1928 Australian Grand Prix

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1928 Australian Grand Prix
Race details
Date 31 March 1928
Location Phillip Island, Victoria
Course Temporary road circuit
Course length 10.6 km (6.5 miles)
Distance 16 laps, 169 km (105 miles)
Weather Sunny
Podium
First
Austin
Second
  • Australia John McCutcheon
 Morris
Third
  • Australia Cyril Dickason
 Austin

The 1928 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held on the Phillip Island road circuit, on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia on 31 March 1928. Although now known as the first Australian Grand Prix, the race was actually staged as the 100 Miles Road Race and it did not assume the Australian Grand Prix title until some years later.[1] It was organised by the Victorian Light Car Club.[2]

The overall winner was Arthur Waite driving an Austin 7. The winning car averaged 56.25 mph (90.50 km/h).[3]

Race summary

[edit]

The race was originally to be held on Monday 26 March however rain forced postponement until Saturday 31 March.[3] It was open to "light" cars of up to 2-litre capacity[3] and it attracted 30 entries, of which 25 were accepted and 17 started.[4]

Competing cars were classified into classes according to cylinder capacity:[5]

  • Class A: Cars up to 750cc[5]
  • Class B: Cars over 750cc and up to 1100cc[5]
  • Class C: Cars over 1100cc and up to 1500cc[5]
  • Class D: Cars over 1500cc and up to 2000cc[5]

The event was conducted as two separate races, with the first held in the morning for Class B and D entries, and the second held in the afternoon, for Class A and C cars.[3] The competitor setting the fastest time was to receive a £100 trophy donated by Charles Brown Kellow and would be regarded as "Champion of the Day".[6] Trophies were also to be awarded for first and second places in each class and all other competitors who finished within the 2½ hour time limit would receive a Club award.[6]

Only two cars completed the course without stopping.[7] They were the Morris Cowley of J. O. McCutcheon and the Austin 12 of C. R. Dickason.[7]

Race results

[edit]
Arthur Waite was the overall winner driving an Austin 7. He also won Class A.
John McCutcheon placed second overall and won Class D driving a Morris Cowley
Cyril Dickason placed third overall driving an Austin 12
Arthur Terdich placed fourth and won Class C driving a Bugatti Type 40
Barney Dentry placed fifth and won Class B driving a Sénéchal
Jack Day placed sixth driving a Bugatti Type 37

Race One

[edit]
Pos[8][3] Driver[8][3] No.[8][3] Car[8][3] Entrant[8] Class[8][3] Laps[8][3] Time[8][3]
1 John McCutcheon 24 Morris Cowley J. O. McCutcheon D 16 1h 50m 10s
2 Cyril Dickason 25 Austin 12 C. R. Dickason D 16 1h 54m 02s
3 Barney Dentry 10 Sénéchal G. Dentry B 16 1h 55m 44s
4 Bill Lowe 26 Métallurgique W. H. Lowe D 16 2h 05m 01s
5 Bill Williamson 8 Riley Nine Mrs J. A. Day B 16 2h 17m 37s
6 Les Pound 7 DFP L. Pound B 16 2h 24m 29s
Ret W. A. "Ab" Terdich 6 DFP W. A. Terdich B 10[9]
Ret Les Jennings 23 Morris Cowley L. Jennings D 6[9]
DNS B. W. Solly 9 Opel Rex Motors P/L B -
DNS Maurice Shmith 11 Fiat 509 M. Shmith B -
DNS George Saville 12 Amilcar Grand Sport G. Saville B -
DNS John Hollway 22 Darracq J. Hollway D -

Race Two

[edit]
Pos[8][3] Driver[8][3] No.[8][3] Car[8][3] Entrant[8] Class[8][3] Laps[8][3] Time[8][3]
1 Australia Arthur Waite 3 Austin 7 s/c A. Waite A 16 1h 46m 40s
2 Australia Arthur Terdich 14 Bugatti Type 40 A. J. Terdich C 16 1h 54m 45s
3 Jack Day 15 Bugatti Type 37 J. A. Day C 16 1h 56m 26s
4 Clarrie May 5 Austin 7 C. May A 16 2h 03m 24s
5 J. C. Hutton 16 Alvis 12/50 J. C. Hutton C 16 2h 04m 21s
6 Tom Davey 2 Austin 7 T. N. Davey A 16 2h 06m 19s
7 Stan King 1 Austin 7 S. V. King A 16 2h 08m 35s
Ret Ron Gardner 17 Alvis 12/50 R. G. Gardner C 8[10]
Ret Ed Houn 18 Aston Martin J. E. Goodall C 1[9]
DNS Albert Edwards 4 Austin 7 A. Edwards A -
DNS Ed Hussey Cooper 19 Frazer Nash E. H. Cooper C -
DNS Sid Cox 20 Bugatti Type 39 S. C. Cox C -
DNS G. A. Wagner 21 Wanderer G. A. Wagner C -

