# 1991 Tooheys 1000

The 1991 Tooheys 1000 was a motor race which was staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia on 6 October 1991. It was the 32nd running of the Bathurst 1000. The 1000 km race was held for cars complying with the provisions of Australian Group 3A Touring Car regulations with the field divided into three engine capacity divisions. It was the Round 2 of both the 1991 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1991 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
Nissan driver Mark Skaife became the first driver since Peter Brock in 1983 to claim provisional pole position, pole position after the Top 10 runoff (with a then fastest touring car lap time of 2:12.63), the race win, and the fastest race lap. His lap record in the race was set in the teams #2 GT-R and not the #1 he drove to victory with Jim Richards. (Brock's race record lap of 1983 was also set in the team's second, #25 car, but that was the car he drove to victory with John Harvey and Larry Perkins).
The Richards / Skaife Nissan GT-R recorded a one lap victory from the Holden Racing Team entered Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV of 1990 race winners Win Percy and Allan Grice with the GIO Racing Nissan GT-R of Mark Gibbs and dual Australian Drivers' Champion Rohan Onslow a further lap behind in third place. After having won the Sandown 500 in the lead up to Bathurst, third place was enough to see Gibbs and Onslow win the Australian Endurance Championship and help win Nissan their fourth Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
With the overall race time of 6h 19m 14.80s breaking the 1984 record of 6h 23m 13.06s. The 1991 time remained as the race record for the 1000 km event until it was broken at the 2010 event with a 6h 12m 51.4153s race time. As of 2023, the 1991 edition is still one of the fastest races in the history of this event, being the ninth fastest.

## Divisional structure
### Division 1

For Group 3A cars of 3001cc and Over engine capacity, it featured the turbocharged Nissan Skylines, Ford Sierras, Toyota Supras and a Mitsubishi Starion, the V8 Holden Commodores and a BMW 635 CSi.

### Division 2

For Group 3A cars of 1601-3000cc engine capacity, it was composed exclusively of BMW M3s, both the 2.5 L "Evo" version and the original 2.3 L car.

### Division 3

For Group 3A cars of Up to 1600cc engine capacity, it was composed exclusively of various models of Toyota Corolla.

## Tooheys Top 10

| Pos | No | Team | Driver | Car | TT10 | Qual |
| Pole | 1 | Nissan Motorsport Australia | Mark Skaife | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 2:12.630 | 2:12.84 |
| 2 | 4 | GIO Racing | Mark Gibbs | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 2:13.876 | 2:15.08 |
| 3 | 30 | Peter Jackson Racing | Glenn Seton | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:14.892 | 2:15.26 |
| 4 | 18 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | John Bowe | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:15.679 | 2:16.06 |
| 5 | 17 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | Dick Johnson | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:16.033 | 2:16.56 |
| 6 | 05 | Mobil 1 Racing | Peter Brock | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 2:16.071 | 2:16.44 |
| 7 | 2 | Nissan Motorsport Australia | Drew Price | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 2:16.296 | 2:15.62 |
| 8 | 11 | Mobil 1 Racing | Larry Perkins | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 2:17.018 | 2:16.20 |
| 9 | 35 | Peter Jackson Racing | David Parsons | Ford Sierra RS500 | 2:17.581 | 2:17.54 |
| 10 | 16 | Holden Racing Team | Win Percy | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 2:17.732 | 2:16.96 |
* After breaking Tony Longhurst's 1990 qualifying record of 2:13.84 by a full second, Mark Skaife lowered the mark again with a 2:12.630 in the Top 10. Skaife's Nissan GT-R also recorded a Group A fastest ever 293 km/h (182 mph) on Conrod Straight during the runoff. * 1991 was the first ever all-Nissan front row at Bathurst. It was also Nissan's third Bathurst pole position after George Fury claimed pole in 1984 in the Bluebird turbo, and Gary Scott had done so in 1986 in the Skyline DR30 RS turbo. With three GT-R's, Nissan also had its best ever representation in the runoff, breaking the record of two set in 1982 and 1986. * 1991 was the only time between 1988 and 1992 that a Ford Sierra RS500 did not qualify on the pole. Glenn Seton in the fastest Sierra was over 2 seconds slower than Skaife and one second slower than the GT-R of second placed Mark Gibbs. His time was also 0.952 slower than Klaus Niedzwiedz's 1990 pole time in a Sierra. * Peter Brock made his first appearance driving a Holden in the runoff since the first Group A race in 1985. Brock qualified his Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV in 6th place. Compared to Skaife's speed on Conrod Straight in the twin-turbo GT-R, Brock's naturally aspirated V8 Commodore recorded 278 km/h (173 mph), though this was a substantial improvement as the older model Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV usually topped out at around 270 km/h (168 mph) unless aided by a tow from another car. Despite this the VN Commodores were in fact almost 1.5 seconds slower than the VL model had been in 1990. * 1991 was the only time between his pole positions in 1988 and 1992 that Dick Johnson did not qualify his #17 Sierra on the front row. * Drew Price (Nissan), Larry Perkins (Commodore), David Parsons (Sierra), and Win Percy (Commodore) were the only drivers not to improve on their qualifying time. * HRT team manager and defending race winner Win Percy, who was competing in his 6th Bathurst 1000, made his first appearance in the Top 10 runoff. In four of his previous five races his cars had in fact competed in the runoff but it was his co-drivers - Tom Walkinshaw in 1985 and Allan Grice in 1987, 1988 and 1990, who did the driving on those occasions (Percy did not drive in 1986 and only qualified 18th in 1989).

