1950 Australian Grand Prix
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| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Formula Libre race | |||
| Date | 2 January 1950 | ||
| Location | Nuriootpa, South Australia | ||
| Course | Temporary road circuit | ||
| Course length | 7.04 km (4.375 mi) | ||
| Distance | 34 laps, 163.9 km (102 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Rupert Steele Doug Whiteford |
Alfa Romeo Ford |
|
| Time | 2'27 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ford | ||
| Second | Alfa Romeo | ||
| Third | Ballot-Oldsmobile | ||
The 1950 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Nuriootpa Road Circuit in South Australia on 2 January 1950.[1] It was staged over 34 laps of the 7.0 kilometre circuit for a race distance of 164 kilometres.[2] The race, which is recognized by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as the fifteenth Australian Grand Prix,[3] was a Formula Libre race.
The race utilised a handicap start with cars commencing progressively, slowest through to fastest, at timed intervals.[2] The declared winner of the Grand Prix however, was the driver with the fastest elapsed race time, regardless of handicap.[2] All other official awards were based on the handicap results, with an additional trophy awarded to the handicap winner and prize money paid for the first nine handicap places.[1] Doug Whiteford, driving a Ford V8 Special, known as 'Black Bess', won his first Australian Grand Prix, completing the race distance almost three minutes faster than Rupert Steele, driving an Alfa Romeo.[2] Jim Gullan, driving an Oldsmobile-powered Ballot Special recorded the third fastest race time and was also the official handicap winner.[2]
Classification
| Pos [2] | No. [2] | Driver [2] | Car [2] | Entrant [1] | Laps [2] | Time [2] | H'cap Pos [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Doug Whiteford |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.2L | D Whiteford | 34 | 1h 24m 53s | 5 |
| 2 | 6 | Rupert Steele |
Alfa Romeo 8C / Alfa Romeo 2.3L | PJR Steele | 34 | 1h 27m 51s | 9 |
| 3 | 21 | Jim Gullan |
Ballot Special / Oldsmobile 3.9L | J Gullan | 34 | 1h 29m 23s | 1 |
| 4 | 30 | David Harvey |
MG TC Special / MG 1.3L | DG Harvey | 34 | 1h 33m 49s | 2 |
| 5 | 22 | Bill Willcox |
Dodge Special / Dodge 4.1L | WH Wilcox | 34 | 1h 34m 11s | 10 |
| 6 | 32 | Steve Tillett |
MG TC Special / MG 1.3L | SD Tillett | 34 | 1h 34m 37s | 6 |
| 7 | 33 | Ron Kennedy |
MG TC / MG 1.3L | RJ Kennedy | 34 | 1h 34m 41s | 3 |
| 8 | 35 | Don Cant |
MG TC / MG 1.3L | DP Cant | 34 | 1h 35m 05s | 4 |
| 9 | 27 | Howard Keil |
HRG Special / HRG 1.5L | FAO Gaze | 34 | 1h 35m 57s | 8 |
| 10 | 26 | Norman Steele |
HRG Special / HRG 1.5L | NC Steele | 34 | 1h 36m 08s | 7 |
| 11 | 19 | Granton Harrison |
Phillips V8 Special / Ford 3.9L | GT Harrison | 34 | 1h 37m 39s | 11 |
| 12 | 29 | Vin Maloney |
MG TC Special / MG 1.3L | VA Maloney | 34 | 1h 40m 14s | 12 |
| 13 | 38 | R. Vinall |
MG NA / MG 1.3L | RK Vinall | 34 | 1h 46m 42s | 13 |
| Ret | 25 | Peter McKenna |
BMW 328 / BMW 2.0L | Peter McKenna | 33 | ||
| Ret | 34 | D. Douglas |
MG TC / MG 1.3L | AP Douglas | 32 | ||
| Ret | 20 | Dennis Curran |
Curran Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.0L | DE Curran | 30 | ||
| Ret | 16 | Ken Tubman |
MG K3 / MG s/c 1.1L | KV Tubman | 28 | ||
| Ret | 31 | Ken Jackson |
MG K3 / MG s/c 1.1L | IN Jackson | 25 | ||
| Ret | 40 | Phill Harrison |
MG P / Vauxhall 1.4L | P Harrison | 21 | ||
| Ret | 24 | Bob Brown |
Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Ford 4.0L | RS Brown | 21 | ||
| Ret | 3 | Charlie Dean |
Maybach Special Mk.1 / Maybach 4.2L | HC Dean | 21 | ||
| Ret | 23 | L. Robinson |
Bugatti / Dodge | LD Robinson | 15 | ||
| Ret | 11 | Peter Denman |
Hudson Special / Hudson | P Denman | 13 | ||
| Ret | 36 | E. Truman |
MG TC / MG 1.3L | EC Truman | 11 | ||
| Ret | 17 | Bill Patterson |
MG TC / MG s/c 1.3L | GW Patterson | 6 | ||
| Ret | 39 | Max Galt |
MG NA / MG 1.3L | M Galt | 4 | ||
| Ret | 4 | Eldred Norman |
Double Ford V8 Special / Ford 7.8L | E de B Norman | 2 | ||
| Ret | 15 | Otto Stone |
MG K3 / MG s/c 1.1L | Otto Stone | 1 | ||
| Ret | 2 | Lex Davison |
Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa Romeo 3.0L | AN Davison | 1 |
The above results rank all finishers based on actual race time, regardless of handicap.[2] Officially, race results were based on handicap placings, with the exception of the actual Australian Grand Prix title itself, which was awarded to the driver setting the fastest race time.[2]
It is not known if the cars of McKenna and Douglas actually retired from the race or were still running when the race time expired.[2]
Notes
- Fastest lap: Rupert Steele and Doug Whiteford – 2'27 (73.47 mph, 118.2 kph) [2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Programme, Australian Grand Prix Carnival, 2 January 1950, Nuriootpa Road Circuit, South Australia
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Records, Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-3
External links
- Victorian wins Grand Prix, The Advertiser, Tuesday, January 3 1950, page 3, from trove.nla.gov.au
- Post 1950 race results from www.dlg.speedfreaks.org
- The Nuriootpa circuit at www.tasman-series.com via web.archive.org
| Preceded by | Australian Grand Prix 1950 |
Succeeded by 1951 Australian Grand Prix |
