1989 Tooheys 1000
The 1989 Tooheys 1000 was the 30th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 1 October 1989 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, Australia. The race was held for cars eligible under International Group A touring car regulations with three engine capacity classes.
The race was won by the Dick Johnson Racing Ford Sierra of Dick Johnson and John Bowe. The pair lead almost the whole of the race and was only seriously threatened by the Allan Moffat run Sierra of German drivers Klaus Niedzwiedz and Frank Biela. Third and fourth places were awarded to the official factory Nissan team entries with the Nissan Skyline of Jim Richards and Mark Skaife finishing third.
The Tooheys Top Ten runoff for pole position was notable for Peter Brock discharging his Ford Sierra's engine bay Halon gas fire extinguisher which was angled across the intercooler substantially boosting the power of the engine in the crucial drive up the mountain straight. As this was not technically against the rules the scrutineers did not find any misconduct, but the Entrants Association levied a $5000 fine on Brock for a moral infringement of the rules.
Class structure
Cars competed in three classes defined by engine capacity.Class 1
Class 1 featured the turbocharged Ford Sierras, Nissan Skylines, Toyota Supras and Mitsubishi Starions, the V8 Holden Commodores and BMW 635CSis.Class 2
Class 2 comprised BMW M3s and a Nissan Gazelle.Class 3
Class 3 was contested exclusively by various models of Toyota Corolla.Tooheys Top Ten
The Tooheys Top Ten was contested on the Saturday by the fastest ten cars from Friday to determine the final positions for the first five rows on the grid.For the first time since the advent of the Top Ten in 1978, television broadcaster Channel 7 aired the runoff in a one-hour package on the Saturday afternoon rather than the half-hour package of previous years. The extra time meant that each lap was shown in full for the first time rather than just sections of the laps run.
| Pos | No | Entrant | Driver | Car | TT10 | Qual |
| Pole | 05 | Mobil 1 Racing |  Peter Brock | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:15.80 | 2:16.60 |
| 2 | 17 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | Dick Johnson | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:16.79 | 2:16.58 |
| 3 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Tony Longhurst | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:16.98 | 2:16.98 |
| 4 | 10 | Allan Moffat Racing |  Klaus Niedzwiedz | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:17.42 | 2:17.02 |
| 5 | 105 | Mobil 1 Racing | Brad Jones | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:19.09 | 2:18.20 |
| 6 | 6 | Miedecke Motorsport | Andrew Miedecke | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:19.88 | 2:18.14 |
| 7 | 2 | Nissan Motorsport Australia |  Jim Richards | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 2:20.09 | 2:18.86 |
| 8 | 30 | Peter Jackson Racing | Glenn Seton | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:20.52 | 2:19.06 |
| 9 | 20 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Alan Jones | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:20.63 | 2:19.06 |
| 10 | 8 | Miedecke Motorsport | Andrew Bagnall | Ford Sierra RS500 | DNF | 2:19.10 |
- Peter Brock's only ever pole position at Bathurst where he didn't drive a V8 powered Holden. It was his first Bathurst pole since 1983, and his first front row start since 1984. It was also his record 6th Bathurst pole having been fastest qualifier in 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1979 and 1983.
- Andrew Bagnall crashed his Ford Sierra RS500 on top of The Mountain during the runoff and was allowed to start from 10th position, much like Dick Johnson who crashed his Ford XE Falcon in the runoff in 1983. Unlike Johnson in 1983 however, Bagnall's car was able to be repaired and did not need to be replaced.
- 1989 was the first time that a V8 Holden had not qualified for the Top Ten runoff. The fastest Holden was the #16 Holden Racing Team VL Commodore SS Group A SV of Larry Perkins and defending race winner Tomas Mezera in 11th with a 2:19.11 set by Perkins, missing out by only 0.01 seconds to Bagnall's Sierra.
- 1989 saw the only time between 1981 and 2003 that a car in which Larry Perkins was listed as a driver did not feature in the runoff.
- 1989 saw the first and so far only time where every car in the Top Ten runoff was powered by a turbocharged engine, with nine Sierra RS500's and the lone factory Nissan Skyline of Jim Richards making up the 10 runners.
