[William Dale Jr]

1989 Shell Ultra Australian Touring Car Championship
Round 5 - Mallala, SA (7/5/1989)

Circuit Length: 2.6 km
Race Duration: 1 hour (49 laps)
Weather: Sunny

The ATCC made its first stop in Mallala since 1971 but not everyone was satisfied by the facilities at the circuit, Johnson in particular was outspoken about them. The Nissan team expanded to three cars, Fury debuting a new Skyline while his old car was driven by Mark Skaife.

Johnson was on pole once again, but this one hadn't been quite so easy. Dick had picked up a stomach bug during the week and couldn't be in the car for long periods of time. Dick joked that the pole lap came because he had to get back to the pits really quicky! Alongside him was Bond, while championship leader Bowe had engine issues in the only dry session that left him down in eighth.

Johnson led Bond and Longhurst through the first turn kink, but Brock ran wide off the track and scattered the field as he rejoined out of control at turn two. The Mobil Sierra hit Bowe and went into a half-spin, to be hit by Fury and Jones. Richards saw the Mobil car coming and ran wide in avoidance. Meanwhile, Longhurst skated up the inside of Bond at the hairpin, locking up and running off into the dirt. He rejoined in fifth behind Skaife and Moffat and immediately ahead of the remarkable Slako in the pink and black Barbagallo Commodore, having avoided the melee at turn two. All this action left Johnson in a clear lead which he maintained until the end, but behind him though was all action. Bond was struggling with fluctuating boost, causing him to loop the Caltex car exiting the final corner. He'd later retire to avoid ruining the engine. Bowe's charge was briefly halted when he was shown the mechanical black and orange flag to rectify a loose rear bumper trim knocked loose by Brock on the first lap. Brock struggled on with an ill-handling car, finally put out of his misery when the diff broke - a legacy of the hits from Fury and Jones - just after half distance. Longhurst was in tyre trouble, partially caused by his lap one lockup, pitting from second for a new set of rubber. Bowe and Richards had made their way past the battling Skaife and Moffat into second and third, but the championship leader was now in gearbox trouble. No fourth gear left Bowe defenceless against Richards in the closing laps. The finishing order read Johnson, Richards, Bowe, Longhurst, and Moffat, who'd snagged fifth from Skaife on the line. Skaife would eventually get the place, though; the ANZ car was found to be underweight at post-race scrutineering and was disqualified.

Also of note, this was Gerald Kay's last race for his venerable, old, HDT-built VK Commodore. It went out in a plume of smoke, crossing the line with a dying engine! He would have a nice, new fuel-injected VL for Sandown.

Position	Number	Entrant	Driver	Car	Class	Race Time/Laps	Retirement Cause	Fastest Time	Qualifying Time	Grid Position
1	17	Shell Ultra-Hi Racing	Dick Johnson	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	1h00m40.88s		1m12.82s	1m10.62s	1
2	2	Nissan Motorsport	Jim Richards	Nissan Skyline GTS-R HR-31	A	1h01m09.20s		1m13.51s	1m11.59s	5
3	18	Shell Ultra-Hi Racing	John Bowe	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	1h01m26.53s		1m13.11s	1m12.34s	8
4	25	Benson & Hedges Racing	Tony Longhurst	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	1h01m30.07s		1m12.61s	1m11.52s	4
DQ	9	Allan Moffat	Allan Moffat	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	1h01m40.23s	car underweight	1m14.19s	1m12.78s	9
5	12	Nissan Motorsport	Mark Skaife	Nissan Skyline GTS-R HR-31	A	1h01m42.89s		1m14.09s	1m12.31s	7
6	3	Nissan Motorsport	George Fury	Nissan Skyline GTS-R HR-31	A	48 laps		1m13.77s	1m12.19s	6
7	20	Benson & Hedges Racing	Neville Crichton	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	48 laps		1m14.62s	1m23.87s	19
8	23	Beaurepaires Motorsport	Chris Lambden	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	47 laps		1m16.12s	1m15.21s	12
9	28	Joe Sommariva	Joe Sommariva	BMW 635CSi	A	45 laps		1m18.66s	1m20.00s	15
10	32	Toyota Team Australia	John Faulkner	Toyota Corolla AE82 Hatch	C	45 laps		1m20.49s	1m20.22s	16
11	39	David Sala	David Sala	Nissan Gazelle	C	44 laps		1m21.18s	1m35.69s	20
12	78	Geoff Full	Geoff Full	Toyota Corolla AE86 Liftback	C	44 laps		1m20.74s	1m21.38s	17
13	24	Jagparts Racing	Gerald Kay	Holden Commodore VK	A	43 laps		1m17.16s	1m18.00s	14
14	13	Bob Holden Motors	Bob Holden	Toyota Corolla AE86 Liftback	C	42 laps		1m25.81s	1m43.33s	21
DNF	96	Barbagallo Motorsport	Tim Slako	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	41 laps	ignition	1m15.76s	1m14.54s	11
DNF	105	Mobil 1 Racing	Brad Jones	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	30 laps	CV joint	1m14.44s	1m13.21s	10
DNF	05	Mobil 1 Racing	Peter Brock	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	29 laps	differential	1m13.26s	1m11.47s	3
DNF	4	Caltex CXT Racing	Colin Bond	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A	21 laps	fluctuating boost	1m13.81s	1m11.40s	2
DNF	77	Barbagallo Motorsport	Alf Barbagallo	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A	16 laps	gear lever	1m16.99s	1m16.31s	13
DNF	33	Toyota Team Australia	Darryl Bennett	Toyota Corolla AE82 Hatch	C	4 laps	gearbox	1m22.61s	1m22.31s	18
ENT	14	Murray Carter	Murray Carter	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A
ENT	15	I.C.L. Racing Pty Ltd	TBN	Holden Commodore VL (TWR)	A
ENT	30	Peter Jackson Racing	Glenn Seton	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500	A
ENT	51	Bob Holden Motors	Dennis Rogers	Toyota Corolla AE86 Liftback	C