1952 Australian Grand Prix

The 1952 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race held at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst, in New South Wales, Australia on 14 April 1952. The race had 43 starters and was held over 38 laps of the six kilometre circuit, a total distance of 235 kilometres. A crowd of 15,000 watched the race,[1] which was organised by the Australian Sporting Car Club.[2]

1952 Australian Grand Prix
Formula Libre race
Race details
Date 14 April 1952
Location Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales
Course Temporary road circuit
Course length 6.12 km (3.84 miles)
Distance 38 laps, 234.8 km (145.92 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver
Talbot-Lago
Fastest lap
Driver Australia Doug Whiteford Talbot-Lago
Time 3'02
Podium
First
Talbot-Lago
Second
Maybach Special
Third
  • Australia Bill Murray
 Alfa Romeo-Alvis
Doug Whiteford won the race driving a Talbot-Lago T26C
Stan Jones (Maybach) leads Whiteford early in the race. Jones placed second.
Bill Murray on his way to third place driving an Alfa Romeo Tipo B

The race, which is recognised by Motorsport Australia as the seventeenth Australian Grand Prix,[3] was won by Doug Whiteford driving a Talbot-Lago T26C Formula One car. It was Whiteford's second Australian Grand Prix victory.

Classification

Results as follows.[2]

Pos No. Driver Car / Engine Entrant[4] Laps Time / Remarks
1 1 Australia Doug Whiteford Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L D Whiteford 38 1h 57m 44s
2 3 Australia Stan Jones Maybach Special Mk.1 / Maybach 4.3L SJ Jones 38 2h 02m 04s
3 13 Australia Bill Murray Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alvis 4.4L W Murray 38 2h 05m 08s
4 5 Australia Jack Murray Allard J2 / Cadillac 4.4L JE Murray 38 2h 06m 04s
5 30 Australia Harry Monday Mercury Special / Mercury 4.0L HS Monday 38 2h 09m 34s
6 15 Australia Tom Sulman Maserati 4CL / Maserati 1.5L TN Sulman 38 2h 11m 05s
7 27 Australia Clive Adams Prad / Ford 2.2L CE Adams 38 2h 11m 16s
8 41 Australia David McKay MG TC Special / MG 1.3L D McKay 38[5] 2h 13m 21s
9 43 Australia Peter Critchley MG TB Special / MG 1.3L Better Used Cars NSW 38[5] 2h 15m 27s
10 33 Australia J.S. Moody Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L JS Moody 37 Flagged off[5]
11 19 Australia Arthur Griffiths MG TC Special / MG 1.3L AA Griffiths 36 Flagged off[5]
12 44 Australia Ron Ward MG TC Special / MG 1.3L RS Ward 35 Flagged off[5]
13 35 Australia Bill McLachlan Bugatti Type 37A / Ford 3.6L DA McLachlan 34 Flagged off[5]
14 32 Australia John Calvert Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L J Calvert 34 Flagged off[5]
15 16 Australia Puss Catlin[5]
Australia Peter Menere[5]		 Bugatti Type 35B / Bugatti s/c 2.3L P Menere 34 Flagged off[5]
16 11 Australia Jack Saywell Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.0L J Saywell 32 Flagged off[5]
17 40 Australia Silvio Massola HRG Special / HRG 1.5L S Massola 29 Flagged off[5]
Ret 42 Australia John Nind MG TB Special / MG 1.3L JP Nind 34
Ret 39 Australia T.G. Humphries HRG Special / HRG 1.5L TG Humphries 33
Ret 46 Australia Phil Harrison MG TD Special / MG 1.3L PC Harrison 27
Ret 18 Australia Curley Brydon MG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L AH Brydon 27 Split fuel tank[5]
Ret 38 Australia Ron Reid Terraplane Special / Terraplane 3.6L RM Reid 24 Engine noise[2]
Ret 36 Australia Alec Mildren Riley Nine Imp / Riley 1.5L AG Mildren 24 Black flagged[5]
Ret 26 Australia Bill Wilcox Dodge Special / Dodge 4.0L WH Wilcox 24 Black flagged[5]
Ret 22 Australia Harry Thompson HRG / HRG 1.5L Redex Products NSW 24
Ret 21 Australia Ian Mountain M.Y.F. Special [4] / Ford 4.2L IK Mountain 24
Ret 34 Australia Frank Roberts Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L FK Roberts 23
Ret 17 Australia Julian Barrett BWA Special / Frazer Nash 1.5L J St. Q Barrett 19
Ret 28 Australia Peter Lowe Bugatti Type 37 / Holden 2.2L PS Lowe 17 Distributor[6]
Ret 11 Australia Stan Mossetter Rizzo Riley Special / Riley 1.5L S Mossetter 16
Ret 4 Australia Wally Feltham Alta / Alta 2.0L WD Feltham 15
Ret 7 Australia John Crouch Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L JF Crouch 15 Suspension[5]
Ret 25 Australia George Pearse MG TC Special / MG GE Pearse 12
Ret 12 Australia Dick Bland Riley Dixon[4] / Riley 1.5L AG Mildren 11
Ret 20 Australia Jesse Griffiths George Reed Special / Ford 4.0L JJ Griffiths 11
Ret 24 Australia Vin Maloney MG TC Special / MG 1.3L VA Maloney 11
Ret 23 Australia Dick Cobden Cooper Mk.V / JAP 0.5L R Cobden 10 Dropped valve[5]
Ret 14 Australia Eldred Norman Maserati 6C / Maserati 1.5L E de B Norman 10 Blow off valve[5]
Ret 8 Australia Lloyd Hirst[7] Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L FL Hirst 8
Ret 10 Australia Mischa Ravdell[8] Cooper Mk.V / Vincent 1.0L M Ravdell 7
Ret 6 Australia Bill Craig Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L WJ Craig 6
Ret 9 Australia Frank Kleinig Kleinig-Hudson 8 Special / Hudson 4.4L F Kleinig 4 Valve spring[5]
Ret 31 Australia Ken Tubman MG K3 Magnette[5] / MG 1.1L KV Tubman 1
DNS 29 Australia Peter McKenna[5] BMW 328 / BMW 2.0L P McKenna - Practised[5]
DNS 45 Australia Ron Feast[5] MG TB Special / MG 1.3L RJ Feast - Practised[5]
DNS 2 Australia Lex Davison[9] Alfa Romeo P3[10] AN Davison - Timing gear[9]

