1955 Australian Grand Prix
Introduction The '''1955 Australian Grand Prix''' was a motor race held at the Port Wakefield Circuit in South Australia on 10 October 1955.The race, which had 22 starters, was held over 80 laps of the 2.09 km (1.3 mi) circuit. It was open to Formula Libre cars of unlimited capacity. The race was promoted by Brooklyn Speedway (SA) Ltd. and was organised by the Sporting Car Club of SA Inc.It was the twentieth Australian Grand Prix and the first to be held on a purpose built motor racing circuit after the previous 19 were held on closed streets or country roads, or on airfields modified for the purpose. Future World Champion Jack Brabham won his first Australian Grand Prix in a streamlined Cooper-Bristol that Brabham, having recently joined the Cooper team, had assembled himself and sent to Australia. It was the first time a rear-engined car had won the AGP, although this was seen as an upset win and a rear-engined car would not win again until 1960.
Classification The Cooper T40 Bristol with which Jack Brabham won the 1955 Australian Grand Prix (pictured in 2011)Results as follows. Pos  No. Driver  Car  Entrant  Laps  Time /  Remarks 1 6  Jack Brabham Cooper T40 / Bristol 2.0L J. Brabham 80 1h 26m 44.43s 2 5  Reg Hunt Maserati A6GCM / Maserati 2.5L R.H. Hunt 80 1h 26m 47.54s 3 3  Doug Whiteford Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L D. Whiteford 80  1h 26m 48.92s 4 10  Kevin Neal Cooper T23 / Bristol 2.0L R.H. Hunt 78 5 12  Murray Trenberth Vincent Special / Vincent 1.0L M. Trenberth 76 6 16  Keith Rilstone Rilstone Special / Vincent 1.0L G.T. Harrison 75 7 14  Bill Craig Alta / Holden 2.4L W.J. Craig 75 8 2  Eldred Norman Eclipse Zephyr / Ford s/c 2.3L E. Norman & Eclipse Motors Pty. Ltd. 75 9 20  Bill Wilcox Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.4L W. Wilcox 74 10 17  Greg McEwin Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L Invicta Motors Ltd. 71 11 30  Jack Johnson MG TC Special / MG 1.3L J. Johnson 69 12 7  Charlie Whatmore Jaguar Special / Jaguar 3.4L C. Whatmore 68 13 27  Bob Burnett Read MG K3 / MG 1.1L E.R. Burnett Read 67 14 29  Steve Tillet MG TC / MG 1.4L S.D. Tillett 66 15 21  C.F. Norris AC Ace / AC 2.0L C.F. Norris 64 Ret 8  Tom Hawkes Cooper T23 / Bristol 2.0L T.V. Hawkes 76 Fuel supply Ret 18  Clem Smith Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L C. Smith 65 Suspension Ret 4  Stan Jones Maybach Mk. 3 / Maybach 3.8L S.J. Jones 43 Clutch Ret 9  Stan Coffey Cooper T20 / Bristol 2.0L Mrs J. Coffey 38 Accident Ret 26  Bruce Walton Walton / JAP 0.5L B.A. Walton 31  Ret 25  Murray Rainey Cooper Mk.IX / Norton 0.5L M. Rainey 14 Universal joint Ret 23  Bill Patterson Cooper Mk.V / JAP 0.5L G.W. Patterson 14 Engine DNQ 35  John Cummins Bugatti Type 37 / Holden 2.2L J. Cummins -
Notes * Pole position: Reg Hunt*Fastest lap: Jack Brabham/Reg Hunt - 1'03* Number of starters: 22
References
External links *  Image of Jack Brabham (Cooper Bristol) contesting the 1955 Australian Grand Prix, www.jack-brabham-engines.com via web.archive.org*  Images from Port Wakefield, 1955, aussieroadracing.homestead.com via web.archive.org