The 2001 Clarion Sandown 500 was an Australian motor race for Sports and Production Cars which drew its entries from those competing in the Australian Nations Cup Championship and Australian GT Production Car Championship. It was the first Sandown 500 held since the former touring car endurance race was revived for production cars.
The race, which was the 34th Sandown 500 endurance race was held at Sandown Raceway in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia over the weekend of 15 September 2001.
Cars competed in four classes:
After qualifying was completed the fastest ten cars competed in a one-lap runoff for the top ten grid positions. Runoff results as follows: [1]
| Pos | No | Team | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pole | 43 | V.I.P. Petfoods |  Jim Richards | Porsche 996 GT3 | 1:16.9760 |
| 2 | 64 | Prancing Horse Racing |  John Bowe | Ferrari 360 Challenge | 1:17.3195 |
| 3 | 54 | Prancing Horse Racing | Paul Morris | Ferrari 360 Challenge | 1:17.9148 |
| 4 | 22 | Tekno Autosports | Neal Bates | Porsche 996 GT3 | 1:18.0764 |
| 5 | 24 | Prancing Horse Racing | Craig Baird | Ferrari 360 Challenge | 1:18.1601 |
| 6 | 666 | Team Lamborghini Australia | Paul Stokell | Lamborghini Diablo GTR | 1:18.3006 |
| 7 | 8 | Superrint Yokohama | Mike Downard | Porsche 996 GT3 | 1:20.9100 |
| 8 | 20 | Poolrite | Ian Palmer | Honda NSX Brabham | 1:22.3584 |
| 9 | 18 | Murray Carter | Murray Carter | Chevrolet Corvette C5 | 1:23.2543 |
| 10 | 7 | D'arcy Russell Racing | D'arcy Russell | Chrysler Viper ACR | 1:25.7557 |
Cars failing to complete 75% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC). Race results as follows: [2]
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | ||||||
| 1 | N | 64 | Prancing Horse Racing | John Bowe  Tom Waring | Ferrari 360 Challenge | 161 |
| Ferrari 3.6L V8 | ||||||
| 2 | N | 22 | Tekno Autosports | Steve Webb Neal Bates | Porsche 996 GT3 | 161 |
| Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | ||||||
| 3 | N | 3 | Fitzgerald Racing | Peter Fitzgerald Geoff Morgan | Porsche 996 GT3 | 159 |
| Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | ||||||
| 4 | N | 54 | Prancing Horse Racing | Paul Morris John Teulan | Ferrari 360 Challenge | 156 |
| Ferrari 3.6L V8 | ||||||
| 5 | N | 8 | Superprint Yokohama | Mike Downard Mark Zonneveld | Porsche 996 GT3 | 156 |
| Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | ||||||
| 6 | A | 15 | Bob Hughes Special Vehicles | Bob Hughes Rick Bates | Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E Evo VI | 150 |
| Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0L Turbo I4 | ||||||
| 7 | A | 59 | Protecnica Racing | Wayne Boatright Scott Anderson | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 149 |
| Subaru 2.0L Turbo Flat-4 | ||||||
| 8 | A | 16 | Robert Lane Kleenduct | Damon Templeman Peter Phelan | Honda S2000 Sports | 146 |
| Honda F20C 2.0L I4 | ||||||
| 9 | C | 62 | C + L Racing | Scott Loadsman Warren Luff | Holden VX Commodore SS 5.7 V8 [3] | 144 |
| Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8 | ||||||
| 10 | A | 88 | Michael Brock | Michael Brock Gary Young | Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E Evo V | 143 |
| Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0L Turbo I4 | ||||||
| 11 | C | 95 | Southern Rural Ford Dealers | John McIlroy Brett Youlden | Ford AU Falcon XR8 | 143 |
| Ford Windsor 5.0L V8 | ||||||
| 12 | A | 63 | Haysom Motorsport | Greg Haysom Craig Dean | Nissan 200SX Spec-R | 142 |
| Nissan SR20DET 2.0L Turbo I4 | ||||||
| 13 | B | 66 | Nilsson Motor Sport | Len Cave Brad Wright | Honda Integra Type-R | 142 |
