1999 FAI 1000

The Ford Falcon EL in which Bob Thorn and Todd Wanless contested the race. It is pictured in 2018 in its 1999 colours.

57 cars entered the race, the first full field (55 cars or more) since 1990. For the first time the race was not officially multi-class, however an unofficial "Privateers Cup" was contested by the Level 2 and 3 licence holders who competed in the sprint rounds of the 1999 season.[1] 20 Ford Falcons (12 AUs and 8 ELs) and 37 Holden Commodores (15 VTs, 21 VSs and 1 VP) were entered in the event.

Paul Dumbrell made history as the youngest race starter (since surpassed by Cameron Waters in 2011) at 17 years, 2 months and 14 days. Of the 114 drivers, only John Cleland came from outside Australia and New Zealand. Three-time 'Great Race' winner Dick Johnson made both his final Bathurst and championship start after 26 and 202 starts respectively.

No.	Drivers	Team (Sponsor)	Car		No.	Drivers	Team (Sponsor)	Car
1	Craig Lowndes Cameron McConville	Holden Racing Team (Holden, Mobil 1)	Holden Commodore VT		39	Charlie Cox Chris Smerdon	Challenge Motorsport (Vittoria Coffee, I.T. Services)	Holden Commodore VS
2	Mark Skaife Paul Morris	Holden Racing Team (Holden, Mobil 1)	Holden Commodore VT		40	Cameron McLean John Cleland	Greenfield Mowers Racing (Greenfield Mowers)	Ford Falcon EL
3	Trevor Ashby Steve Reed	Lansvale Smash Repairs (Optus, PPG)	Holden Commodore VS		41	Garry Holt Bill Sieders	Emerzidis Motorsport (Eastern Creek Karting)	Ford Falcon EL
4	Jason Bright Craig Baird	Stone Brothers Racing (Pirtek)	Ford Falcon AU		42	Scott Fleming Mark Williams	Colourscan Racing (OzEmail)	Ford Falcon EL
5	Glenn Seton Neil Crompton	Glenn Seton Racing (Ford, Ford Credit)	Ford Falcon AU		43	Paul Weel Greg Crick	Paul Weel Racing (K&J Thermal Products)	Ford Falcon AU
6	Geoff Brabham Neal Bates	Glenn Seton Racing (Ford, Ford Credit)	Ford Falcon AU		46	John Faulkner Simon Wills	John Faulkner Racing (Wynn's)	Holden Commodore VT
7	Greg Murphy Steven Richards	Gibson Motorsport (Wynn's)	Holden Commodore VT		47	John Trimbole Kevin Heffernan	Daily Planet Racing (Daily Planet)	Holden Commodore VS
10	Mark Larkham Brad Jones	Larkham Motor Sport (Mitre 10)	Ford Falcon AU		48	D'Arcy Russell Grant Johnson	Rod Smith Racing (Playboy, Company Solutions)	Holden Commodore VS
11	Larry Perkins Russell Ingall	Perkins Engineering (Castrol)	Holden Commodore VT		49	Layton Crambrook Dean Crosswell	Crambrook Racing (Hidden Valley, SolaHart)	Holden Commodore VS
14	Mike Imrie Rodney Crick	Imrie Motorsport (STP, Narellan Town Centre)	Holden Commodore VS		50	Dean Lindstrom Melinda Price	Clive Wiseman Racing (UltraTune)	Holden Commodore VS
15	Todd Kelly Mark Noske	Holden Young Lions (MyCar Automotive Store)	Holden Commodore VT		54	Simon Emerzidis Garry Willmington	Emerzidis Motorsport (Simon's Earthworks & Waste)	Ford Falcon EL
16	Dugal McDougall Andrew Miedecke	McDougall Motorsport (Aloe Quench)	Holden Commodore VT		55	Rod Nash Dean Wanless	Rod Nash Racing (AutoPro)	Holden Commodore VT
17	Dick Johnson Steven Johnson	Dick Johnson Racing (Shell Helix)	Ford Falcon AU		60	Nathan Pretty Andrew Fawcet	Pretty Motorsport (Lewington's Transport)	Holden Commodore VS
18	Paul Radisich Steve Ellery	Dick Johnson Racing (Shell Helix)	Ford Falcon AU		66	Mark Poole Tony Scott	James Rosenberg Racing (John Deere)	Holden Commodore VT
