1990 Nissan Sydney 500

Layout of the Eastern Creek Raceway

The 1990 Nissan Sydney 500 was motor race held on 10 November 1990 at Eastern Creek Raceway ^[1] in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The race, which was open to Group 3A Touring Cars, ^[2] was the final round of both the 1990 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1990 Australian Manufacturers' Championship. ^[3] Held over a distance of 500 kilometers, it was the first touring car event to be held at Eastern Creek Raceway. ^[4]

The race was won by Larry Perkins and Tomas Mezera driving a Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV. The race was broadcast by Ch.9 with commentary provided by Darrell Eastlake, Win Percy, Alan Jones (who also drove a Ford Sierra RS500 in the race), and legendary Formula One commentator Murray Walker (the race was held just a week after the 1990 Australian Grand Prix held in Adelaide).

Divisional structure

Mark Gibbs and Rohan Onslow drove a Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV in the race but failed to finish. Image from 2011

Cars competed in three engine capacity divisions. ^[5]

Division 1

Division 1, for cars of 3001cc and Over engine capacity, ^[6] featured the turbocharged Ford Sierras, Nissan Skylines and Toyota Supras and V8 Holden Commodores.

Division 2

Division 2, for cars of 1601 to 3000cc engine capacity, ^[6] was composed of BMW M3s, a BMW 323i and a Mercedes-Benz 190E.

Division 3

Division 3, for cars of Up to 1600cc engine capacity, ^[6] included various models of Toyota Corolla and Toyota Sprinter.

Official results

Top 10 Qualifying

Pos	No	Team	Driver	Car	Qual
Pole	1	Nissan Motorsport Australia	Mark Skaife	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	1:35.26
2	11	Perkins Engineering	Larry Perkins	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	1:35.66
3	25	Benson & Hedges Racing	Tony Longhurst	Ford Sierra RS500	1:35.78
4	35	Peter Jackson Racing	Glenn Seton	Ford Sierra RS500	1:36.18
5	17	Shell Ultra Hi Racing	John Bowe	Ford Sierra RS500	1:36.56
6	05	Mobil 1 Racing	Peter Brock	Ford Sierra RS500	1:36.68
7	20	Benson & Hedges Racing	David Brabham	Ford Sierra RS500	1:37.22
8	21	Bob Forbes Racing	Mark Gibbs	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	1:37.26
9	30	Peter Jackson Racing	George Fury	Ford Sierra RS500	1:37.36
10	6	Mobil 1 Racing	Charlie O'Brien	Ford Sierra RS500	1:37.44

Race

Race results as follows: ^[7]

