1954 Australian Grand Prix
1954 Australian Grand Prix | |||
---|---|---|---|
Formula Libre race | |||
Race details | |||
Date | 7 November 1954 | ||
Location |
Southport Road Circuit, Southport, Queensland | ||
Course | Temporary road circuit | ||
Course length | 9.17 km (5.7 mi) | ||
Distance | 27 laps, 247.6 km (153.9 mi) | ||
Weather | Sunny | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver |
| Talbot-Lago | |
Fastest lap | |||
Driver |
![]() | Ferrari | |
Time | 3'52 | ||
Podium | |||
First | HWM-Jaguar | ||
Second | MG Special | ||
Third | Ford Special |
The 1954 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Southport Road Circuit[1] near Southport in Queensland, Australia on 7 November 1954. The race was held over 27 laps of the 5.7 mile (9.17 kilometre) circuit, a total distance of 153.9 miles (247.6 km).[2] It was the nineteenth Australian Grand Prix and the second to be held in Queensland. With no suitable permanent circuit available, a course was mapped out on roads in sparsely settled coastal land 2.5 km south west of Southport,[2] and just to the north of later circuits, Surfers Paradise Raceway and the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit. The Grand Prix race meeting was organised by the Queensland Motor Sporting Club and the Toowoomba Auto Club in conjunction with the Southport Rotary Club.[1] The race, which was open to Racing and Stripped Sports Cars,[1] had 28 starters.
The race was won by Lex Davison, later to become the most successful driver in the history of the Australian Grand Prix. It was Davison's first win in the Grand Prix having finished in the top three as far back as 1947. Davison drove a Formula 2 HWM re-engined with a 3.4 litre Jaguar engine. Davison finished a lap clear of Curley Brydon's MG TC special and two laps ahead of third placed Ken Richardson in a Ford based special. The gaps were caused by attrition amongst the fastest drivers. Jack Brabham was out on the second lap with a broken engine in his Cooper; Rex Taylor was black flagged for receiving outside assistance after spinning his Lago-Talbot; Dick Cobden retired his Ferrari after a spin and Stan Jones crashed heavily while leading after his chassis failed. It would be the last race for the Mk.II Maybach special, Charlie Dean's team rebuilding it as the Maybach III.[citation needed]
Classification[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Lex_Davison_-_HWM_Jaguar.jpg/220px-Lex_Davison_-_HWM_Jaguar.jpg)
Results as follows.[2]
Pos | No. | Driver | Car | Entrant[1] | Laps | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 77 | ![]() |
HWM F2 / Jaguar 3.4L | A.N. Davison | 27 | 1h 50m 18s |
2 | 43 | ![]() |
MG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L | H. Brydon | 26 | |
3 | 9 | ![]() |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 3.9L | K.B. Richardson | 25 | |
4 | 8 | ![]() |
Triumph TR2 / Standard s/c 2.0L | E. deB. Norman | 24 | |
5 | 31 | ![]() |
Triumph TR2 / Standard 2.0L | D. P. Griffiths | 24 | |
6 | 29 | ![]() |
Rizzo Riley Special / Riley 1.5L | Frank Tobin | 23 | |
7 | 4 | ![]() |
Jaguar Special / Jaguar 3.4L | Chas. Whatmore | 23 | |
8 | 46 | ![]() |
Cooper T20 / Bristol 2.0L[3] | S.F. Coffey | 23 | |
9 | 10 | ![]() |
MG Holden Special / Holden 2.4L | O. Bailey | 23 | |
10 | 2 | ![]() |
Cooper Mk.IV / Norton 0.5L | C. Swinburne | 23 | |
11 | 21 | ![]() |
Jaguar XK120 Special / Jaguar 3.4L | J. C. Anderson | 22 | |
12 | 1 | ![]() |
Maserati 8CM / Maserati 3.0L | F. Zambucka | 22 | |
Ret | 16 | ![]() |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.2L[4] | Snow Sefton | 21 | |
Ret | 14 | ![]() |
MG TC Special / MG 1.3L | N. F. Barnes | 19 | |
Ret | 92 | ![]() |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.4L | D. Whiteford | 17 | |
Ret | 79 | ![]() |
Wylie Javelin / Jowett s/c 1.5L | A. Griffiths | 15 | |
Ret | 87 | ![]() |
Maybach Special Mk.II / Maybach 4.3L | S.J. Jones | 13 | |
Ret | 15 | ![]() |
MG TC Special / MG 1.3L | J. McKinney | 11 | |
Ret | 74 | ![]() |
Peugeot Special / Peugeot 1.5L | I. Mountain | 11 | |
Ret | 49 | ![]() |
Ferrari 125 / Ferrari s/c 2.0L | R. Cobden | 10 | |
Ret | 3 | ![]() |
Holden Special / Holden 2.3L | W. S. Anderson | 9 | |
Ret | 56 | ![]() |
Allard J2 / Cadillac 5.3L[5] | J.E. Murray | 8 | |
Ret | 23 | ![]() |
Riley Imp Special / Riley | G. J. Downing | 8 | |
Ret | 78 | ![]() |
Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L | R. Taylor | 6 | |
Ret | 37 | ![]() |
MG TD Special / MG 1.4L | Martin Motors | 6 | |
Ret | 20 | ![]() |
Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L | G. Greig | 4 | |
Ret | 86 | ![]() |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.0L | W. Wilcox | 3 | |
Ret | 6 | ![]() |
Cooper T23 / Bristol 2.0L[7] | Jack Brabham | 1 |
- Pole position: Rex Taylor[1] (Allocated by the race organisers prior to the event)[2]
- Winner's average speed: 83.7 mph (134.7 km/h)[2]
- Fastest lap: Dick Cobden (Ferrari), 3:52s, 88.45 mph, 142.3 km/h[2]
- Attendance: More than 60,000[8]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Official Souvenir Programme, 19th Australian Grand Prix, Southport Road Circuit, Queensland, 7 November 1954
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Howard, Graham (1986). "1954". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 192–204. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
- ^ Coffey's car is listed in the Official Souvenir Programme as a Dowidat Spanner Special
- ^ Sefton's car is listed in the Official Souvenir Programme as a Mercury Special
- ^ Murray's car is listed in the Official Souvenir Programme as a Cadillac Allard
- ^ Howard uses both Grieg and Greig. The Official Souvenir Programme uses Greig
- ^ Brabham's car is listed in the Official Souvenir Programme as a Redex Special
- ^ 60,000 at Southport motor race, The Courier Mail, Monday, 8 November 1954, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
External links[]
Coordinates: 27°58′02″S 153°24′51″E / 27.9673°S 153.4141°E
- 1954 in Australian motorsport
- Australian Grand Prix
- Sport on the Gold Coast, Queensland
- November 1954 sports events