1956 Australian Grand Prix

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1956 Australian Grand Prix
Formula Libre race [1]
Race details
Date2 December 1956
Location Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 5.03 km (3.125 mi)
Distance 80 laps, 402.25 km (250 mi)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Officine Alfieri Maserati
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss Officine Alfieri Maserati
Time 1'52.2
Podium
First Officine Alfieri Maserati
Second Officine Alfieri Maserati
Third Scuderia Ambrosiana

The 1956 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race for Formula Libre cars held at Albert Park Street Circuit, in Victoria, Australia on 2 December 1956. The race, which had 22 starters, was held over 80 laps of the five kilometre circuit, the longest of all the Australian Grands Prix at 402 kilometres. It attracted a crowd of over 120,000 spectators. [2]

The race was the twenty first Australian Grand Prix and the second to be held on a street circuit situated around the Albert Park Lake, the current location of the race. It had been moved to the end of the year, and the rotational system which shifted the race from state to state was suspended to allow the AGP to capitalise on the publicity generated around the 1956 Olympic Games which were being held in Melbourne. With the presence of the works Officine Alfieri Maserati racing team, bringing with them Stirling Moss, Jean Behra and a fleet of 250F, and fellow European based racers Ken Wharton, Peter Whitehead and Reg Parnell, the race became the most important motor racing event held in Australia's history to that point.

Moss and Behra dominated the two-week festival which began the previous weekend with the Australian Tourist Trophy sports car race in which the duo placed first and second, each driving a Maserati 300S. In the Grand Prix the two were again dominant, but Moss was a class above Behra coming close to lapping his teammate. The two Scuderia Ambrosiana entered Ferraris of Peter Whitehead and Reg Parnell were not a serious threat but Whitehead did have the measure of the local drivers with the 1938 Australian Grand Prix winner finishing two laps clear of the first of the Australians, Maserati 250F driver Reg Hunt. Parnell finished sixth, behind another domestic Maserati 250F driven by Stan Jones. Both finished on the same lap as Hunt, while Lex Davison's older sports car engined Ferrari 625 was another two laps distant. Doug Whiteford's Talbot-Lago was the first non-Italian car home in eighth place. With defending champion Jack Brabham absent the best of the Cooper sourced machinery was Len Lukey's much modified Cooper-Bristol in ninth. Wharton's European-based Maserati 250F failed to reach the finishing line.

Moss's fastest lap of 1:52.2 (100.25 mph) was a new lap record for the Albert Park Circuit. [3]

Classification

A Maserati 250F similar to that in which Stirling Moss won the 1956 Australian Grand Prix 1955 Maserati 250F at Coventry Motor Museum (2).jpg
A Maserati 250F similar to that in which Stirling Moss won the 1956 Australian Grand Prix
The Talbot-Lago T26C driven to 8th place by Doug Whiteford. The car is pictured in 2010 Talbot-Lago Type 26C.jpg
The Talbot-Lago T26C driven to 8th place by Doug Whiteford. The car is pictured in 2010
Pos [4] No. [4] Driver [4] CarEntrant [5] Laps [4] Time [4]
17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L [6] Officine Alfieri Maserati 802h 36m 15.4s
21 Flag of France.svg Jean Behra Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L [6] Officine Alfieri Maserati 802h 38m 27.4s
33 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Peter Whitehead Ferrari 555 F1 / Ferrari 3.4LScuderia Ambrosiana79
45 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Reg Hunt Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5LReg Hunt Motors P/L78
58 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stan Jones Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5LStan Jones Motors P/L77
62 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Reg Parnell Ferrari 555 F1 / Ferrari 3.4LScuderia Ambrosiana77
79 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Lex Davison Ferrari 625 F1 / Ferrari 3.0LEcurie Australie75
811 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Doug Whiteford Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5LD Whiteford72
925 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Len Lukey Cooper T23 / Bristol 2.0LRH Hunt Motors P/L70
1019 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Julian Barrett Alta GP-2 / Alta S/C 1.5LJ St Q Barrett70
1118 Flag of New Zealand.svg Tom Clark HWM / Alta 2.0LTE Clark66
1223 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Myers Cooper T20 / Holden 2.4LJ Myers66
Ret6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Neal Maserati A6GCM / Maserati 2.5LReg Hunt Motors P/L68
Ret20 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bill Willcox Alta / Alta 2.0LW Wilcox39
Ret26 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bill Craig Alta / Holden 2.4LWJ Craig26
Ret24 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alec Mildren Cooper T20 / Bristol 2.0LAG Mildren21
Ret4 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ken Wharton Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5LEcurie Du Puy19
Ret16 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ted GrayTornado II / Ford 4.5LLJ Abrahams15
Ret22 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Reg Smith Cooper T40 / Bristol 2.0LSmith's Radio P/L13
Ret28 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Harry McLaughlin Ford V8 Special 4.3LH McLaughlan6
Ret17 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tom Hawkes Cooper T23 / Holden 2.3LTV Hawkes5
Ret12 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Owen Bailey Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5LO Bailey0

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References

  1. FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix preview, www.cams.com.au Archived 5 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 5 May 2015
  2. Bill Tuckey, The Book of Australian Motor Racing, 1965, page 67
  3. Jim Shepherd, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, page 29
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Howard, Graham (1986). "1956". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 218–226. ISBN   0-9588464-0-5.
  5. Second Day Programme, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park Circuit, 25 November - 2nd December 1956
  6. 1 2 Australia and New Zealand's Role in Maserati's 100 Year History, www.ferrarimaseratisydney.com.au Archived 5 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 5 May 2015
Preceded by Australian Grand Prix
1956
Succeeded by