19	Wayne Gardner David Brabham	Wayne Gardner Racing (Coca-Cola, McDonald's)	Holden Commodore VT		70	John Briggs Tim Leahey	Briggs Motor Sport (Supercheap Auto)	Ford Falcon AU
22	Danny Osborne Brett Peters	Colourscan Racing (Colourscan Printing)	Ford Falcon AU		73	David Parsons David Parsons	Gibson Motorsport (Challenge Recruitment)	Holden Commodore VT
24	Paul Romano Darren Hossack	Romano Racing (Siemens Mobile)	Holden Commodore VS		75	Anthony Tratt Alan Jones	Paul Little Racing (Toll)	Ford Falcon AU
25	Tony Longhurst Adam Macrow	Longhurst Racing (Castrol)	Ford Falcon AU		77	Richard Mork Christian D’Agostin	V8 Racing (v8racing.com)	Holden Commodore VS
26	Peter Doulman John Cotter	Doulman Automotive (Gatorade)	Holden Commodore VT		79	Mike Conway Ric Shaw	Cadillac Productions (SMS Consulting)	Ford Falcon EL
27	Terry Finnigan Darren Pate	Terry Finnigan (carsales.com, DWS)	Holden Commodore VS		80	Bob Thorn Todd Wanless	Briggs Motor Sport (Supercheap Auto)	Ford Falcon EL[2]
28	Rodney Forbes Geoff Full	Bob Forbes Racing (DietShake, Harlequin)	Holden Commodore VS		81	Tim Rowse Ron Barnacle	Rowse Motorsport (Rowse Motors)	Holden Commodore VP
30	Craig Harris Tim Shaw	Harris Racing (Brisbane Auto Group)	Ford Falcon EL		84	Daniel Miller Geoff Kendrick	Miller Racing (92.9 PMFM)	Holden Commodore VS
32	Tomas Mezera Tony Ricciardello	Tomas Mezera Motorsport (Densitron)	Holden Commodore VT		87	Damien White Rod Salmon	Rod Salmon Racing (OneWorld Hotel)	Holden Commodore VS
33	Phil Ward Allan McCarthy	Pro-Duct Motorsport (Pro-Duct Air Conditioning)	Holden Commodore VS		96	Matthew White Paul Dumbrell	John Faulkner Racing (Wynn's)	Holden Commodore VS
34	Garth Tander Jason Bargwanna	Garry Rogers Motorsport (Valvoline)	Holden Commodore VT		97	Wayne Wakefield Dean Canto	Graphic Skills Racing (Graphic Skills)	Holden Commodore VS
35	Greg Ritter Steve Owen	Garry Rogers Motorsport (Valvoline)	Holden Commodore VT		98	Barry Cassidy Neil Crowe	Owen Parkinson Racing (Repco Express, Trust Bank)	Holden Commodore VS
36	Neil Schembri Gary Quartly	Schembri Motorsport (GearBox)	Holden Commodore VS		134	Alan Heath Mick Donaher	Power Racing (West Terrace 4x4)	Ford Falcon EL
37	Alan Taylor Bill Attard	Alan Taylor Racing (The Xerox Shop)	Holden Commodore VS		600	John Bowe Jim Richards	PAE Motorsport (Caterpillar)	Ford Falcon AU
38	Peter Field Shane Howison	South Pacific Motor Racing (Motul, Robbo's)	Holden Commodore VS

For the first time the Bathurst 1000 was a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship and drivers had to now focus not only on winning the biggest race of the year, but also had to take into consideration their championship standings. Pushing too hard for a win and ending in the wall could prove detrimental for the championship, especially with Bathurst being the last race. Craig Lowndes entered the race with a 54-point lead over Russell Ingall, 172 on Garth Tander, 226 on Glenn Seton and 250 on team-mate Mark Skaife, with 300 points on offer for the race winner. With Ingall and Larry Perkins not quite on pace and a rare mistake when Larry missed the call from his crew to pit in under an early safety car, along with a tyre puncture, Lowndes' 2nd place with Cameron McConville was more than enough to secure him his 3rd and final title, the Holden Racing Team staging a 2-3 formation finish.

