing Division	Phil Ward / David Clement	Mercedes-Benz 190E-16	B	69 laps	electrical	1m55.08s	2m03.30s	28
DNF	7	Mobil 1 Racing	Neil Crompton / David Parsons / Peter Brock	BMW M3	B	58 laps	engine	1m53.71s	1m53.28s	11
DNF	11	Holden Special Vehicles	Armin Hahne / Jeff Allam	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	56 laps	broken axle	1m51.32s	1m52.23s	9
DNF	32	Toyota Team Australia	Brett Riley / Peter McKay	Toyota Corolla AE82 Hatch	C	44 laps		2m04.31	2m02.26s	26
DNF	8	Andrew Bagnall	Andrew Bagnall / Andrew Miedecke	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	28 laps	damaged rear hub	1m50.60s	1m50.09s	5
DNF	23	Beaurepaires Motorsport	Chris Lambden / Kerry Baily	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	26 laps	oil leak	1m55.13s	1m56.79s	18
DNF	20	Terry Finnigan	Terry Finnigan / Ken Mathews	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	25 laps	head gasket	1m54.14s	1m53.75s	13
DNF	31	Toyota Team Australia	Mike Oliver / Mike Freeman	Toyota Corolla AE82 Hatch	C	23 laps		2m03.53s	2m02.44s	27
DNF	3	Yellow Pages	Peter McLeod / Jim Keogh	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	21 laps		1m53.56s	1m56.36s	15
DNF	86	Gemspares	Daryl Hendrick / John White	Isuzu Gemini ZZ	C	17 laps		2m00.21	2m05.94s	31
DNF	4	Caltex CXT Racing Team	John Giddings / Bruce Stewart	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	15 laps	overheating	1m52.93s	1m52.24s	10
DNF	91	Bryan Bate Motors Ltd.	Bryan Bate / Andrew Maher	Toyota Corolla AE86 Liftback	C	11 laps		2m05.32s	2m05.35s	29
DNF	28	Capri Components	Laurie Nelson / Bob Jolly	Ford Mustang	A	3 laps		2m03.35s	1m58.06s	21
DNF	15	Peter Jackson Nissan Racing	Glenn Seton / Anders Olofsson	Nissan Skyline GTS-R HR-31	A	1 lap	gearbox	2m02.70s	1m48.82s	3
DNF	29	Toyota Team Australia	Drew Price / John Faulkner	Toyota Corolla AE86 Coupe	C	1 lap		2m25.85s	2m00.10s	22
DNS	2	Caltex CXT Racing Team	Colin Bond / Alan Jones	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A				2m05.64s	30
DNQ	14	NetComm Australia	Murray Carter / Steve Masterton	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A				NTR
ENT	6	I.C.L. Racing Pty. Ltd.	Garry Rogers / Kris Matich	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A
ENT	12	I.C.L. Racing Pty. Ltd.	TBA / TBA	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A
ENT	16	Bob Forbes Corp. Pty. Ltd.	John Harvey / Kevin Bartlett	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A
ENT	40	Garry Willmington	Garry Willmington / John Leeson	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A
ENT	48	Graham Lorimer	John Sax / Robbie Francevic	BMW M3	A