Mount Panorama street racing circuit in Australia

The 1997 Primus 1000 Classic was a 1000 kilometre endurance race for

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

,2016 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, Titles, pages 9 & 10, 500KM/1000KM Touring Car Races, as archived at web.archive.org
/ref> staged at the

Mount Panorama Circuit Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama (Wahluu) and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race held each October, and the Bathurst 12 Hour ...

just outside Bathurst in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 19 October 1997. It was the inaugural " 1000 Classic" race, created in response to the desire of

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

organisers AVESCO to compete at the popular

outside of the traditional

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recen ...

event, as AVESCO were in conflict with the Bathurst 1000 organisers, the Australian Racing Drivers' Club. While many attempts were made to broker a peace between the two bodies, there was a fundamental chasm over the issue of television coverage with AVESCO holding a series contract with

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

and the ARDC holding a contract with the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

. The impasse was solved when

Bathurst City Council Bathurst may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Australia * Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and the following things associated with the city ** Bathurst Region, the local government area for the Bathurst urban area and rural surrounds ** ...

negotiated a deal with AVESCO for a separate race, to be held two weeks after the

1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 The 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 was the 38th running of the annual Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 5 October 1997 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was the first Bathurst 1000 rac ...

, which subsequently went ahead with a field of Australian and British

Super Touring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...

cars. The 1997 Primus 1000 Classic was won by

Larry Perkins Larry Clifton Perkins (born 18 March 1950) is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia. Biography Early years Growing up on a farm in Cowangie in the Mallee region of Victoria, Larry, the son of racing driver Eddi ...

and

Russell Ingall Russell Ingall (born 24 February 1964 in London, England) is a former full-time Australian V8 Supercar driver. He won his V8 Supercars title in 2005, and finished second in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 1000, i ...

driving a

Holden Commodore (VS) The Holden Commodore (VS) is an executive car which was produced by Holden from 1995 to 1997 and 2000 for utility versions. It was the fourth and final iteration of the second generation of the Commodore. The range included the luxury variants, ...

Entry list and class structure

Class structure

;Level 1 These were the full-time professional teams, aiming to win the race outright and holders of a 'Level 1' V8 Supercar franchise. ;Special Level 1 The smaller, part-time 'Level 2' teams, who wished to run on the tyres of their own choosing. ;Level 2 The smaller, part-time 'Level 2' teams, running on a Dunlop control tyre of lower, cheaper specification.

Entry list

Results

Top 10 Shootout

Race

The names of drivers who did not drive in the actual race are shown in the above table within brackets.V8 Bathurst 1997, page 149

Statistics

* Provisional pole position (Fastest in Qualifying) - #97 Jason Bargwanna - 2:10.9216 * Pole position (Fastest in Top 10 Shootout)- #05 Mark Skaife - 2:10.0397 * Fastest race lap - #11 Larry Perkins - 2:12.3398 (new lap record) * Winners' average speed - 157.14 km/h (V8 Supercar record) * Most laps led - Perkins/Ingall - 80

References

External links

Official race results, www.natsoft.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org

Official V8 Supercar website, as archived at web.archive.org on 28 September 2002

{{Bathurst 1000 races Motorsport in Bathurst, New South Wales Primus 1000 Classic