1963 Australian Grand Prix
The 1963 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at Warwick Farm Raceway in New South Wales, Australia on 10 February 1963. Open to Formula Libre cars,[2][3] it was the opening heat of the 1963 Australian Drivers' Championship. The race, which was the twenty eighth Australian Grand Prix, had 16 starters.
1963 Australian Grand Prix | |||
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Race 1 of 6 in 1963 Australian Drivers' Championship | |||
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Race details | |||
Date | 10 February 1963 | ||
Location | Warwick Farm Raceway, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | ||
Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
Course length | 3.621 km (2.25 mi) | ||
Distance | 45 laps, 162.945 km (101.25 mi) | ||
Weather | Hot and sunny [1] | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Cooper-Climax | ||
Time | 1'38.8 | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver |
Jack Brabham |
Lola-Climax Repco Brabham-Climax | |
Time | 1'40.2 | ||
Podium | |||
First | Repco Brabham-Climax | ||
Second | Lola-Climax | ||
Third | Cooper-Climax |
The race featured a strong representation of international competitors, with entries from Ecurie Vitesse for Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren for himself, R.R.C. Walker Racing Team for Graham Hill and from the Bowmaker Racing Team for John Surtees, Tony Maggs and Jim Palmer. Jack Brabham won the race, his second Australian Grand Prix victory, after a battle with John Surtees. It was the first AGP victory by a driver in a self-developed car since Doug Whiteford won in his "Black Bess" Ford V8 Special in 1950.
Stirling Moss, who was recovering from a near-fatal crash at the Goodwood Circuit, was the special guest at the Grand Prix. Moss, who had driven a Maserati 250F to victory in the 1956 Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, also provided guest commentary for Australian television station the ABC alongside Doug Woodward, Bill Reynolds and pit reporter Norman May.
Classification
Results as follows.[4]
Pos | No. [5] | Driver | Entrant [5] | Car | Laps [6] | Time / Reason |
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1 | 4 | Ecurie Vitesse | Repco Brabham BT4 / Climax FPF 2.7L [7] | 45 | 1h 16m 34.1s | |
2 | 2 | Bowmaker Racing Team | Lola Mk.4 / Climax FPF 2.7L | 45 | 1h 16m 42.1s | |
3 | 10 | B. McLaren | Cooper T62 / Climax FPF 2.7L | 45 | 1h 17m 284.1s | |
4 | 5 | Scuderia Veloce | Repco Brabham BT4 / Climax FPF 2.7L [7] | 45 | 1h 18m 01.1s | |
5 | 6 | B.S. Stillwell | Repco Brabham BT4 / Climax FPF 2.7L [7] | 44 | ||
6 | 1 | R.R.C. Walker Racing Team | Ferguson P99 / Climax FPF 2.5L | 44 | ||
7 | 16 | Independent Motors | Lotus 18/21 / Climax FPF 2.5L | 44 | ||
8 | 18 | Total Team | Elfin Catalina / Ford 1.5L [6] | 43 | ||
9 | 17 | Total Team | Lotus 20B / Ford 1.5L | 42 | ||
10 | 19 | Killara Motor Garage | Lynx / Peugeot 1.5L | 42 | ||
11 | 8 | Ecurie Australie | Cooper T53 / Climax FPF 2.7L | 36 | ||
Ret | 3 | Bowmaker Racing Team | Lola Mk.4 / Climax FPF 2.7L | 31 | Exhaustion | |
Ret | 15 | J. Youl | Cooper T55 / Climax FPF 2.5L | 25 | Black Flagged | |
Ret | 14 | Scuderia Veloce | Cooper T53 / Climax FPF 2.5L | 24 | Fuel Pump | |
Ret | 12 | Bowmaker Racing Team | Cooper T55 / Climax FPF 2.7L | 9 | Broken steering arm [1] | |
Ret | 11 | Alec Mildren Pty. Ltd. | Cooper T51 / Maserati 2.9L [8] | 0 | Broken Axle | |
Notes
- Pole position: Bruce McLaren - 1'38.8
- Fastest lap: John Surtees and Jack Brabham - 1'40.2 (80.84 m.p.h.) [1] (130.074 k.p.h.) [2]
- Winner's average speed: 79.57 m.p.h. (128.05 k.p.h) [4]
References
- Jack wins in the old home town, Australian Motor Sports, March 1963, pages 26 to 28 & 38
- Motor Sport, March 1963, page 150
- The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix states that a 3-litre engine limit applied, however this is not supported by the AGP entry list in the Official Programme which includes a BRM Buick with a capacity of 3900cc
- White, Des (1986). "1963". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 286–292. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
- Official Programme, Warwick Farm, Australian International Grand Prix, Sunday, February 10, 1963
- 1963 Gold Star Round 1 Australian Grand Prix, members.optusnet.com.au/dandsshaw, as archived at web.archive.org
- Each "Brabham" was entered as a "Repco Brabham" in the Official Programme
- Australian Grand Prix, Warwick Farm, 10 Feb 1963, www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved 21 January 2018
Preceded by 1962 Australian Grand Prix |
Australian Grand Prix 1963 |
Succeeded by 1964 Australian Grand Prix |