| Honda B18C 1.8L I4 | ||||||
| 14 | B | 27 | Novacastrian Motorsport | Wayne Russell Steve Cramp | BMW 323i | 141 |
| BMW M52B25 2.5L I4 | ||||||
| 15 | C | 69 | Parts Plus Racing | Kent Youlden Luke Youlden | Ford AU Falcon XR8 | 143 |
| Ford Windsor 5.0L V8 | ||||||
| 16 | B | 13 | Osborne Motorsport | Colin Osborne Ric Shaw | Toyota MR2 Bathurst | 131 |
| Toyota 3S-GE 2.0L I4 | ||||||
| 17 | A | 38 | Castran Gilbert | Dennis Gilbert Trevor McGuiness | Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E Evo V | 138 |
| Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0L Turbo I4 | ||||||
| 18 | B | 5 | MAZ Motor Wreckers | Megan Kirkham Matt Lehmann Phil Kirkham | Mazda MX-5 | 134 |
| Mazda BP 1.8L I4 | ||||||
| 19 | N | 7 | D'arcy Russell Racing | D'arcy Russell Darren Palmer | Chrysler Viper ACR | 123 |
| Dodge 8.0L V10 | ||||||
| DNF | N | 43 | V.I.P. Petfoods | Jim Richards Tony Quinn | Porsche 996 GT3 | 126 |
| Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | ||||||
| NC | C | 42 | Wincross Motorsport | Richard Winston Robert Coutts | Holden VT Commodore SS V8 | 119 |
| Holden 5.0L V8 | ||||||
| NC | B | 4 | Anton E Mechtler | Christian D’Agostin David Lawson | Toyota MR2 Bathurst | 118 |
| Toyota 3S-GE 2.0L I4 | ||||||
| DNF | N | 24 | Prancing Horse Racing | Steve Beards Craig Baird | Ferrari 360 Challenge | 108 |
| Ferrari 3.6L V8 | ||||||
| NC | A | 57 | Corio Auto Parts Plus | Graham Alexander John Woodberry | Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E Evo V | 100 |
| Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0L Turbo I4 | ||||||
| DNF | N | 666 | Team Lamborghini Australia | Paul Stokell Steven Johnson | Lamborghini Diablo GTR | 89 |
| Lamborghini 5.7L V12 | ||||||
| NC | A | 87 | JNB Racing | John Falk Neil McFadyen Ken Lusty | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 87 |
| Subaru 2.0L Turbo Flat-4 | ||||||
| DNF | A | 9 | Prancing Horse Racing | Ross Palmer David Wood | Ford Mustang Cobra RA | 66 |
| Ford Modular 5.4L V8 | ||||||
| DNF | A | 61 | Team Yamaha | Trevor Haines Scott Jacob Grant Kenny | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 57 |
| Subaru 2.0L Turbo Flat-4 | ||||||
| DNF | A | 31 | Marget Engineering | Drew Marget Vince Macaro | Nissan 200SX Spec-R | 44 |
| Nissan SR20DET 2.0L Turbo I4 | ||||||
| DNF | A | 300 | Floyd Motorsport | Peter Floyd Cameron McConville | HSV VX GTS 300kW | 43 |
| Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8 | ||||||
| DNF | N | 18 | Murray Carter | Murray Carter Kosi Kalaitzidis | Chevrolet Corvette C5 | 38 |
| Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8 | ||||||
| DNF | C | 79 | Sandhurst Golf Estate | Alan Holgersson Jeremy Mantello Les Walmsley | Toyota Camry CSi V6 | 27 |
| Toyota 1MZ-FE 3.0L V6 | ||||||
| DNF | A | 14 | Scotts Transport | Clyde Lawrence Geoff Munday | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 15 |
| Subaru 2.0L Turbo Flat-4 | ||||||
| DNF | B | 44 | Thrifty Car Rental | Alan Shephard Steve Briffa | Honda Integra Type-R | 14 |
| Honda B18C 1.8L I4 | ||||||
| DNF | A | 28 | Ross Palmer Motorsport | Wayne Park Anton Mechtler | Honda S2000 Sports | 12 |
| Honda F20C 2.0L I4 | ||||||
| DNF | N | 20 | Palmer Promotions | Ian Palmer Brett Peters | Honda NSX Brabham | 12 |
| Honda C32B 3.2L V6 | ||||||
| DNF | A | 34 | King Springs Delphi | Mark King Rod Wilson | Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E Evo V | 0 |
| Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0L Turbo I4 | ||||||
| DNS [3] | A | 17 | Quirks Refrigeration | Peter Boylan Trevor Scheumack | BMW M3 | |
| BMW I6 | ||||||
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