## Official results

| Pos | Division | No | Team | Drivers | Car | Laps | Qual Pos | Shootout Pos |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Nissan Motorsport Australia | Jim Richards Mark Skaife | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 161 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | 16 | Holden Racing Team | Win Percy Allan Grice | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 160 | 9 | 10 |
| 3 | 1 | 4 | GIO Racing | Mark Gibbs Rohan Onslow | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 159 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | 2 | 20 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Denny Hulme Peter Fitzgerald | BMW M3 Evolution | 157 | 19 | |
| 5 | 1 | 28 | Playscape Racing | Kevin Waldock Brett Peters | Ford Sierra RS500 | 155 | 18 | |
| 6 | 1 | 6 | Alf Grant | Alf Grant Tim Grant | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 148 | 27 | |
| 7 | 1 | 05 | Mobil 1 Racing | Peter Brock Andrew Miedecke | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 147 | 7 | 6 |
| 8 | 1 | 27 | Terry Finnigan | Terry Finnigan Geoff Leeds | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 146 | 24 | |
| 9 | 1 | 30 | Peter Jackson Racing | Glenn Seton Gregg Hansford | Ford Sierra RS500 | 146 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | 1 | 50 | Bryan Sala | Bryan Sala Graham Lusty | Ford Sierra RS500 | 140 | 35 | |
| 11 | 1 | 14 | Warren Jonsson | Warren Jonsson Graham Jonsson | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 140 | 28 | |
| 12 | 3 | 78 | Speedtech Motorsport | Geoff Full Paul Morris | Toyota Sprinter | 140 | 39 | |
| 13 | 1 | 3 | Lansvale Smash Repairs | Steve Reed Trevor Ashby | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 137 | 16 | |
| 14 | 1 | 26 | Daryl Hendrick | Daryl Hendrick Chris Lambden John White | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 137 | 36 | |
| 15 | 1 | 22 | Perkins Engineering Formula 1 Investments | Graham Moore Michel Delcourt Peter McKay | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 136 | 21 | |
| 16 | 1 | 34 | Ray Gulson | Ray Gulson Graham Gulson | BMW 635 CSi | 134 | 34 | |
| 17 | 3 | 71 | Toyota Team Australia | Ron Searle Don Griffiths | Toyota Corolla FX-GT | 133 | 42 | |
| 18 | 1 | 15 | Toyota Team Australia | John Smith Geoff Morgan | Toyota Supra Turbo-A | 131 | 17 | |
| 19 | 3 | 75 | Bob Holden Motors | Ted Dunford Brad Wright | Toyota Corolla | 126 | 46 | |
| 20 | 3 | 73 | Bob Holden Motors | Bob Holden Rauno Aaltonen Dennis Rogers | Toyota Corolla | 124 | 47 | |
| 21 | 1 | 12 | Ray Lintott | Ray Lintott Tony Scott John English | Ford Sierra RS500 | 122 | 20 | |
| DSQ | 1 | 10 | Allan Moffat Enterprises | Gianfranco Brancatelli Charlie O'Brien | Ford Sierra RS500 | 158 | 12 | |
| DNF | 1 | 18 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | Paul Radisich Terry Shiel John Bowe | Ford Sierra RS500 | 152 | 5 | 4 |
| DNF | 1 | 8 | Caltex CXT Racing Team | Colin Bond Graeme Crosby | Ford Sierra RS500 | 152 | 14 | |
| DNF | 1 | 21 | Ampol Max 3 Racing | Bob Jones Mike Imrie | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 139 | 33 | |
