 It was the ninth running of the Australia 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997.It was the 49th in a sequence of endurance races which commenced with the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island and 2005 was the 43rd year in which these races had been run at the Mount Panorama Circuit.It was also the first to be run under new naming rights sponsor, Australian automotive retail chain Super Cheap Auto.