Note: Competitors still running when the winner completed the race were allowed to continue racing[2] until the race time limit flag was shown.[5] Nine cars completed the full race distance and a further eight were "flagged off".[5]

Notes

Handicap

The race incorporated a concurrent handicap award which was won by Harry Monday (Mercury Special), 12 seconds ahead of Doug Whiteford.[2] Minor placings were taken by Bill Murray, Clive Adams and David McKay.[11]

This was to be the last Australian Grand Prix to include a handicap section.[2]

References & notes
  1. Whiteford Wins Grand Prix Again, Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 15 April 1952, page 1, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
  2. Howard, Graham (1986). "1952". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 170–180. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
  3. Australian Grand Prix, motorsport.org.au Retrieved 30 August 2023
  4. Official Programme, Bathurst Car Races, 14th April 1952
  5. Easter Monday at Bathurst, Australian Motor Sport, May 1952, pages 26-39
  6. The official history of the Australian Grand Prix - 80 Years
  7. Howard uses both Lloyd and Wayne as the first name for Hirst. The Official Programme lists the Entrant and Driver of Car 8 as FL Hirst and makes reference to "Lloyd Hirst" in the Grand Prix Personalities section.
  8. Howard lists Mischa Randell as the driver of Car 10 however the Official Programme lists the Entrant and Driver as M Ravdell
  9. Vic. Driver Wins Grand Prix, National Advocate, Tuesday 15 April 1952, page 2, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
  10. John B. Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, pages 20 & 21
  11. John Medley, Bathurst - Cradle of Australian Motor Sport, page 139
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