In 1998 Jason Bright crashed the #4 car in practice, and with great strategy and good driving won the race – but begun the 1999 edition in the same fashion as Bright once again crashed, this time at McPhillamy Park. However early in the race in the packed pitlane caused chaos under an early safety car, with Craig Baird dragging the pit boom for the #4 car down pitlane after a mistake from the team. Further technical problems during the race on ended any chance of them repeating their 1998 success.

A record entry of 57 cars (one unlikely to be broken) had to be whittled down to the track maximum of 55 for the race, yet in the first half of the race the attrition from driver mistakes was still as prevalent as ever and the safety car received a lot of running. FAI Insurance had a $100,000 prize if the winner could break the 1991 race record, however thanks to a then-record 10 safety cars they got nowhere near it... FAI did give Mark Larkham a consolation $20,000 for getting pole position.

Larkham broke not just the V8 track record but Neil Allen's 1970 pre-Chase record in qualifying that he set in a Formula 5000 car. In the race their engine let go before half distance. Garth Tander was another frontrunner, but crashed into Tomas Mezera when he suffered an oil leak-induced spin. Simon Wills was leading in John Faulkner's car mid-race but spun going into the Cutting and found the wall. John Bowe got the underdog PAE Motorsport Falcon as high as 5th before engine failure put he and six-time winner Jim Richards out of the race. David Brabham had a rear tyre explode entering the Chase which saw the Wayne Gardner Racing car lift up into the air then spin around, luckily not collecting any of the cars around him as he flew back over the track and ended up half parked in the sandtrap.

Paul Radisich and Steve Ellery dominated most of the race in the #18 car, with Radisich on course for victory but with 20 laps to go clipped a slower car and received a puncture, damaging the front bodywork as he went over the kerbs entering pitlane. The bodywork damage would later block the radiator and put the Dick Johnson Racing Falcon out with overheating issues, Radisich parking the AU on Mountain Straight. Greg Murphy and Steven Richards both won their 2nd Bathurst 1000, Richards becoming the first driver to win Bathurst in both a Ford and a Holden. They started the race in 12th but quickly floated towards the front of the field, and were the closest challengers to Radisich and Ellery all race.

It would be the last of 26 starts for 3-time winner Dick Johnson, who also made his 21st Top 10 shootout – a record having taken part in all shootouts (excluding 1998) since 1978. His co-driver and son Steven had been racing for a podium against Paul Morris with about 50 laps to go before spinning at the Chase, but was able to keep going and Dick finished his Bathurst career in 4th place. Long-time privateer Alan Taylor made his last of 18 starts, with his 7-year-old Commodore retiring very early on with engine failure.

The race would see the debuts of both 2012 winner Paul Dumbrell (breaking the record for youngest starter in the 1000 at the time) and runner-up Dean Canto, however both were out of the race inside 50 laps having been involved in (separate) crashes. Paul Morris received the "Rookie of the Year" award despite having made multiple starts in the race previously.

Geoff Full and Rodney Forbes won the Privateer's Cup, and even led a few laps during the race on an alternate strategy before being spun out by John Bowe. Cameron McLean and John Cleland were on track to win the class but a crash heading to Reid Park ended their day prematurely, unceremoniously caught in the background of the telecast.

• Provisional Position – #5 Glenn Seton – 2:10.2560
• Pole Position – #10 Mark Larkham – 2:09.5146
• Fastest Lap – #18 Paul Radisich – 2:12.5624
• Average Speed – 145 km/h

• Official V8 Supercar website
• CAMS Manual reference to Australian titles
• Race results
• Race images