1950 Australian Grand Prix

  1950 Australian Grand Prix

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	Doug Whiteford	Ford
Second	Rupert Steele	Alfa Romeo
Third	Jim Gullan	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

The Ford V8 Special in which Doug Whiteford won the 1950 Australian Grand Prix. The car is pictured in 2014.

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. Programme, Australian Grand Prix Carnival, 2 January 1950, Nuriootpa Road Circuit, South Australia
2. Howard, Graham (1986). "1950". In Howard, Graham. The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 148–157. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
3. 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