Pos.	Div.	No.	Team	Drivers	Car	Laps	Qual. Pos.
1	1	11	Perkins Engineering	Larry Perkins Tomas Mezera	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	125	2
2	1	35	Peter Jackson Racing	Glenn Seton Colin Bond	Ford Sierra RS500	125	4
3	1	05	Mobil 1 Racing	Peter Brock Andrew Miedecke	Ford Sierra RS500	124	6
4	1	20	Benson & Hedges Racing	Gary Brabham David Brabham	Ford Sierra RS500	123	7
5	1	30	Peter Jackson Racing	George Fury Drew Price	Ford Sierra RS500	123	9
6	1	25	Benson & Hedges Racing	Tony Longhurst Alan Jones	Ford Sierra RS500	123	3
7	1	28	Playscape Racing	Kevin Waldock Andrew Bagnall	Ford Sierra RS500	123	12
8	1	33	Pro-Duct Motorsport	Bob Pearson Bruce Stewart	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	122	16
9	1	4	Lansvale Racing Team	Steve Reed Trevor Ashby	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	122	11
10	1	6	Mobil 1 Racing	Charlie O'Brien David Parsons	Ford Sierra RS500	121	10
11	1	12	Ray Lintott	Ray Lintott Terry Shiel	Ford Sierra RS500	121	13
12	1	26	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Garry Rogers Paul Fordham	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	121	14
13	1	27	Terry Finnigan	Terry Finnigan Geoff Leeds	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	120	15
14	1	42	Lusty Engineering	John Lusty Bernie Stack	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	119	20
15	2	51	Phil Ward Racing	Phil Ward John Goss	Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16	118	23
16	2	54	Bryce Racing	Brett Riley Craig Baird	BMW M3	117	26
17	1	2	Alf Grant	Alf Grant Tim Grant	Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R	117	24
18	1	45	Lester Smerdon	Lester Smerdon Graham Jonsson	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	116	25
19	3	71	Toyota Team Australia	John Faulkner John Smith Neal Bates	Toyota Corolla FX-GT	115	28
20	2	53	Brian Bolwell Racing	Brian Bolwell Mike Twigden	BMW 323i	111	29
21	3	78	Phoenix Motorsport	Geoff Full David Ratcliff	Toyota Sprinter	111	30
22	1	32	Hersonne Engineering	Laurie Donaher Marc Ducquet	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A	109	34
23	3	76	Peter Verheyen	Peter Verheyen John Vernon	Toyota Sprinter	109	36
24	3	72	David Sala	David Sala Richard Vorst	Toyota Corolla	106	32
DNF	1	17	Shell Ultra-Hi Racing	Dick Johnson John Bowe	Ford Sierra RS500	123	5
DNF	2	52	M3 Motorsport	Peter Doulman John Cotter	BMW M3	109	22
DNF	3	75	Bob Holden Motors	Dennis Rogers Garry Jones	Toyota Corolla	75	31
DNF	1	21	Bob Forbes Racing	Mark Gibbs Rohan Onslow	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	64	8
DNF	1	19	Caltex CXT Racing	Ken Mathews John Mathews	Ford Sierra RS500	64	27
DNF	1	22	Lusty Engineering	Graham Lusty Ken Lusty	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	52	21
DNF	1	1	Nissan Motorsport Australia	Jim Richards Mark Skaife	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	51	1
DNF	1	29	Wayne Park	Wayne Park John English	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	49	19
DNF	3	74	Bob Holden Motors	Phil Alexander Keith McCulloch	Toyota Corolla	44	33
DNF	1	46	Garry Willmington Performance	Garry Willmington John Bourke	Toyota Supra Turbo	24	18
DNF	1	23	Beaurepaires Racing	Chris Lambden Des Wall	Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R	18	17
DNF	3	73	Bob Holden Motors	Bob Holden Mike Conway	Toyota Sprinter	8	35
DNS [8]	1 [9]	40 [9]		John Leeson [9] Gary Cooke [9]	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A	-	-

Statistics

• Pole Position - #1 Jim Richards - Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R - 1:35.26
• Fastest Lap - #11 Larry Perkins - Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV - 1:37.84 (new lap record) ^[1]
• Winners' average speed - 140.61 km/h ^[1]

References

1. 1990 Championship Results, Nissan Sydney 500, Australian Motor Racing Year 1990/91, page 281
2. Conditions for Australian Titles, The Australian Manufacturers' Championship, 1990 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 172 to 173
3. Exciting Creek Debut, Australian Motor Racing Year 1990/91, pages 232 to 235
4. 1990 Nissan 500 - Eastern Creek (full race)
5. Exciting Creek Debut, Australian Motor Racing Year 1990/91, pages 232 to 235 makes reference to Division 2 and Division 3 competitors
6. 1990 Tooheys 1000 TV Guide, Modern Motor, October 1990, pages 66 & 67 specifies the three Divisions used in the Tooheys 1000, which was also a round of both the 1990 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1990 Australian Manufacturers' Championship
7. Clarke, Andrew (December 1990). "Worker's Compensation". Racing Car News. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing Group: 44–48.
8. John Evans, LP: What a gas!, Australian Auto Action, 16 November 1990, pages 12 to 15
9. Nissan 500, touringcarracing.net, as archived at web.archive.org

See also

1990 Australian Touring Car season