1953 Australian Grand Prix

1953 Australian Grand Prix
	Formula Libre race
Race details
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
Time	2'03
Podium

The 1953 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre [1] 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 organised by the Light Car Club of Australia and Army Southern Command.[2]

The start of the 1953 Australian Grand Prix. Davison (#3 HWM), Jones (#2 Maybach) and Whiteford (#1 Talbot-Lago)

The 9th placed Wylie Javelin of Ken & Arthur Wylie, pictured in 2015

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

The Maybach Special Mk.1, in which Stan Jones set fastest lap of the race, pictured in 2000

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 six laps for a margin of 30 kilometres.

Classification

Results as follows.[3]

Pos	No.	Driver	Car / Engine	Entrant [2]	Laps [4]	Time
1	1	Doug Whiteford	Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L	D. Whiteford	64	2h 24m 50s
2	26	Curley Brydon	MG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L	H. Brydon	58
3	22	Andy Brown	MG K3 / MG 1.1L	A.G. Brown	57
4	23	Les Murphy	MG Q / MG 0.7L	L.P. Murphy	57
5	30	Lou Molina	MM Special / Holden 2.3L	L. Molina	56
6	32	Jim Leach	Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L	C.R. Dickason	56
7	7	Frank Kleinig	Kleinig-Hudson 8 Special / Hudson 4.4L	F. Kleinig	56
8	38	Stuart Charge	Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L	L.J. Gray	55
9	19	Ken Wylie Arthur Wylie	Wylie Javelin / Jowett s/c 1.5L	A.J. Wylie	55
10	16	Reg Hunt	Allard J2 / Cadillac 4.4L	R.H. Hunt	55
11	33	Bib Stillwell	Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L	B.S. Stillwell	54
12	17	Alf Barrett [5] Julian Barrett [5]	BWA Special / Frazer Nash 1.5L	J. Barrett	53
13	40	Neil Charge	MG TC Special / MG 1.3L	N. and S. Charge	52
14	35	Frank Lobb	Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L	F. Lobb	51
15	9	Ted McKinnon	Maserati 6C / Maserati 1.5L	E.D. McKinnon	50
16	42	John Nind	MG TB Special / MG 1.3L	J.P. Nind	45
17	60	Bill Patterson	Cooper Mk.V / JAP 0.5L	Ecurie Australie	43
18	31	Syd Negus	Plymouth Special / Plymouth 3.1L	S.A. Negus	39
Ret	2	Stan Jones	Maybach Special Mk.1 / Maybach 4.3L	Ecurie Australie	58
Ret	34	John Calvert	Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L	J. Calvert	52
Ret	28	Les O'Donaghue	Ballot / Oldsmobile 3.9L	L.F. O'Donoghue	48
Ret	6	Peter Vennermark Cec Warren [6]	Maserati 4CL / Maserati 1.5L	C. Warren	41
Ret	65	Harry Thompson Wal Gillespie [7]	HRG Special	H. Thompson	39
Ret	15	Bill Wilcox	Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.3L	W. Wilcox	37
Ret	55 [2]	Ron Phillips	Allard K2 / Ford 4.4L	J.H. Phillips	34
Ret	57 [2]	Haig Hurst	Allard K2 / Ford 4.4L	H.W. Hurst	29
Ret	25	Phillip Catlin	Bugatti T51A / Bugatti 1.5L	P.C. Catlin	23
Ret	27	Phil Harrison	Dodge Special / Dodge 4.0L	P.G. Harrison	22
Ret	64	Silvio Masolla [8]	HRG Special / HRG 1.5L	S. Massola	19
Ret	10	W.H. Hayes	Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.4L	W.H. Hayes	17
Ret	11	Ted Gray	Alta / Ford 4.3L	E. Gray	13
Ret	18	Don McDonald	Austin A40 Special / Austin 1.3L	Weir and Male Motors	13
Ret	24	Reg Nutt	Talbot-Darracq / Talbot 1.5L	R.J. Nutt	11
Ret	37	Peter McKenna	BMW 328 / BMW 2.0L	P. McKenna	11
Ret	39	Jack O'Dea	MG Special / MG 1.3L	J.H. O'Dea	8
Ret [9]	45	Gordon Greig	Cooper Mk.IV / JAP	G. Greig	8
Ret	56 [2]	Vin Maloney	MG TC Special / MG 1.3L	V. Moloney	5
Ret	20	Jim Gullan	MG K3 / MG 1.1L	J. Gullan	3
Ret	12	Arthur Chick	Bugatti T37 / Bugatti 2.0L	A.E. Chick	3
Ret	3	Lex Davison	HWM F2 / Jaguar 3.4L	Ecurie Australie	1
DNS [10]	5	Jack Brabham	Cooper / Bristol 2.0L	J.A. Brabham	-