Official results
| Pos | Class | No | Entrant | Drivers | Car | Laps | Qual Pos | Shootout Pos |
| 1 | 1 | 17 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | Dick Johnson John Bowe | Ford Sierra RS500 | 161 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | 10 | Allan Moffat Racing | Klaus Niedzwiedz Frank Biela | Ford Sierra RS500 | 161 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | Nissan Motorsport Australia | Jim Richards Mark Skaife | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 160 | 7 | 7 |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | Nissan Motorsport Australia | George Fury Anders Olofsson | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 160 | 13 | |
| 5 | 1 | 20 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Alan Jones Denny Hulme Tony Longhurst | Ford Sierra RS500 | 158 | 8 | 9 |
| 6 | 1 | 16 | Holden Racing Team | Larry Perkins Tomas Mezera | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 158 | 11 | |
| 7 | 1 | 7 | Holden Racing Team |  Win Percy Neil Crompton | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 158 | 18 | |
| 8 | 1 | 18 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | Jeff Allam Robb Gravett | Ford Sierra RS500 | 158 | 12 | |
| 9 | 1 | 105 | Mobil 1 Racing | Brad Jones Paul Radisich | Ford Sierra RS500 | 153 | 6 | 5 |
| 10 | 1 | 15 | ICL Racing | Allan Grice Peter Janson | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 153 | 19 | |
| 11 | 1 | 37 | Brian Callaghan | Brian Callaghan Barry Graham | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 152 | 22 | |
| 12 | 1 | 55 | Playscape Racing | Kevin Waldock Bryan Thomson | Ford Sierra RS500 | 152 | 23 | |
| 13 | 1 | 12 | Lansvale Smash Repairs | Steve Reed Trevor Ashby | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A | 151 | 29 | |
| 14 | 1 | 22 | Lusty Engineering | Graham Lusty Alfredo Costanzo | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 146 | 24 | |
| 15 | 1 | 34 | Ray Gulson | Ray Gulson Graham Gulson | BMW 635 CSi | 143 | 39 | |
| 16 | 2 | 52 | M3 Motorsport | Peter Doulman John Cotter | BMW M3 | 142 | 42 | |
| 17 | 3 | 33 | Toyota Team Australia | Mike Dowson Neal Bates | Toyota Corolla FX-GT | 141 | 48 | |
| 18 | 1 | 44 | Sutherland Mitsubishi | Gary Scott Kevin Bartlett Terry Shiel | Mitsubishi Starion Turbo | 141 | 26 | |
| 19 | 3 | 32 | Toyota Team Australia | John Faulkner Peter McKay | Toyota Corolla FX-GT | 140 | 46 | |
| 20 | 1 | 30 | Peter Jackson Racing | John Goss Glenn Seton Tony Noske | Ford Sierra RS500 | 140 | 9 | 8 |
| 21 | 1 | 60 | Scotty Taylor | Alan Taylor Roger Hurd | Mitsubishi Starion Turbo | 139 | 44 | |
| 22 | 1 | 54 | Clive Smith | Clive Smith Paul Trevathan | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 137 | 47 | |
| 23 | 3 | 78 | Team Madison Racing | Geoff Full Michael Adcock | Toyota Corolla | 136 | 53 | |
| 24 | 2 | 49 | David Sala | Ross Burbidge Steve Williams | Nissan Gazelle | 134 | 50 | |
| 25 | 1 | 38 | Mulvihill Motorsport | Tony Mulvihill Graham Moore Glenn McIntyre | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 133 | 37 | |
| 26 | 1 | 4 | Caltex CXT Racing Team | Colin Bond Bruce Stewart | Ford Sierra RS500 | 131 | 16 | |
| 27 | 1 | 48 | Mistic Mould Destroyer | Wayne Park John Giddings | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 130 | 27 | |
| NC | 1 | 28 | Joseph Sommariva | Joseph Sommariva Warren McKellar | BMW 635 CSi | 118 | 45 | |
