1928 Australian Grand Prix

The 1928 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held on the Phillip Island road circuit, on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia on 31 March 1928. Although now known as the first Australian Grand Prix, the race was actually staged as the 100 Miles Road Race and it did not assume the Australian Grand Prix title until some years later.[1] It was organised by the Victorian Light Car Club.[2]

1928 Australian Grand Prix
Race details
Date 31 March 1928
Location Phillip Island, Victoria
Course Temporary road circuit
Course length 10.6 km (6.5 miles)
Distance 16 laps, 169 km (105 miles)
Weather Sunny
Podium
First
Austin
Second
  • Australia John McCutcheon
 Morris
Third
  • Australia Cyril Dickason
 Austin

The overall winner was Arthur Waite driving an Austin 7. The winning car averaged 56.25 mph (90.50 km/h).[3]

Race summary

The race was originally to be held on Monday 26 March however rain forced postponement until Saturday 31 March.[3] It was open to "light" cars of up to 2-litre capacity[3] and it attracted 30 entries, of which 25 were accepted and 17 started.[4]

Competing cars were classified into classes according to cylinder capacity:[5]

  • Class A: Cars up to 750cc[5]
  • Class B: Cars over 750cc and up to 1100cc[5]
  • Class C: Cars over 1100cc and up to 1500cc[5]
  • Class D: Cars over 1500cc and up to 2000cc[5]

The event was conducted as two separate races, with the first held in the morning for Class B and D entries, and the second held in the afternoon, for Class A and C cars.[3] The competitor setting the fastest time was to receive a £100 trophy donated by Charles Brown Kellow and would be regarded as "Champion of the Day".[6] Trophies were also to be awarded for first and second places in each class and all other competitors who finished within the 2½ hour time limit would receive a Club award.[6]

Only two cars completed the course without stopping.[7] They were the Morris Cowley of J. O. McCutcheon and the Austin 12 of C. R. Dickason.[7]

Race results
Arthur Waite was the overall winner driving an Austin 7. He also won Class A.
John McCutcheon placed second overall and won Class D driving a Morris Cowley
Cyril Dickason placed third overall driving an Austin 12
Arthur Terdich placed fourth and won Class C driving a Bugatti Type 40
Barney Dentry placed fifth and won Class B driving a Sénéchal

Race One
Pos[8][3] No.[8][3] Class[8][3] Driver[8][3] Car[8][3] Entrant[8] Laps[8][3] Time[8][3]
1 24 D John McCutcheon Morris Cowley J. O. McCutcheon 16 1h 50m 10s
2 25 D Cyril Dickason Austin 12 C. R. Dickason 16 1h 54m 02s
3 10 B Barney Dentry Sénéchal G. Dentry 16 1h 55m 44s
4 26 D Bill Lowe Métallurgique W. H. Lowe 16 2h 05m 01s
5 8 B Bill Williamson Riley Nine Mrs J. A. Day 16 2h 17m 37s
6 7 B Les Pound DFP L. Pound 16 2h 24m 29s
Ret 6 B W. A. "Ab" Terdich DFP W. A. Terdich 10[9]
Ret 23 D Les Jennings Morris Cowley L. Jennings 6[9]
DNS 9 B B. W. Solly Opel Rex Motors P/L -
DNS 11 B Maurice Shmith Fiat 509 M. Shmith -
DNS 12 B George Saville Amilcar Grand Sport G. Saville -
DNS 22 D John Hollway Darracq J. Hollway -

Race Two
Pos[8][3] No.[8][3] Class[8][3] Driver[8][3] Car[8][3] Entrant[8] Laps[8][3] Time[8][3]
1 3 A Australia Arthur Waite Austin 7 s/c A. Waite 16 1h 46m 40s
2 14 C Australia Arthur Terdich Bugatti Type 40 A. J. Terdich 16 1h 54m 45s
3 15 C Jack Day Bugatti Type 37A J. A. Day 16 1h 56m 26s
4 5 A Clarrie May Austin 7 C. May 16 2h 03m 24s
5 16 C J. C. Hutton Alvis 12/50 J. C. Hutton 16 2h 04m 21s
6 2 A Tom Davey Austin 7 T. N. Davey 16 2h 06m 19s
7 1 A Stan King Austin 7 S. V. King 16 2h 08m 35s
Ret 17 C Ron Gardner Alvis 12/50 R. G. Gardner 8[10]
Ret 18 C Ed Houn Aston Martin J. E. Goodall 1[9]
DNS 4 A Albert Edwards Austin 7 A. Edwards -
DNS 19 C Ed Hussey Cooper Frazer Nash E. H. Cooper -
DNS 20 C Sid Cox Bugatti Type 39 S. C. Cox -
DNS 21 C G. A. Wagner Wanderer G. A. Wagner -

