1998 Tickford 500
The 1998 Tickford 500 was an endurance motor race for V8 Supercars. The event, which was the 33rd running of the Sandown 500, was held on 12 September 1998 at the Sandown International Motor Raceway. The race was won by Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall driving a Perkins Engineering Holden VT Commodore.
Class Structure
While still following long-term plans to abandon class structures within V8 Supercar, a class was instigated for the 1998 Tickford 500 and FAI 1000 Classic endurance races allowing smaller teams to save considerable budget by running a Dunlop control tyre, indicated here by CT. Most teams, particularly the professional teams, preferred to race with freedom of tyre choice, indicated by the class OC.
Top Ten Shootout
The top ten cars from Qualifying contested a Top Ten Shootout to determine the first ten grid positions for the race. Shootout results were as follows:[1]
| Pos | No | Team | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pole | 50 | Holden Racing Team |  Greg Murphy
|
Holden VS Commodore | 1:22.3834 |
| 2 | 1 | Holden Racing Team |  Mark Skaife
|
Holden VT Commodore | 1:22.4050 |
| 3 | 18 | Dick Johnson Racing | John Bowe
|
Ford EL Falcon | 1:22.4548 |
| 4 | 4 | Stone Brothers Racing | Jason Bright
|
Ford EL Falcon | 1:22.4990 |
| 5 | 5 | Glenn Seton Racing | Glenn Seton
|
Ford EL Falcon | 1:23.3160 |
| 6 | 10 | Larkham Motor Sport | Mark Larkham
|
Ford EL Falcon | 1:23.7831 |
| 7 | 25 | Longhurst Racing | Tony Longhurst
|
Ford EL Falcon | 1:24.1355 |
| 8 | 17 | Dick Johnson Racing | Dick Johnson
|
Ford EL Falcon | 1:24.3714 |
| 9 | 35 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Jason Bargwanna
|
Holden VS Commodore | 1:24.6735 |
| 10 | 11 | Perkins Engineering | Larry Perkins
|
Holden VT Commodore | 1:25.9808 |
Official results
Race results were as follows:[2]
Note: The race was scheduled to be run over 161 laps, however the slower lap times dictated by the wet weather conditions resulted in the race being shorted after reaching its three hour 45 minute time limit.[3]
Statistics
- Provisional Pole Position (Qualifying) - #1 Mark Skaife - 1:11.9148 [3]
- Pole Position (Top Ten Shootout) - #50 Greg Murphy - 1:22.3834 [3]
- Fastest Race Lap - #4 Jason Bright - 1:13.2534 (152 km/h)
- Winners' race time - 03:45:09.5507 [2]
- Average Race Speed - 121 km/h [2]
References
- ^ "Tickford 500 Sandown 1998 Sandown International Motor Raceway Tickford 500 Top Ten Shootout". National Software. 13 September 1998. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
- ^ a b c "Tickford 500 Sandown 1998 Sandown International Motor Raceway Tickford 500". National Software. 14 September 1998. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
- ^ a b c Rain, What Rain? Australian Auto Action, 18-24 September 1998, pages 42-46