| DNF | 1 | 45 | Lester Smerdon | Lester Smerdon Gary Hinton Marty Turpin | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 112 | 43 | |
| NC | 3 | 13 | Bob Holden Motors | Bob Holden Joe McAndrew Tim Hall | Toyota Corolla | 108 | 54 | |
| NC | 1 | 69 | Garry Willmington Performance | Ray Lintott Reda Awadullah | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 106 | 51 | |
| DNF | 3 | 51 | Bob Holden Motors | Dennis Rogers Marc Ducquet Richard Vorst | Toyota Corolla | 103 | 56 | |
| DNF | 2 | 50 | Bryce Racing | Brett Riley Ludwig Finauer | BMW M3 | 101 | 28 | |
| DNF | 2 | 57 | Sax Racing | Craig Turner Kent Baigent Lou Vandermeer | BMW M3 | 98 | 41 | |
| DNF | 1 | 8 | Miedecke Motorsport | Andrew Bagnall Graeme Crosby | Ford Sierra RS500 | 97 | 10 | 10 |
| DNF | 1 | 35 | Peter Jackson Racing | Tony Noske Glenn Seton Alain Ferté | Ford Sierra RS500 | 92 | 17 | |
| DNF | 1 | 24 | Jagparts | Gerald Kay Alf Grant | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 91 | 38 | |
| NC | 1 | 68 | Garry Willmington Performance | Garry Willmington Tom Watkinson | Toyota Supra Turbo | 91 | 49 | |
| NC | 1 | 23 | Chris Lambden | Chris Lambden Greg Crick | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 90 | 25 | |
| DNF | 2 | 56 | Sax Racing | Graham Lorimer John Sax | BMW M3 | 82 | 36 | |
| DNF | 1 | 05 | Mobil 1 Racing | Peter Brock Andy Rouse | Ford Sierra RS500 | 81 | 2 | 1 |
| DNF | 1 | 41 | Leeson Civil Engineering | Bob Tindal Des Wall John Leeson | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 79 | 55 | |
| DNF | 1 | 43 | Everlast Battery Service | Bill O'Brien Brian Samspon | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 65 | 33 | |
| DNF | 1 | 19 | Caltex CXT Racing Team | Ken Mathews Garry Rogers | Ford Sierra RS500 | 50 | 20 | |
| DNF | 1 | 21 | Bob Forbes Racing | Mark Gibbs Rohan Onslow | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 44 | 21 | |
| DNF | 1 | 46 | Reithmuller Pentecost Racing | Llyndon Reithmuller Ian Green | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 43 | 34 | |
| DNF | 1 | 31 | Toyota Team Australia | John Smith Drew Price | Toyota Supra Turbo A | 35 | 35 | |
| DNF | 1 | 9 | Allan Moffat Racing | Gregg Hansford Pierre Dieudonné | Ford Sierra RS500 | 30 | 14 | |
| DNF | 1 | 96 | Barbagallo Motorsport | Tim Slako Damon Smith Geoff Leeds | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 28 | 30 | |
| DNF | 1 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Tony Longhurst Neville Crichton | Ford Sierra RS500 | 27 | 3 | 3 |
| DNF | 1 | 27 | Mark Petch Motorsport | Robbie Francevic Gianfranco Brancatelli | Ford Sierra RS500 | 14 | 15 | |
| DNF | 1 | 40 | Terry Finnigan | Terry Finnigan Geoff Leeds | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 14 | 31 | |
| DNF | 1 | 14 | Murray Carter | Murray Carter John Mann | Ford Sierra RS500 | 10 | 32 | |
| DNF | 1 | 42 | Matt Wacker | Matt Wacker Frank Porter Mike King | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 4 | 40 | |
| DNF | 1 | 6 | Miedecke Motorsport | Andrew Miedecke Charlie O'Brien | Ford Sierra RS500 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| DNS | 3 | 39 | David Sala | David Sala Richard Vorst | Toyota Corolla |
Statistics
- Provisional Pole Position – #17 Dick Johnson – 2:16.58
- Pole Position – #05 Peter Brock – 2:15.80
- Fastest Lap – #17 Dick Johnson – 2:19.12 – Lap 2
- Average Speed – 154 km/h
- Race time of winning car – 6:30:53.44