1951 Australian Grand Prix
The 1951 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race held at a street circuit in Narrogin, Western Australia on 5 March 1951. The race was held over 24 laps of the 7.1 kilometre circuit for a race distance of 170 kilometres.
It was the sixteenth Australian Grand Prix and the last to feature a handicap start which saw the slower cars starting ahead of the faster cars according to handicap allowance. The first car over the line was the MG TC special of South Australian Steve Tillett. The Australian Grand Prix title was however to be awarded to the driver setting the fastest outright time, regardless of handicap. The scratch race was won by Warwick Pratley driving a George Reed built Flathead Ford V8 powered racing car. It would be the last Australian Grand Prix victory by an Australian built car until Frank Matich won the 1971 race at the wheel of a Matich A50. Pratley started the race ten minutes and thirty seconds behind the first car to start the race, the Morgan of Colin Uphill. Pratley won the race by 96 seconds over the Delahaye of Dick Bland. Both Tillett and Pratley were awarded Commonwealth Jubilee Trophies for their victories in what was effectively two races in one.
Classification
Results as follows.Pos | No. | Driver | Car | Laps | Time | H'cap Pos |
1 | 18 | ![]() | George Reed Special / Ford 4.0L | 24 | 1h 39m 15s | 3 |
2 | 9 | ![]() | Delahaye 135 / Delahaye 3.6L | 24 | 1h 40m 41s | 8 |
3 | 34 | ![]() | MG TC / MG 1.3L | 24 | 1h 43m 30s | 1 |
4 | 15 | ![]() | Chrysler 6 Special / Chrysler 2.9L | 24 | 1h 47m 03s | 7 |
5 | 37 | ![]() | MG TC / MG 1.3L | 24 | 1h 47m 36s | 2 |
6 | 33 | ![]() | TS Dodge Special / Dodge 3.6L | 24 | 1h 49m 18s | 5 |
7 | 41 | ![]() | MG TC / MG 1.3L | 24 | 1h 50m 21s | 4 |
8 | 30 | ![]() | BMW 328 / BMW 2.0L | 24 | 1h 51m 05s | 9 |
9 | 44 | ![]() | Morgan 4/4 / Coventry Climax 1.2L | 24 | 1h 55m 48s | 6 |
10 | 17 | ![]() | Plymouth 6 Special / Plymouth 3.3L | 24 | 2h 03m 6s | 10 |
Ret | 32 | ![]() | Ford 10 Special / Ford s/c 1.2L | 23 | ||
Ret | 16 | ![]() | George Reed Monoskate / Ford 4.0L | 22 | ||
Ret | 1 | ![]() | Maserati 6C / Maserati 1.5L | 19 | ||
Ret | 19 | ![]() | Smith Special / | 14 | ||
Ret | 12 | ![]() | MG TC / MG 1.3L | 11 | ||
Ret | 24 | ![]() | Targa Florio Ballot / Ford 3.6L | 9 | ||
Ret | 10 | ![]() | Double Ford V8 Special / Ford 7.8L | 7 | ||
Ret | ![]() | MG TC / MG s/c 1.3L | 6 | |||
Ret | 26 | ![]() | Ranford Chrysler 6 Special / Chrysler | 5 | ||
Ret | 7 | ![]() | Cooper Mk.IV / JAP 1.0L | 5 | ||
Ret | 25 | ![]() | Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 / Ford 4.0L | 3 | ||
Ret | 4 | ![]() | Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L | 3 | ||
Ret | 38 | ![]() | MG TC / MG 1.3L | 2 | ||
Ret | 42 | ![]() | Fidget Fiat 500 / Ford 1.2L | 2 | ||
Ret | 27 | ![]() | Ballot / Oldsmobile 3.9L | 2 | ||
Ret | 40 | ![]() | MG TC / MG 1.3L | 1 | ||
Ret | 36 | ![]() | MG TC / MG 1.3L | 1 | ||
Ret | 20 | ![]() | Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.0L | 1 |