The 1986 Castrol 500 was an endurance race for cars complying with CAMS Touring Car regulations, which were based on FIA Group A rules. The event was staged on 14 September 1986 over 129 laps of the 3.9 km Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit[1] in Victoria, Australia, a total distance of 503 km. The race, which was Round 3 of both the 1986 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1986 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, was the 21st "Sandown 500" endurance race.
Cars competed in three engine displacement classes:[1]
The race was won by the Peter Jackson Nissan Skyline turbo of George Fury and Glenn Seton from their teammates Gary Scott and Terry Sheil, with the V8 Holden Commodore of Allan Grice and Graeme Bailey finishing third. 1986 was the first time a turbo powered car had won the Sandown enduro, and the first of six consecutive Sandown 500's won by turbo power.
Peter Brock and Allan Moffat, who between them had won 14 of the previous 17 Sandown enduros dating back to Moffat's first win in 1969, finished 4th in their Holden Dealer Team Commodore. Brock had won pole for the race in Saturday's "Castrol Chargers" top ten runoff with a time of 1:49.84. Defending race winners Jim Richards and Tony Longhurst finished two laps down in 5th place in their JPS Team BMW 635 CSi.
Robbie Francevic, the 1986 Australian Touring Car Champion, failed to start the race after his car was withdrawn on race morning following his comments that the Volvo 240T he was to drive wouldn't be competitive as the Volvo Dealer Team had not been able to practice due to the team still building the car. Francevic's public comments saw him dismissed from the team by team manager John Shepherd the day after the race.
The Holden Commodore of Allan Grice and Graeme Bailey won Class C (3001 to 6000cc), the Nissan Skyline of George Fury and Glenn Seton won Class B (2001 to 3000cc) and the Toyota Corolla of Mike Quinn and John Faulkner placed first in Class A (Up to 2000cc).
The 1986 Castrol 500 saw the touring car racing debut of 19 year old Mark Skaife. Co-driving with Peter Williamson in his Toyota Celica Supra, the pair finished 10th outright.
As sourced:[2]
A "Castrol Chargers" session, contested for the first time in 1986, involved the top ten cars from qualifying undertaking two single-lap runs to determine the final grid order for the race.[2]
| Pos | No | Entrant | Driver | Car | Time | Qual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 05 | HDT Racing Pty Ltd |  Peter Brock | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 1:49.84 | 1:51.0 |
| 2 | 30 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | George Fury | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 1:50.22 | 1:50.1 |
| 3 | 15 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | Gary Scott | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 1:50.33 | 1:50.3 |
| 4 | 2 | Valley View Poultry Pty Ltd | Allan Grice | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 1:50.66 | ? |
| 5 | 3 | HDT Racing Pty Ltd | John Harvey | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 1:51.26 | ? |
| 6 | 6 | Bob Jane T-Marts |  Graeme Crosby | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 1:51.47 | ? |
| 7 | 1 | JPS Team BMW | Jim Richards | BMW 635 CSi | 1:51.49 | 1:51.9 |
| 8 | 17 | Palmer Tube Mills | Dick Johnson | Ford Mustang GT | 1:51.95 | 1:51.9 |
| 9 | 4 | Autoport Centre | Peter McLeod | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 1:53.05 | 1:53.3 |
| 10 | 36 | Everlast Battery Service | Murray Carter | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 1:53.85 | 1:53.1 |
| Position | Class | No. | Entrant | Drivers | Car | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | 30 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | George Fury Glenn Seton | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 129 |
| 2 | B | 15 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | Gary Scott Terry Shiel | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 128 |
