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1954 Australian Grand Prix
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | CUST |
| Description | Formula Libre race |
| Grand Prix | Australian |
| Country | Australia |
| Location | Southport Road Circuit, |
| Southport, Queensland | |
| Date | 7 November |
| Year | 1954 |
| Course | Temporary road circuit |
| Course_mi | 5.7 |
| Course_km | 9.17 |
| Distance_laps | 27 |
| Distance_mi | 153.9 |
| Distance_km | 247.6 |
| Weather | Sunny |
| Pole_Driver | Rex Taylor |
| Pole_Team | Talbot-Lago |
| Fast_Driver | Dick Cobden |
| Fast_Team | Ferrari |
| Fast_Time | 3'52 |
| Fast_Country | AUS |
| First_Driver | Lex Davison |
| First_Country | AUS |
| First_Team | HWM-Jaguar |
| Second_Driver | Curley Brydon |
| Second_Country | AUS |
| Second_Team | MG Special |
| Third_Driver | Ken Richardson |
| Third_Country | AUS |
| Third_Team | Ford Special |
Southport, Queensland The 1954 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Southport Road Circuit 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). 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. The race, which was open to Racing and Stripped Sports Cars, 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 the chassis of his Maybach Special failed. It would be the last race for Maybach Mk.II, with Charlie Dean's team rebuilding it as Maybach Mk.III.
Classification
Results as follows.
| Pos | No. | Driver | Car | Entrant | Laps | Time / | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remarks | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNS | DNS | ||||||
| 77 | Australia Lex Davison | HWM F2 / Jaguar 3.4L | A.N. Davison | 27 | 1h 50m 18s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 43 | Australia Curley Brydon | MG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L | H. Brydon | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Australia Ken Richardson | Ford V8 Special / Ford 3.9L | K.B. Richardson | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Australia Eldred Norman | Triumph TR2 / Standard s/c 2.0L | E. deB. Norman | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 31 | Australia David Griffiths | Triumph TR2 / Standard 2.0L | D. P. Griffiths | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29 | Australia Frank Tobin | Rizzo Riley Special / Riley 1.5L | Frank Tobin | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Australia Charlie Whatmore | Jaguar Special / Jaguar 3.4L | Chas. Whatmore | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 46 | Australia Stan Coffey | Cooper T20 / Bristol 2.0L | S.F. Coffey | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Australia Owen Bailey | MG Holden Special / Holden 2.4L | O. Bailey | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Australia Charlie Swinburne | Cooper Mk.IV / Norton 0.5L | C. Swinburne | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Australia Bill Pitt | Jaguar XK120 Special / Jaguar 3.4L | J. C. Anderson | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | NZL Fred Zambucka | Maserati 8CM / Maserati 3.0L | F. Zambucka | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Australia Snow Sefton | Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.2L | Snow Sefton | 21 | Black flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Australia Noel Barnes | MG TC Special / MG 1.3L | N. F. Barnes | 19 | Overheating | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 92 | Australia Doug Whiteford | Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.4L | D. Whiteford | 17 | Blocked jet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 79 | Australia Arthur Griffiths | Wylie Javelin / Jowett s/c 1.5L | A. Griffiths | 15 | Head gasket | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 87 | Australia Stan Jones | Maybach Special Mk.II / Maybach 4.3L | S.J. Jones | 13 | Crashed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Australia John McKinney | MG TC Special / MG 1.3L | J. McKinney | 11 | Fire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 74 | Australia Ian Mountain | Peugeot Special / Peugeot 1.5L | I. Mountain | 11 | Overheating | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 49 | Australia Dick Cobden | Ferrari 125 / Ferrari s/c 2.0L | R. Cobden | 10 | Crashed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Australia Wal Anderson | Holden Special / Holden 2.3L | W. S. Anderson | 9 | Seized oil pump | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 56 | Australia Jack Murray | Allard J2 / Cadillac 5.3L | J.E. Murray | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | Australia Gerald Downing | Riley Imp Special / Riley | G. J. Downing | 8 | Overheating | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 78 | Australia Rex Taylor | Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L | R. Taylor | 6 | Black flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 37 | Australia Holt Binnie | MG TD Special / MG 1.4L | Martin Motors | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Australia Gordon Greig | Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L | G. Greig | 4 | Valve | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 86 | Australia Bill Wilcox | Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.0L | W. Wilcox | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Australia Jack Brabham | Cooper T23 / Bristol 2.0L | Jack Brabham | 1 | Engine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 28 | Australia Frank Kleinig | Hudson Special | F. Kleinig | - | Battery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Australia Alec Mildren | Riley Special | A. G. Mildren | - | Oil cooler |
- Pole position: Rex Taylor (Allocated by the race organisers prior to the event)
- Winner's average speed: 83.7 mph (134.7 km/h)
- Fastest lap: Dick Cobden (Ferrari), 3:52s, 88.45 mph, 142.3 km/h
- Attendance: More than 60,000
References
References
- Official Souvenir Programme, 19th Australian Grand Prix, Southport Road Circuit, Queensland, 7 November 1954
- (1986). "The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix". R & T Publishing.
- John B.Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, pages 229 & 230
- 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
- The driver is listed as both Binnie and Brinnie in "The Official 50-race history". The name in the Official Souvenir Programme is "H. Binnie".
- 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
- Australian Grand Prix, Australian Motor Sports, November 1954, pages 228 to 235
- [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page2047058?zoomLevel=1 60,000 at Southport motor race, The Courier Mail, Monday, 8 November 1954, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au]
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