Overall classification
Pos[8][3] No.[8][3] Class[8][3] Driver[8][3] Car[8][3] Entrant[8] Laps[8][3] Time[8][3]
1 3 A Australia Arthur Waite Austin 7 s/c A. Waite 16 1h 46m 40s
2 24 D John McCutcheon Morris Cowley J. O. McCutcheon 16 1h 50m 10s
3 25 D Cyril Dickason Austin 12 C. R. Dickason 16 1h 54m 02s
4 14 C Australia Arthur Terdich Bugatti Type 40 A. J. Terdich 16 1h 54m 45s
5 10 B Barney Dentry Sénéchal G. Dentry 16 1h 55m 44s
6 15 C Jack Day Bugatti Type 37A J. A. Day 16 1h 56m 26s
7 5 A Clarrie May Austin 7 C. May 16 2h 03m 24s
8 16 C J. C. Hutton Alvis 12/50 J. C. Hutton 16 2h 04m 21s
9 26 D Bill Lowe Métallurgique W. H. Lowe 16 2h 05m 01s
10 2 A Tom Davey Austin 7 T. N. Davey 16 2h 06m 19s
11 1 A Stan King Austin 7 S. V. King 16 2h 08m 35s
12 8 B Bill Williamson Riley Nine Mrs J. A. Day 16 2h 17m 37s
13 7 B Les Pound DFP L. Pound 16 2h 24m 29s
Ret 6 B W. A. "Ab" Terdich DFP W. A. Terdich 10[9]
Ret 17 C Ron Gardner Alvis 12/50 R. G. Gardner 8[10]
Ret 23 D Les Jennings Morris Cowley L. Jennings 6[9]
Ret 18 C Ed Houn Aston Martin J. E. Goodall 1[9]
DNS 4 A Albert Edwards Austin 7 A. Edwards -
DNS 9 B B. W. Solly Opel Rex Motors P/L -
DNS 11 B Maurice Shmith Fiat 509 M. Shmith -
DNS 12 B George Saville Amilcar Grand Sport G. Saville -
DNS 19 C Ed Hussey Cooper Frazer Nash E. H. Cooper -
DNS 20 C Sid Cox Bugatti Type 39 S. C. Cox -
DNS 21 C G. A. Wagner Wanderer G. A. Wagner -
DNS 22 D John Hollway Darracq J. Hollway -

Notes
  • Ret = Retired from race
  • DNS = Did not start race

1927 Australian Grand Prix

Although the 1928 race is recognised by Motorsport Australia as the first Australian Grand Prix,[11] a dispute exists given that an event held in Goulburn, New South Wales in 1927 was actually advertised as a grand prix at the time.[12] However the 1927 event was not a motor race but rather a series of elimination sprints.[13]

References
  1. John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, page vii
  2. John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, p. 3
  3. Bell, Ray (1986). "1928". The official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. R&T Publishing. pp. 14–24. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
  4. John B. Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, p. 7
  5. Extracts from Rules, Official Programme, 100 Miles Road Race, Phillip Island, Monday, 26 March 1928
  6. John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, p. 5
  7. 100-Mile Road Race, The Argus, Tuesday 3 April 1928, Page 18, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
  8. John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981
  9. Cowes Motor Racing, The Age, Monday, 2 April 1928 , p. 18, via nla.gov.au
  10. John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, p. 23
  11. 2020 Motorsport Australia Manual - Titles - Australian Grand Prix, motorsport.org.au, as archived at web.archive.org
  12. Goulburn first in motor sport, January 15 2017, www.goulburnpost.com.au Retrieved 12 March 2021
  13. Meredith's marvel: the Windellama man who won Australia's first Grand Prix in Goulburn, January 11 2017, www.crookwellgazette.com.au Retrieved 12 March 2021
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