1997 Tickford 500
# 1997 Tickford 500

The 1997 Tickford 500 was an endurance motor race for V8 Supercars. It was held on 14 September 1997 at the Sandown Raceway and was the 32nd running of the Sandown 500.

The race was won by Craig Lowndes and Greg Murphy, driving a Holden VS Commodore for the Holden Racing Team.

## Qualifying

The fastest lap in qualifying was set by Mark Skaife at 1:11.3142.

## Top 10 Shootout

The Top 10 Shootout, which was contested by the fastest ten cars from Qualifying, determined the order of the first ten grid positions for the race.

| Pos | No | Entrant | Driver | Car |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Pole | 05 | Holden Racing Team | Mark Skaife | Holden VS Commodore |
| 2 | 10 | Mitre 10 Racing | Mark Larkham | Ford EL Falcon |
| 3 | 1 | Ford Credit Racing | Glenn Seton | Ford EL Falcon |
| 4 | 9 | Alan Jones Racing | Alan Jones | Ford EL Falcon |
| 5 | 97 | Holden Racing Team | Jason Bargwanna | Holden VS Commodore |
| 6 | 15 | Holden Racing Team | Greg Murphy | Holden VS Commodore |
| 7 | 46 | Betta Electrical | John Faulkner | Holden VS Commodore |
| 8 | 7 | Wayne Gardner Racing | Wayne Gardner | Holden VS Commodore |
| 9 | 17 | Shell Helix Racing | Dick Johnson | Ford EL Falcon |
| 10 | 25 | Castrol Longhurst | Tony Longhurst | Ford EL Falcon |

## Official results

| Pos. | No. | Entrant | Drivers | Car | Laps |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 15 | Holden Racing Team | Craig Lowndes Greg Murphy | Holden VS Commodore | 157 |
| 2 | 11 | Castrol Perkins Racing | Larry Perkins Russell Ingall | Holden VS Commodore | 157 |
| 3 | 9 | Alan Jones Racing | Alan Jones Jason Bright | Ford EL Falcon | 157 |
| 4 | 46 | John Faulkner Racing | John Faulkner Win Percy | Holden VS Commodore | 156 |
| 5 | 34 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Steven Richards Jim Richards | Holden VS Commodore | 155 |
| 6 | 7 | Wayne Gardner Racing | Wayne Gardner Neil Crompton | Holden VS Commodore | 155 |
| 7 | 18 | Dick Johnson Racing | Steven Johnson Craig Baird | Ford EL Falcon | 154 |
| 8 | 45 | Gibson Motorsport | Darren Hossack Steven Ellery | Holden VR Commodore | 154 |
| 9 | 97 | Holden Young Lions | Jason Bargwanna Mark Noske | Holden VS Commodore | 153 |
| 10 | 25 | Longhurst Racing | Tony Longhurst Charlie O'Brien | Ford EL Falcon | 151 |
| 11 | 1 | Glenn Seton Racing | Glenn Seton David Parsons | Ford EL Falcon | 150 |
| 12 | 05 | Holden Racing Team | Peter Brock Mark Skaife | Holden VS Commodore | 150 |
| 13 | 12 | Robert Smith Racing | Bruce Williams Paul Gover | Holden VS Commodore | 148 |
| 14 | 26 | M3 Motorsport | Peter Doulman John Cotter | Holden VP Commodore | 148 |
| 15 | 24 | Romano Racing | Paul Romano Allan Grice | Holden VS Commodore | 144 |
| 16 | 14 | Malcolm Stenniken | Malcolm Stenniken Norris Miles | Holden VR Commodore | 144 |
| 17 | 16 | Castrol Cougars | Melinda Price Kerryn Brewer | Holden VS Commodore | 139 |
| 18 | 49 | Alcair Airconditioning | Greg Crick Peter Fitzgerald Terry Finnigan | Holden VR Commodore | 132 |
| DNF | 47 | Bottlemagic | John Trimbole Tomas Mezera | Holden VS Commodore | 128 |
| DNF | 28 | Playscape Racing | Kevin Waldock John Smith | Ford EF Falcon | 112 |
| DNF | 17 | Dick Johnson Racing | Dick Johnson John Bowe | Ford EL Falcon | 108 |
| DNF | 79 | Cadillac Productions | Mike Conway Gavin Monaghan | Ford EB2 Falcon | 95 |
| DNF | 3 | Lansvale Racing Team | Steve Reed Trevor Ashby | Holden VS Commodore | 47 |
| DNF | 10 | Larkham Motor Sport | Mark Larkham Andrew Miedecke | Ford EL Falcon | 33 |

The race was started in the rain under the control of the safety car. The weather conditions resulted in a slower than expected average speed and the race did not run to its full 161 lap distance, being halted on lap 157 after 3 hours 45 minutes and 22.3508 seconds.

## Statistics

* Pole position: Mark Skaife
* Fastest race lap: Mark Skaife – 1:17.4932 on lap 101
* Race time of winning car: 3h 45:22.3508
