1937 Australian Grand Prix
1936 Australian Grand Prix | |||
---|---|---|---|
handicap race | |||
Race details | |||
Date | 26 December 1936 | ||
Location |
Port Elliot-Victor Harbor Circuit [1] near Victor Harbor, South Australia | ||
Course | Temporary road circuit | ||
Course length | 12.55 km (7.8 miles) | ||
Distance | 32 laps, 386.16 km (240 .[2] miles) | ||
Weather | Sunny | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver |
![]() | Bugatti | |
Time | 5:47 | ||
Podium | |||
First | MG | ||
Second | MG | ||
Third | Terraplane Special |
The 1937 Australian Grand Prix is a name which has been applied retrospectively to the 1936 South Australian Centenary Grand Prix, a motor race held on the Port Elliot-Victor Harbor road circuit in South Australia on Boxing Day, 26 December 1936.[3]
The 1935 Australian Grand Prix had been held at Phillip Island in April and no succeeding event had been planned. Eventually the Australian Grand Prix would be revived in April 1938 at Bathurst. The stature of 1936 South Australian Centenary Grand Prix, the largest such race held in the three-year gap, saw it later renamed and redated to become the 1937 Australian Grand Prix.[3][4]
The race was the first road race for cars to be held in South Australia, with special amendments to the Road Traffic Act required to allow the roads to be closed for that purpose.[3] A 7.8-mile (12.55 km) course was laid out specifically for the race on sealed public roads between the seaside towns of Port Elliot and Victor Harbor.[3] It was only used for racing on this one occasion. The race, which had 27 starters, was held over 32 laps for a total distance of approximately 250 miles (400 kilometres). Like most major Australian motor races of the period, it featured a handicap start, with the slowest cars starting first and other cars starting at timed intervals according to their predicted performance. The race was organised by the Sporting Car Club of South Australia and promoted by Centenary Road Races Limited of Adelaide.[5] It was open to factory built and catalogued racing cars and sports cars, irrespective of engine capacity, however other entries not meeting that description were also considered.[5]
The race was won by pre-race favourite Les Murphy, driving a MG P-type off a handicap of 40 minutes.[6] He finished over ten minutes clear of Tim Joshua driving a similar car with Bob Lea-Wright third [7] in a Terraplane-based special. Fifth placed finisher Ossie Cranston, driving a Ford V8-based special [7] off a handicap of 5 minutes,[6] completed the race in the fastest actual running time of 3 hours 20 minutes and 17 seconds.[8]
Classification
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/MG_P-Type_of_Les_Murphy.jpg/220px-MG_P-Type_of_Les_Murphy.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Hudson_Special_1935.jpg/220px-Hudson_Special_1935.jpg)
Results as follows.[2]
Pos | No. | Driver | Car | Entrant [6] | Laps | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 29 | ![]() |
MG P-type / MG 0.8L | L Murphy | 32 | 3h 57m 36s |
2 | 32 [9] | ![]() |
MG P-type / MG 0.8L | AI Barrett | 32 | 4h 7m 40s |
3 | 19 | ![]() |
Terraplane Special / Terraplane 3.5L | RA Lea-Wright | 32 | 4h 9m 20s |
4 | 20 | ![]() |
Oldsmobile Special / Oldsmobile | AE Poole | 32 | 4h 10m 29s |
5 | 15 | ![]() |
Riley Special / Riley 1.1L | GB Dentry | 32 | 4h 12m 32s |
6 | 6 | ![]() |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 3.6L | OS Cranston | 32 | 4h 15m 47s |
7 | 35 | ![]() |
Austin 7 Special / Austin 0.7L | RS Uffindell | 32 | 4h 19m 19s |
8 | 27 | ![]() |
MG L Magna / MG 1.1L | J Summers | 32 | 4h 22m 18s |
9 | 18 | ![]() |
Terraplane Special / Terraplane 3.5L | HJ Beith | 32 | 4h 24m 01s |
10 | 23 | ![]() |
MG C / MG 0.8L | JH Dutton | 32 | 4h 24m 03s |
11 | 9 [10] | ![]() |
Bugatti Type 37A / Bugatti s/c 1.5L | 32 | 4h 26m 15s [8] | |
12 | 26 | ![]() |
AC 16/80 / AC 2.0L | RH Wilkinson | 32 | 4h 30m 43s |
Ret | 4 | ![]() |
MG K3 / MG s/c 1.1L | L Jackson | 29 | |
NC | 33 | ![]() |
Amilcar | J McDonald | 28 | |
Ret | 22 | ![]() |
Lombard AL3 / Lombard 1.2L | AI Barrett | 25 | |
NC | 31 | ![]() |
Morris Cowley Special / Morris 1.5L | AI Barrett | 23 | |
Ret | 17 | ![]() |
Ford V8 Special / Ford 3.6L | JK Phillips | 21 | |
Ret | 3 [6] | ![]() |
MG K3 / MG s/c 1.1L | J Snow | 20 | |
Ret | 30 | ![]() |
Wolseley Hornet / Wolseley 1.3L | J Gullan | 17 | |
NC | 25 [11] | ![]() |
Austin 7 / Austin s/c 0.7L | 11 | ||
Ret | 1 | ![]() |
MG K3 / MG s/c 1.1L | JH Fagan | 10 | |
Ret | 34 | ![]() |
Vauxhall 14/40 Special / Vauxhall 2.3L | EM Winter | 10 | |
Ret | 21 | ![]() |
Bugatti Type 37A / / Bugatti s/c 1.5L | Hylton Dale | 9 | |
Ret | 2 | ![]() |
Bugatti Type 37A / Bugatti s/c 1.5L | TM Peters | 7 | |
Ret | 12 | ![]() |
Austin 7 / Austin | GC Smith | 7 | |
Ret | 13 | ![]() |
Hudson Special / Hudson | L Burrows | 7 | |
Ret | 7 | ![]() |
Hudson Special [12]/ Hudson | WA McIntyre | 5 | |
DNS | 14 | ![]() |
Alvis / Alvis s/c 1.5L | B McN. Clark |
The entries of McDonald, Anderson and Abbott were "flagged off",[13] having exceeded the time limit rule.[2]
References
- ^ Front cover, Official Programme, SA Centenary Grand Prix, 26 and 29 December 1936
- ^ a b c Medley, John (1986). "1952". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 92–103. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
- ^ a b c d John B Blanden, A History of the Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, page 129
- ^ "Recognition" of the race as an Australian Grand Prix had occurred prior to the running of the 1948 Australian Grand Prix as a list of AGP winners published on page 11 of the Programme for that race includes an entry for "1937 - Victor Harbour - L Murphy".
- ^ a b Centenary Grand Prix - Regulations for SA Event, The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday, 21 August 1936 page 7 As retrieved from trove.nla.gov.au on 12 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d John B Blanden, A History of the Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, page 132
- ^ a b John B Blanden, A History of the Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, page 147
- ^ a b John B Blanden, A History of the Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, page 148
- ^ John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, pages 132 & 143
- ^ John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, page 134
- ^ John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, page 136
- ^ John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, pages 132 & 137
- ^ John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, pages 148 to 150