Overall classification

[edit]
Pos[8][3] Driver[8][3] No.[8][3] Car[8][3] Entrant[8] Class[8][3] Laps[8][3] Time[8][3]
1 Australia Arthur Waite 3 Austin 7 s/c A. Waite A 16 1h 46m 40s
2 John McCutcheon 24 Morris Cowley J. O. McCutcheon D 16 1h 50m 10s
3 Cyril Dickason 25 Austin 12 C. R. Dickason D 16 1h 54m 02s
4 Australia Arthur Terdich 14 Bugatti Type 40 A. J. Terdich C 16 1h 54m 45s
5 Barney Dentry 10 Sénéchal G. Dentry B 16 1h 55m 44s
6 Jack Day 15 Bugatti Type 37 J. A. Day C 16 1h 56m 26s
7 Clarrie May 5 Austin 7 C. May A 16 2h 03m 24s
8 J. C. Hutton 16 Alvis 12/50 J. C. Hutton C 16 2h 04m 21s
9 Bill Lowe 26 Métallurgique W. H. Lowe D 16 2h 05m 01s
10 Tom Davey 2 Austin 7 T. N. Davey A 16 2h 06m 19s
11 Stan King 1 Austin 7 S. V. King A 16 2h 08m 35s
12 Bill Williamson 8 Riley Nine Mrs J. A. Day B 16 2h 17m 37s
13 Les Pound 7 DFP L. Pound B 16 2h 24m 29s
Ret W. A. "Ab" Terdich 6 DFP W. A. Terdich B 10[9]
Ret Ron Gardner 17 Alvis 12/50 R. G. Gardner C 8[10]
Ret Les Jennings 23 Morris Cowley L. Jennings D 6[9]
Ret Ed Houn 18 Aston Martin J. E. Goodall C 1[9]
DNS Albert Edwards 4 Austin 7 A. Edwards A -
DNS B. W. Solly 9 Opel Rex Motors P/L B -
DNS Maurice Shmith 11 Fiat 509 M. Shmith B -
DNS George Saville 12 Amilcar Grand Sport G. Saville B -
DNS Ed Hussey Cooper 19 Frazer Nash E. H. Cooper C -
DNS Sid Cox 20 Bugatti Type 39 S. C. Cox C -
DNS G. A. Wagner 21 Wanderer G. A. Wagner C -
DNS John Hollway 22 Darracq J. Hollway D -

Notes

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  • Ret = Retired from race
  • DNS = Did not start race

1927 Australian Grand Prix

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Although the 1928 race is recognised by Motorsport Australia as the first Australian Grand Prix,[11] a dispute exists given that an event held in Goulburn, New South Wales in 1927 was actually advertised as a grand prix at the time.[12] However the 1927 event was not a motor race but rather a series of elimination sprints.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, page vii
  2. ^ John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, p. 3
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Bell, Ray (1986). "1928". The official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. R&T Publishing. pp. 14–24. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
  4. ^ John B. Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, p. 7
  5. ^ a b c d e Extracts from Rules, Official Programme, 100 Miles Road Race, Phillip Island, Monday, 26 March 1928
  6. ^ a b John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, p. 5
  7. ^ a b 100-Mile Road Race, The Argus, Tuesday 3 April 1928, Page 18, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981
  9. ^ a b c d e f Cowes Motor Racing, The Age, Monday, 2 April 1928 , p. 18, via nla.gov.au
  10. ^ a b John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, p. 23
  11. ^ 2020 Motorsport Australia Manual - Titles - Australian Grand Prix, motorsport.org.au, as archived at web.archive.org
  12. ^ Goulburn first in motor sport, January 15 2017, www.goulburnpost.com.au Retrieved 12 March 2021
  13. ^ Meredith's marvel: the Windellama man who won Australia's first Grand Prix in Goulburn, January 11 2017, www.crookwellgazette.com.au Retrieved 12 March 2021
[edit]
Preceded by
None
 Australian Grand Prix
1928 		Succeeded by