The race was the sixth running of the Australia 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997. It was the 45th race for which a lineage can be traced back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island (including the 1960 race itself).
The race was won by Mark Skaife and Jim Richards driving a Holden Racing Team prepared Holden VX Commodore. The pair were re-united in sharing a car at Bathurst for the first time in seven years having previously won the race together in 1991 and 1992. It was Skaife's fourth win and the seventh and final win for Richards, placing him second on the list of Bathurst 1000 winners. It was also the fourth win for the Holden Racing Team, successfully defending their 2001 victory.
This race is notable for featuring the longest stop-go penalties in the history of the V8 Supercars. A five-minute penalty was awarded to Greg Murphy due to a pit-lane infringement and a similar penalty was imposed on the Team Brock car (No. 05) for a similar offence.[1]
* Owen Kelly practiced the #5 Falcon but was replaced by David Besnard due to illness after Besnard own car was withdrawn after it was crashed heavily by Wayne Gardner
** Ross Halliday practiced the #87 Falcon but was replaced by Peter Doulman after Doulman's own car (#24) failed to qualify.
*** Steven Johnson, Matthew Coleman and Peter Doulman (whose names are shown within brackets in the table above) did not drive during the race.[7]
