The 1988 Enzed Sandown 500 was an endurance race for Group 3A Touring Cars. The event was held at the Sandown International Raceway in Victoria, Australia on 11 September 1988 over 129 laps of the 3.9 km circuit, a total distance of 503 km. This was the last time that the 3.9 km International configuration of the Sandown circuit was used for Australian touring car racing. The race was the 23rd running of the "Sandown enduro".
1988 would be the only year that New Zealand based hydraulic hose and connector repair company Enzed, a former sponsor of Larry Perkins, would sponsor the event.
Allan Moffat and Gregg Hansford won the race in their Eggenberger Motorsport built Ford Sierra RS500. It was Moffat's 6th and final Sandown enduro win having previously won in 1969, 1970, 1974, 1982 and 1983. It was also Moffat's final race win as a driver in Australia. Second was the new Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV of Larry Perkins and Denny Hulme, while third after numerous troubles was the pole winning Sierra of Dick Johnson and John Bowe.
Class B was won by the Mobil 1 Racing BMW M3 of Peter Brock, Jim Richards and David Parsons which finished 7th outright, 7 laps down on the Moffat/Hansford Sierra. Class C was won by the Nissan Gazelle of David Sala and Ross Burbidge which finished 11th outright, 20 laps down on the Sierra.
The race was broadcast live throughout Australia by the ABC with commentary provided by Will Hagon, Peter Gee and Melbourne motor racing personality "Captain" Peter Janson.
The race was contested in three displacement classes:[1]
Grid positions were determined by three 30 minute qualifying sessions.[2] The first ten positions were:
| Pos[3] | No. | Entrant | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing |  Dick Johnson | Ford Sierra RS500 | 1:46.94 |
| 2 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Tony Longhurst | Ford Sierra RS500 | 1:48.30 |
| 3 | 15 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | Glenn Seton | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 1:48.82 |
| 4 | 05 | Mobil 1 Racing | Peter Brock | BMW M3 | 1:50.04 |
| 5 | 8 | Andrew Bagnall | Andrew Miedecke | Ford Sierra RS500 | 1:50.09 |
| 6 | 10 | Holden Special Vehicles | Larry Perkins | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 1:50.18 |
| 7 | 9 | Allan Moffat Racing |  Allan Moffat | Ford Sierra RS500 | 1:50.40 |
| 8 | 30 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | George Fury | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 1:50.68 |
| 9 | 11 | Holden Special Vehicles | Armin Hahne | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 1:52.23 |
| 10 | 4 | John Giddings | Ford Sierra RS500 | 1:52.24 | |
| Position[4] | Class | No. | Entrant | Drivers | Car | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 9 | Allan Moffat Racing | Allan Moffat Gregg Hansford | Ford Sierra RS500 | 129 |
| 2 | A | 10 | Holden Special Vehicles | Larry Perkins Denny Hulme | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 129 |
| 3 | A | 17 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | Dick Johnson John Bowe | Ford Sierra RS500 | 125 |
| 4 | A | 26 | Strathfield Car Radios | Tony Noske Graham Moore | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 124 |
| 5 | A | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Tony Longhurst Tomas Mezera | Ford Sierra RS500 | 123 |
| 6 | A | 18 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | John Smith Alfredo Costanzo | Ford Sierra RS500 | 123 |
| 7 | B | 05 | Mobil 1 Racing | Peter Brock Jim Richards David Parsons[5] | BMW M3 | 122 |
| 8 | A | 46 | Sunliner Campmobiles | Tony Hunter Steve Harrington | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 121 |
| 9 | A | 22 | Lusty Engineering Pty Ltd | Ken Lusty Graham Lusty | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 121 |
| 10 | A | 24 | Jagparts Racing | Gerald Kay Geoff Munday | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 117 |
| 11 | C | 88 | David Sala[6] | David Sala Ross Burbidge | Nissan Gazelle | 109 |
| 12 | A | 42 | Hella Australia P/L | Matt Wacker Larry Kogge | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 99 |
| NC | C | 13 | Bob Holden Motors | Bob Holden Garry Jones Damon Beck | Toyota Sprinter | 81 |
| DNF | A | 30 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | George Fury Mark Skaife | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 94 |
| DNF | A | 36 | Everlast Battery Service | Bill O'Brien Ray Lintott | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 81 |
| DNF | A | 87 | Joe Sommariva | Joe Sommariva Darrell Belsky Warren McKellar | BMW 635 CSi | 79 |
| DNF | A | 38 | Grellis Marketing | Ray Ellis Bruce Williams | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A | 78 |
| DNF | B | 34 | Phil Ward Automotive Servies Motor Racing Division | Phil Ward David Clement | Mercedes-Benz 190E | 69 |
| DNF | B | 7 | Mobil 1 Racing | Neil Crompton David Parsons Peter Brock | BMW M3 | 58 |
| DNF | A | 11 | Holden Special Vehicles |  Jeff AllamArmin Hahne | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 56 |
| DNF | C | 32 | Toyota Team Australia | Brett Riley Peter McKay | Toyota Corolla | 44 |
| DNF | A | 8 | Andrew Bagnall | Andrew Miedecke Andrew Bagnall | Ford Sierra RS500 | 28 |
| DNF | A | 23 | Beaurepaires Motorsport | Chris Lambden Kerry Baily | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 26 |
| DNF | A | 20 | Terry Finnigan | Terry Finnigan Ken Mathews | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 25 |
| DNF | C | 31 | Toyota Team Australia | Mike Oliver Mike Freeman | Toyota Corolla | 23 |
| DNF | A | 3 | Yellow Pages | Peter McLeod Jim Keogh | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 21 |
| DNF | C | 86 | Gemspares | Darryl Hendrick John White | Isuzu Gemini ZZ | 17 |
| DNF | A | 4 | John Giddings Bruce Stewart | Ford Sierra RS500 | 15 | |
| DNF | C | 91 | Bryan Bate Motors Ltd | Bryan Bate Andrew Maher | Toyota Corolla | 11 |
| DNF | A | 28 | Capri Components | Lawrie Nelson Bob Jolly | Ford Mustang | 3 |
| DNF | A | 15 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | Glenn Seton Anders Olofsson | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 1 |
| DNF | C | 29 | Toyota Team Australia | Drew Price John Faulkner | Toyota Corolla | 1 |
| DNS | A | 2 | Colin Bond Alan Jones | Ford Sierra RS500 | ||
| DNS | A | 14 | Netcomm | Murray Carter Steve Masterton | Ford Sierra RS500 | |
Note: Car 13 was still running at the finish of the race but had not completed 75% of the race winners' distance.[7]
Sources differ in referring to the race as either the Enzed Sandown 500 or simply as the Enzed 500. The former is used in the Official Program[1] and in the Provisional Results[4] and has been used here.
1988 Australian Touring Car season