| 3 | C | 2 | Valley View Poultry Pty Ltd | Allan Grice Graeme Bailey | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 128 |
| 4 | C | 05 | HDT Racing Pty Ltd | Peter Brock Allan Moffat | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 128 |
| 5 | C | 1 | JPS Team BMW | Jim Richards Tony Longhurst | BMW 635 CSi | 127 |
| 6 | C | 6 | Bob Jane T-Marts | Graeme Crosby Wayne Wilkinson | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 127 |
| 7 | B | 36 | Everlast Battery Service | Murray Carter Bill O'Brien | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 125 |
| 8 | C | 3 | HDT Racing Pty Ltd | John Harvey Neal Lowe | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 125 |
| 9 | C | 33 | Mike Burgmann | Mike Burgmann Mal Rose | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 125 |
| 10 | B | 77 | Peter Williamson Toyota | Peter Williamson Mark Skaife | Toyota Celica Supra | 125 |
| 11 | C | 7 | Goold Motorsport | Charlie O'Brien Garry Rogers | BMW 635 CSi | 125 |
| 12 | C | 38 | Grellis Marketing | Ray Ellis Kerry Baily | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 125 |
| 13 | C | 19 | Tony Mulvihill | Tony Mulvihill Ken Matthews | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 123 |
| 14 | C | 11 | Enzed Team Perkins | Larry Perkins David Parsons | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 122 |
| 15 | B | 75 | Network Alfa | Colin Bond Peter Fitzgerald | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | 120 |
| 16 | B | 87 | Brian Bolwell | Brian Bolwell Tony Farrell | BMW 323i | 119 |
| 17 | A | 61 | Toyota Team Australia | Mike Quinn John Faulkner | Toyota Corolla | 119 |
| 18 | A | 60 | Giddings Moss Vale | John Giddings Bruce Stewart | Nissan Silvia RS | 118 |
| 19 | A | 42 | David Morton | David Morton Chris Clearihan | Toyota Corolla | 115 |
| 20 | A | 62 | Bob Holden Motors | Keith McClelland Brian Nightingale | Toyota Sprinter | 115 |
| 21 | C | 91 | Graham Lorimer | Graham Lorimer Phil Myhre | BMW 635 CSi | 114 |
| 22 | C | 4 | Autoport Centre | Peter McLeod Glenn Clark[3] | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 108 |
| 23 | A | 13 | Bob Holden Motors | Bob Holden Ray Cutchie | Toyota Sprinter | 108 |
| 24 | C | 28 | Capri Components | Lawrie Nelson Brian Sampson | Ford Mustang GT | 108 |
| 25 | C | 20 | Jim Keogh | Jim Keogh Des Wall | BMW 635 CSi | 106 |
| 26 | A | 88 | John White | John White Les Szreniawski | Isuzu Gemini ZZ (PF60E) | 106 |
| 27 | B | 76 | Hulcraft Automotive | Rex Muldoon David Sala | Ford Capri 3000S | 92 |
| 28 | A | 57 | Mike Freeman | Mike Freeman Bruce Williams | Toyota Celica | 84 |
| DNF | C | 8 | Cullen Supa Salvage | Warren Cullen Gary Sprague | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 113 |
| DNF | B | 44 | Volvo Dealer Team | John Bowe Alfredo Costanzo | Volvo 240T | 112 |
| DNF | C | 23 | Lusty Engineering Pty Ltd | Graham Lusty Ken Lusty | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 68 |
| DNF | C | 9 | JPS Team BMW | Kevin Bartlett Trevor Crowe | BMW 635 CSi | 57 |
| DNF | A | 16 | Toyota Team Australia | Drew Price John Smith | Toyota Corolla | 48 |
| DNF | A | 86 | Gem Spares | Daryl Hendrick Thomas Crozier | Isuzu Gemini | 45 |
| DNF | C | 24 | Jagparts | Gerald Kay Bryan Thomson | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 18 |
| DNF | C | 17 | Palmer Tube Mills | Dick Johnson Gregg Hansford | Ford Mustang GT | 16 |
| DNF | B | 99 | Hulcraft Automotive | Denis Horley[4] Craig Harris | Ford Capri 3000S | 14 |
| DNF | A | 58 | Ratcliff Transport Spares | David Ratcliff Don Smith | Toyota Corolla Levin | 5 |
| DNF | B | 49 | Alfa City Pty Ltd | Ray Gulson Frank Porter | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | 0[5] |
| DNS | B | 42 | Volvo Dealer Team | Robbie Francevic Graham McRae | Volvo 240T | - |
| DNS[6] | C | 12 | Gary Willmington | Gary Willmington[7] John Clinton | Jaguar XJ-S | - |
1986 Australian Touring Car season