1954 Australian Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Formula Libre race | |||
| Date | 7 November 1954 | ||
| Location | 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 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Dick Cobden | 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 nine kilometre circuit. 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 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 enthusiastic team rebuilding it as the Maybach III.
Classification
Results as follows.[2]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Car | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Lex Davison |
HWM F2 / Jaguar 3.4L | 27 | 1h 50m 18s |
| 2 | 43 | Curley Brydon |
MG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L | 26 | |
| 3 | 9 | Ken Richardson |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 3.9L | 25 | |
| 4 | 8 | Eldred Norman |
Triumph TR2 / Standard s/c 2.0L | 24 | |
| 5 | 31 | David Griffiths |
Triumph TR2 / Standard 2.0L | 24 | |
| 6 | 29 | Frank Tobin |
Rizzo Riley Special / Riley 1.5L | 23 | |
| 7 | 4 | Charlie Whatmore |
Jaguar Special / Jaguar 3.4L | 23 | |
| 8 | 46 | Stan Coffey |
Cooper T20 / Bristol 2.0L | 23 | |
| 9 | 10 | Owen Bailey |
MG Holden Special / Holden 2.4L | 23 | |
| 10 | 2 | Charlie Swinburne |
Cooper Mk.IV / Norton 0.5L | 23 | |
| 11 | 21 | Bill Pitt |
Jaguar XK120 Special / Jaguar 3.4L | 22 | |
| 12 | 1 |  Fred Zambucka |
Maserati 8CM / Maserati 3.0L | 22 | |
| Ret | 16 | Snow Sefton |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.2L | 21 | |
| Ret | 14 | Noel Barnes |
MG TC Special / MG 1.3L | 19 | |
| Ret | 92 | Doug Whiteford |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.4L | 17 | |
| Ret | 79 | Arthur Griffiths |
Wylie Javelin / Jowett s/c 1.5L | 15 | |
| Ret | 87 | Stan Jones |
Maybach Special Mk.II / Maybach 4.3L | 13 | |
| Ret | 15 | John McKinney |
MG TC Special / MG 1.3L | 11 | |
| Ret | 74 | Ian Mountain |
Peugeot Special / Peugeot 1.5L | 11 | |
| Ret | 49 | Dick Cobden |
Ferrari 125 / Ferrari s/c 2.0L | 10 | |
| Ret | 3 | Wal Anderson |
Holden Special / Holden 2.3L | 9 | |
| Ret | 56 | Jack Murray |
Allard J2 / Cadillac 5.3L | 8 | |
| Ret | Gerald Downing |
Riley Imp Special / Riley | 8 | ||
| Ret | 78 | Rex Taylor |
Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L | 6 | |
| Ret | 37 | Holt Brinnie |
MG TD Special / MG 1.4L | 6 | |
| Ret | 20 | Gordon Grieg |
Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L | 4 | |
| Ret | 86 | Bill Wilcox |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.0L | 3 | |
| Ret | 6 | Jack Brabham |
Cooper T23 / Bristol 2.0L | 1 | |
- Fastest lap: Dick Cobden (Ferrari), 3:52s, 88.45 mph, 142.3 kph [2]
References
External links
- 60,000 at Southport motor race, The Courier Mail, Monday, November 8, 1954, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
- XIX Australian Grand Prix 1954, www.formula2.net
| Preceded by 1953 Australian Grand Prix |
Australian Grand Prix 1954 |
Succeeded by 1955 Australian Grand Prix |
Coordinates: 27°58′02″S 153°24′51″E / 27.9673°S 153.4141°E