1952 Australian Grand Prix

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	Doug Whiteford	Talbot-Lago
Fastest lap
Driver	Doug Whiteford	Talbot-Lago
Time	3'02
Podium
First	Doug Whiteford	Talbot-Lago
Second	Stan Jones	Maybach Special
Third	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 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]

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	Doug Whiteford	Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L	D Whiteford	38	1h 57m 44s
2	3	Stan Jones	Maybach Special Mk.1 / Maybach 4.3L	SJ Jones	38	2h 02m 04s
3	13	Bill Murray	Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alvis 4.4L	W Murray	38	2h 05m 08s
4	5	Jack Murray	Allard J2 / Cadillac 4.4L	JE Murray	38	2h 06m 04s
5	30	Harry Monday	Mercury Special / Mercury 4.0L	HS Monday	38	2h 09m 34s
6	15	Tom Sulman	Maserati 4CL / Maserati 1.5L	TN Sulman	38	2h 11m 05s
7	27	Clive Adams	Prad / Ford 2.2L	CE Adams	38	2h 11m 16s
8	41	David McKay	MG TC Special / MG 1.3L	D McKay	38 [5]	2h 13m 21s
9	43	Peter Critchley	MG TB Special / MG 1.3L	Better Used Cars NSW	38 [5]	2h 15m 27s
10	33	J.S. Moody	Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L	JS Moody	37	Flagged off [5]
11	19	Arthur Griffiths	MG TC Special / MG 1.3L	AA Griffiths	36	Flagged off [5]
12	44	Ron Ward	MG TC Special / MG 1.3L	RS Ward	35	Flagged off [5]
13	35	Bill McLachlan	Bugatti Type 37A / Ford 3.6L	DA McLachlan	34	Flagged off [5]
14	32	John Calvert	Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L	J Calvert	34	Flagged off [5]
15	16	Puss Catlin [5] Peter Menere [5]	Bugatti Type 35B / Bugatti s/c 2.3L	P Menere	34	Flagged off [5]
16	11	Jack Saywell	Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.0L	J Saywell	32	Flagged off [5]
17	40	Silvio Massola	HRG Special / HRG 1.5L	S Massola	29	Flagged off [5]
Ret	42	John Nind	MG TB Special / MG 1.3L	JP Nind	34
Ret	39	T.G. Humphries	HRG Special / HRG 1.5L	TG Humphries	33
Ret	46	Phil Harrison	MG TD Special / MG 1.3L	PC Harrison	27
Ret	18	Curley Brydon	MG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L	AH Brydon	27	Split fuel tank [5]
Ret	38	Ron Reid	Terraplane Special / Terraplane 3.6L	RM Reid	24	Engine noise [2]
Ret	36	Alec Mildren	Riley Nine Imp / Riley 1.5L	AG Mildren	24	Black flagged [5]
Ret	26	Bill Wilcox	Dodge Special / Dodge 4.0L	WH Wilcox	24	Black flagged [5]
Ret	22	Harry Thompson	HRG / HRG 1.5L	Redex Products NSW	24
Ret	21	Ian Mountain	M.Y.F. Special [4] / Ford 4.2L	IK Mountain	24
Ret	34	Frank Roberts	Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L	FK Roberts	23
Ret	17	Julian Barrett	BWA Special / Frazer Nash 1.5L	J St. Q Barrett	19
Ret	28	Peter Lowe	Bugatti Type 37 / Holden 2.2L	PS Lowe	17	Distributor [6]
Ret	11	Stan Mossetter	Rizzo Riley Special / Riley 1.5L	S Mossetter	16
Ret	4	Wally Feltham	Alta / Alta 2.0L	WD Feltham	15
Ret	7	John Crouch	Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L	JF Crouch	15	Suspension [5]
Ret	25	George Pearse	MG TC Special / MG	GE Pearse	12
Ret	12	Dick Bland	Riley Dixon [4] / Riley 1.5L	AG Mildren	11
Ret	20	Jesse Griffiths	George Reed Special / Ford 4.0L	JJ Griffiths	11
Ret	24	Vin Maloney	MG TC Special / MG 1.3L	VA Maloney	11
Ret	23	Dick Cobden	Cooper Mk.V / JAP 0.5L	R Cobden	10	Dropped valve [5]
Ret	14	Eldred Norman	Maserati 6C / Maserati 1.5L	E de B Norman	10	Blow off valve [5]
Ret	8	Lloyd Hirst [7]	Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L	FL Hirst	8
Ret	10	Mischa Ravdell [8]	Cooper Mk.V / Vincent 1.0L	M Ravdell	7
Ret	6	Bill Craig	Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L	WJ Craig	6
Ret	9	Frank Kleinig	Kleinig-Hudson 8 Special / Hudson 4.4L	F Kleinig	4	Valve spring [5]
Ret	31	Ken Tubman	MG K3 Magnette [5] / MG 1.1L	KV Tubman	1
DNS	29	Peter McKenna [5]	BMW 328 / BMW 2.0L	P McKenna	-	Practised [5]
DNS	45	Ron Feast [5]	MG TB Special / MG 1.3L	RJ Feast	-	Practised [5]
DNS	2	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

• Starters: 43 ^[1]
• Winner's average speed: 76 mph ^[5]
• Fastest lap: Doug Whiteford – 3'02
• Fastest speed through quarter-mile: Stan Jones (Maybach), 141.8 mph ^[5]

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

External links

• Whiteford Wins Grand Prix Again, Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 15 April 1952, page 1 - via trove.nla.gov.au
• 1952 Australian Grand Prix, Bathurst, www.youtube.com

Preceded by 1951 Australian Grand Prix

Australian Grand Prix 1952

Succeeded by 1953 Australian Grand Prix