1953 Australian Grand Prix

  1953 Australian Grand Prix

Race details
Formula Libre race
File:Circuit Albert Park.png
Date	21 November 1953
Location	Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria
Course	Temporary street circuit
Course length	5.03 km (3.125 mi)
Distance	64 laps, 321.92 km (250 mi)
Weather	Sunny
Fastest lap
Driver	Stan Jones	Maybach Special
Time	2'03
Podium
First	Doug Whiteford	Talbot-Lago
Second	Curley Brydon	MG Special
Third	Andy Brown	MG

File:BWA of Ron Townley.JPG

The 12th placed BWA of Alf Barrett and Julian Barrett, pictured in 2015

The 1953 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race held at Albert Park Street Circuit, Victoria on 21 November 1953. The race, which had 40 starters, was held over 64 laps of the five kilometre circuit for a total of 322 kilometres.

It was the eighteenth Australian Grand Prix. While much of the Grand Prix's history to this point had taken place on public road or street circuits, this was the first time it had been held on a circuit in a major population centre. The circuit was laid out on public roads surrounding the Albert Park Lake in inner Melbourne.

The race was won by Doug Whiteford, his third and final Australian Grand Prix victory, equalling the feat achieved by Bill Thompson in the 1930s. It was also the largest margin of victory in the race's history, Whiteford winning by five laps for a margin of 25 kilometres.

Classification

Results as follows.

Pos	No.	Driver	Car	Laps	Time
1	1	Doug Whiteford	Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L	64	2h 24m 50s
2	26	Curley Brydon	MG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L	59
3	22	Andy Brown	MG K3 / MG 1.1L
4	23	Les Murphy	MG Q / MG 0.7L
5	30	Lou Molina	MM Special / Holden 2.3L
6	32	Jim Leach	Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L
7	7	Frank Kleinig	Kleinig-Hudson 8 Special / Hudson 4.4L
8	38	Stuart Charge	Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L
9	19	Ken & Arthur Wylie	Wylie Javelin / Jowett s/c 1.5L
10	16	Reg Hunt	Allard J2 / Cadillac 4.4L
11	33	Bib Stillwell	Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L
12	17	Alf Barrett & Julian Barrett	BWA Special / Frazer Nash 1.5L
13	40	Neil Charge	MG TC Special / MG 1.3L
14	35	Frank Lobb	Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L
15	9	Ted McKinnon	Maserati 6C / Maserati 1.5L
16	42	John Nind	MG TB Special / MG 1.3L
17	60	Bill Patterson	Cooper Mk.V / JAP 0.5L
18	31	Syd Negus	Plymouth Special / Plymouth 3.1L
Ret	2	Stan Jones	Maybach Special Mk.1 / Maybach 4.3L	56
Ret	34	John Calvert	Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L
Ret	6	Cec Warren	Maserati 4CL / Maserati 1.5L	51
Ret		Wal Gillespie	HRG Special
Ret		Haig Hurst	Allard K2 / Ford 4.4L
Ret	25	Phillip Catlin	Bugatti T51A / Bugatti 1.5L
Ret	37	Peter McKenna	BMW 328 / BMW 2.0L
Ret	24	Reg Nutt	Talbot-Darracq / Talbot 1.5L	14
Ret	18	Don McDonald	Austin A40 Special / Austin 1.3L
Ret	12	Arthur Chick	Bugatti T37 / Bugatti 2.0L
Ret	3	Lex Davison	HWM F2 / Jaguar 3.4L	3
Ret	10	W.H. Hayes	Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.4L
Ret	11	Ted Gray	Alta / Ford 4.3L
Ret	16	Bill Willcox	Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.3L
Ret	20	Jim Gullan	MG K3 / MG 1.1L
Ret	27	Phil Harrison	Dodge Special / Dodge 4.0L
Ret	28	Les O'Donaghue	Ballot / Oldsmobile 3.9L
Ret	39	Jack O'Dea	MG Special / MG 1.3L
Ret		Ron Phillips	Allard K2 / Ford 4.4L
Ret		Vin Maloney	MG TC Special / MG 1.3L
Ret	65	Silvio Massolla	HRG Special / HRG 1.5L

Notes

• Fastest lap: Stan Jones – 2'03

References

Preceded by 1952 Australian Grand Prix

Australian Grand Prix 1953

Succeeded by 1954 Australian Grand Prix