Notes

Winner's average speed: 82.85 mph [11]
Fastest lap: Stan Jones – 2'03

gollark: Do they not "run off" sometimes or whatever? Someone check help.

gollark: Okay, Shadowdrake, I agree that the system is probably fixed base rarities with some userdefined extra multiplier.

gollark: It may also be because people have had longer to gather them so they're less wanted.

gollark: That would imply a lot of nonuserdefinedness, Shadowdrake.

gollark: A thought: if rarity really were mostly userdefined, would other BSAs not also be roughly aeonrare?

References

Racing into history, A look back at the 1953 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Australian Grand Prix Corporation, 2013, page 6
Official Souvenir Programme, XVIIIth Australian Grand Prix
Howard, Graham (1986). "1953". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 182–191. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
Australian Grand Prix 1953 - Laps Completed, The official history of the Australian Grand Prix - 80 Races
Alf Barrett: ‘The Maestro’: Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Monza, primotipo.com Retrieved 21 November 2015
The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix page 189 states that Peter Vennermark drove Warren's car at the start and page 190 states that Vennermark handed over to Warren during the race.
The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix page 189 states that Thompson and Gillespie both drove car 65.
The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix uses both Messola and Massolla. The Official Programme uses Massola.
Gordon Greig is listed as a DNS in the Entry List on page 191 of in The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, but is also listed under Retirements on the same page. Greig is shown on the Laps Completed chart in The official history of the Australian Grand Prix - 80 Races
Brabham is mentioned as a non-starter (due to mechanical problems in practice) on page 186 of The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix.
Official Programme, Sandown, 9 February 1964, page 23

Preceded by 1952 Australian Grand Prix	Australian Grand Prix 1953	Succeeded by 1954 Australian Grand Prix

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[Racing_into_history-1] Racing into history, A look back at the 1953 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Australian Grand Prix Corporation, 2013, page 6

[Programme-2] Official Souvenir Programme, XVIIIth Australian Grand Prix

[3] Howard, Graham (1986). "1953". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 182–191. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.

[Chart-4] Australian Grand Prix 1953 - Laps Completed, The official history of the Australian Grand Prix - 80 Races

[Primotipo-5] Alf Barrett: ‘The Maestro’: Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Monza, primotipo.com Retrieved 21 November 2015

[6] The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix page 189 states that Peter Vennermark drove Warren's car at the start and page 190 states that Vennermark handed over to Warren during the race.

[7] The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix page 189 states that Thompson and Gillespie both drove car 65.

[8] The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix uses both Messola and Massolla. The Official Programme uses Massola.

[9] Gordon Greig is listed as a DNS in the Entry List on page 191 of in The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, but is also listed under Retirements on the same page. Greig is shown on the Laps Completed chart in The official history of the Australian Grand Prix - 80 Races

[10] Brabham is mentioned as a non-starter (due to mechanical problems in practice) on page 186 of The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix.

[11] Official Programme, Sandown, 9 February 1964, page 23