1949 Australian Grand Prix


The 1949 Australian Grand Prix was motor race held at the Leyburn circuit in Queensland, Australia on 18 September 1949. The race was staged over 35 laps of the 7.0 kilometre circuit, which was laid out on the runways and taxiways of a World War II airbase located six kilometres north of the town of Leyburn. The total race distance was 150.5 miles.
The race is recognised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as the fourteenth Australian Grand Prix. It was the first Australian Grand Prix to be held in Queensland, the first to feature a mass start of the entire grid and the first with grid positions decided by practice times. The race, which was organised by the Queensland Motor Sporting Club, attracted a crowd of approximately 40,000 people.
John Crouch won the race driving a Delahaye 135MS. Ray 'Laddie' Gordon finished second ahead of Arthur Rizzo.

Classification

PosNo.DriverCar / engineLapsTime
14 John CrouchDelahaye 135MS / Delahaye 3.6L351h 49m 25.2s
220 Ray GordonMG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L351h 54m 12.2s
38 Arthur RizzoRiley Special / Riley 1.5L351h 56m 56.8s
419 Peter CritchleyMG TB Special / MG 1.3L351h 59m 40s
57 Alan LarsenCadillac Special / Cadillac 5.7L351h 59m 53s
629 Curley BrydonMG TC Special / MG 1.3L352h 00m 08s
738 Irwin LukeBugatti Type 37 / Bugatti352h 07m 07.4s
824 Theo TrevathanFord V8 Special / Ford 3.9L352h 11m 14.4s
940 H. McGuireMG TC / MG 1.3L352h 16m 53s
1032 Col RobinsonMG TC / MG 1.3L352h 20m 59.6s
1133 Jack WrightFord V8 Special / Ford 4.0L352h 24m 36.8s
Ret36 Vic JohnsonMG TC / MG 1.3L27
Ret2 Dick BlandG Reed Ford Special / Ford 4.0L26
Ret1 Frank KleinigHudson Special / Hudson 4.4L21
Ret21 John NindMG TB Special / MG 1.3L20
Ret18 Garry CoglanMG TC Special / MG 1.3L16
Ret34 Ken TubmanMG Magna / MG s/c 1.1L12
Ret10 Snow SeftonStrathpine Special11
Ret11 Charlie WhatmoreStudebaker Special10
Ret23 Les TaylorMG TC Special / MG 1.3L10
Ret15 Keith ThallonJaguar SS100 / SS 3.6L10
Ret25 Doug McDonaldBugatti / Dodge9
Ret9 Keith SaundersCadillac Special8
Ret5 Rex LawBuick Special8
Ret17 Dick CobdenMG TC Special / MG 1.4L6
Ret3 Arthur BowesHudson Special / Hudson5
Ret6 Ross GrayGK Ford Special / Ford 4.0L4
Ret22 George PearseMG TB / MG 1.3L2

Handicap award

A concurrent handicap award was won by Luke with an adjusted time of 1 hour 39 minutes 7.4 seconds.