| DNF | 2 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Tony Longhurst Alan Jones | BMW M3 Evolution | 138 | 11 | |
| DNF | 1 | 2 | Nissan Motorsport Australia | Drew Price Garry Waldon Mark Skaife | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 135 | 4 | 7 |
| DNF | 2 | 52 | M3 Motorsport | Peter Doulman John Cotter | BMW M3 | 133 | 32 | |
| DNF | 1 | 9 | Allan Moffat Enterprises | Gary Brabham Steve Millen | Ford Sierra RS500 | 128 | 15 | |
| DNF | 1 | 17 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | Dick Johnson John Bowe | Ford Sierra RS500 | 123 | 8 | 5 |
| DNF | 1 | 24 | Hersonne Engineering | Laurie Donaher Mick Donaher | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 123 | 38 | |
| NC | 1 | 39 | Everlast Battery Service | Bill O'Brien Brian Callaghan Brian Callaghan Jr | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 116 | 26 | |
| DNF | 1 | 43 | Brian Bolwell Racing | Brian Bolwell Arthur Abrahams | Ford Sierra RS500 | 113 | 22 | |
| DNF | 1 | 7 | Holden Racing Team | Brad Jones Neil Crompton | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 100 | 13 | |
| DNF | 3 | 77 | Bob Holden Motors | Geoff Forshaw Richard Vorst | Toyota Corolla | 96 | 48 | |
| DNF | 1 | 44 | Brian Bolwell Racing | Glenn McIntyre Dave Barrow | Ford Sierra RS500 | 93 | 31 | |
| DNF | 1 | 19 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing | Kayne Scott Gregg Taylor | Ford Sierra RS500 | 90 | 25 | |
| DNF | 3 | 74 | Peter Verheyen | Peter Verheyen John Vernon | Toyota Sprinter | 86 | 44 | |
| DNF | 3 | 70 | Toyota Team Australia | Neal Bates Rick Bates | Toyota Corolla FX-GT | 76 | 41 | |
| DNF | 1 | 11 | Mobil 1 Racing | Larry Perkins Tomas Mezera | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 65 | 6 | 8 |
| DNF | 1 | 35 | Peter Jackson Racing | David Parsons Wayne Park | Ford Sierra RS500 | 60 | 10 | 9 |
| DNF | 1 | 41 | Garry Willmington Performance | Garry Willmington Reda Awadullah | Toyota Supra Turbo | 56 | 30 | |
| DNF | 1 | 13 | Peter Janson | Peter Janson Peter Gazzard | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 53 | 28 | |
| DNF | 1 | 33 | Pro-Duct Motorsport | Bob Pearson Bruce Stewart | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 48 | 23 | |
| DNF | 2 | 54 | Kiwi Motorsport | Keith Sharp Ian Spurle Edgar Salwegter | BMW M3 | 34 | 40 | |
| DNF | 3 | 72 | David Sala | David Sala Brad Stratton | Toyota Corolla | 28 | 43 | |
| DNS | 1 | 32 | Pro-Duct Motorsport | Bob Tindal Darren Stewart | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | | 37 | |
| DNS | 3 | 76 | Bob Holden Motors | Mike Conway Calvin Gardiner | Toyota Corolla | | 45 | |
| DNQ | 1 | 36 | Ron Masing | Ron Masing Greville Arnel | Mitsubishi Starion Turbo | | 49 | |
| DNP | 3 | 79 | Malcolm Rea | Malcolm Rea Brian Selby Garry Jones | Toyota Sprinter | | | |

## Statistics

* Provisional Pole Position - #1 Mark Skaife - 2:12.84
* Pole Position – #1 Mark Skaife – 2:12.63
* Fastest Lap – #2 Mark Skaife – 2:14.50 - Lap 130 (new lap record)
* Average Speed – 158 km/h
* Race Time - 6:19:14.80 (new race record)