1952 Australian Grand Prix


The 1952 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race held at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst, in New South Wales, Australia on 14 April 1952. The race had 43 starters and was held over 38 laps of the six kilometre circuit, a total distance of 235 kilometres. A crowd of 15,000 watched the race, which was organised by the Australian Sporting Car Club.
The race, which is recognised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as the seventeenth Australian Grand Prix, was won by Doug Whiteford driving a Talbot-Lago T26C Formula One car. It was Whiteford's second Australian Grand Prix victory.

Classification

Results as follows.
PosNo.DriverCarEntrantLapsTime / Remarks
11 Doug WhitefordTalbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5LD Whiteford381h 57m 44s
23 Stan JonesMaybach Special Mk.1 / Maybach 4.3LSJ Jones382h 02m 04s
313 Bill MurrayAlfa Romeo Tipo B / Alvis 4.4LW Murray382h 05m 08s
45 Jack MurrayAllard J2 / Cadillac 4.4LJE Murray382h 06m 04s
530 Harry MondayMercury Special / Mercury 4.0LHS Monday382h 09m 34s
615 Tom SulmanMaserati 4CL / Maserati 1.5LTN Sulman382h 11m 05s
727 Clive AdamsPrad / Ford 2.2LCE Adams382h 11m 16s
841 David McKayMG TC Special / MG 1.3LD McKay382h 13m 21s
943 Peter CritchleyMG TB Special / MG 1.3LBetter Used Cars NSW382h 15m 27s
1033 J.S. MoodyJaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4LJS Moody37Flagged off
1119 Arthur GriffithsMG TC Special / MG 1.3LAA Griffiths36Flagged off
1244 Ron WardMG TC Special / MG 1.3LRS Ward35Flagged off
1335 Bill McLachlanBugatti Type 37A / Ford 3.6LDA McLachlan34Flagged off
1432 John CalvertJaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4LJ Calvert34Flagged off
1516 Puss Catlin
Peter Menere
Bugatti Type 35B / Bugatti s/c 2.3LP Menere34Flagged off
1611 Jack SaywellCooper Mk.V / JAP 1.0LJ Saywell32Flagged off
1740 Silvio MassolaHRG Special / HRG 1.5LS Massola29Flagged off
Ret42 John NindMG TB Special / MG 1.3LJP Nind34
Ret39 T.G. HumphriesHRG Special / HRG 1.5LTG Humphries33
Ret46 Phil HarrisonMG TD Special / MG 1.3LPC Harrison27
Ret18 Curley BrydonMG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3LAH Brydon27Split fuel tank
Ret38 Ron ReidTerraplane Special / Terraplane 3.6LRM Reid24Engine noise
Ret36 Alec MildrenRiley Nine Imp / Riley 1.5LAG Mildren24Black flagged
Ret26 Bill WilcoxDodge Special / Dodge 4.0LWH Wilcox24Black flagged
Ret22 Harry ThompsonHRG / HRG 1.5LRedex Products NSW24
Ret21 Ian MountainMYF / Ford 4.2LIK Mountain24
Ret34 Frank RobertsJaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4LFK Roberts23
Ret17 Julian BarrettBWA Special / Frazer Nash 1.5LJ St. Q Barrett19
Ret28 Peter LoweBugatti Type 37 / Holden 2.2LPS Lowe17Distributor
Ret11 Stan MossetterRizzo Riley Special / Riley 1.5LS Mossetter16
Ret4 Wally FelthamAlta / Alta 2.0LWD Feltham15
Ret7 John CrouchCooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1LJF Crouch15Suspension
Ret25 George PearseMG TC Special / MGGE Pearse12
Ret12 Dick BlandRiley Dixon / Riley 1.5LAG Mildren11
Ret20 Jesse GriffithsGeorge Reed Special / Ford 4.0LJJ Griffiths11
Ret24 Vin MaloneyMG TC Special / MG 1.3LVA Maloney11
Ret23 Dick CobdenCooper Mk.V / JAP 0.5LR Cobden10Dropped valve
Ret14 Eldred NormanMaserati 6C / Maserati 1.5LE de B Norman10Blow off valve
Ret8 Lloyd HirstCooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1LFL Hirst8
Ret10 Mischa RavdellCooper Mk.V / Vincent 1.0LM Ravdell7
Ret6 Bill CraigCooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1LWJ Craig6
Ret9 Frank KleinigKleinig-Hudson 8 Special / Hudson 4.4LF Kleinig4Valve spring
Ret31 Ken TubmanMG K3 Magnette / MG 1.1LKV Tubman1
DNS29 Peter McKennaBMW 328 / BMW 2.0LP McKenna-Practised
DNS45 Ron FeastMG TB Special / MG 1.3LRJ Feast-Practised

Note: Competitors still running when the winner completed the race were allowed to continue racing until the race time limit flag was shown. Nine cars completed the full race distance and a further eight were "flagged off".

Handicap

The race incorporated a concurrent handicap award which was won by Harry Monday, 12 seconds ahead of Doug Whiteford. Minor placings were taken by Bill Murray, Clive Adams and David McKay.
This was to be the last Australian Grand Prix to include a handicap section.