1954 Australian Grand Prix
Introduction The '''1954 Australian Grand Prix''' was a motor race held at the Southport Road Circuit near Southport in Queensland, Australia on 7 November 1954.The race was held over 27 laps of the 5.7 mile (9.17 kilometre) circuit, a total distance of 153.9 miles (247.6 km). It was the nineteenth Australian Grand Prix and the second to be held in Queensland. With no suitable permanent circuit available, a course was mapped out on roads in sparsely settled coastal land 2.5 km south west of Southport, and just to the north of later circuits, Surfers Paradise Raceway and the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit. The Grand Prix race meeting was organised by the Queensland Motor Sporting Club and the Toowoomba Auto Club in conjunction with the Southport Rotary Club. The race, which was open to Racing and Stripped Sports Cars, had 28 starters.The race was won by Lex Davison, later to become the most successful driver in the history of the Australian Grand Prix. It was Davison's first win in the Grand Prix having finished in the top three as far back as 1947.Davison drove a Formula 2 HWM re-engined with a 3.4 litre Jaguar engine. Davison finished a lap clear of Curley Brydon's MG TC special and two laps ahead of third placed Ken Richardson in a Ford based special. The gaps were caused by attrition amongst the fastest drivers. Jack Brabham was out on the second lap with a broken engine in his Cooper; Rex Taylor was black flagged for receiving outside assistance after spinning his Lago-Talbot; Dick Cobden retired his Ferrari after a spin and Stan Jones crashed heavily while leading after his chassis failed. It would be the last race for the Mk.II Maybach special, Charlie Dean's team rebuilding it as the Maybach III.
Classification Lex Davison (HWM Jaguar) contesting the 1954 Australian Grand PrixResults as follows. Pos No. Driver Car Entrant Laps Time 1 77  Lex Davison HWM F2 / Jaguar 3.4L A.N. Davison 27 1h 50m 18s 2 43  Curley Brydon MG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L H. Brydon 26 3 9  Ken Richardson Ford V8 Special / Ford 3.9L K.B. Richardson 25 4 8  Eldred Norman Triumph TR2 / Standard s/c 2.0L E. deB. Norman 24 5 31  David Griffiths Triumph TR2 / Standard 2.0L D. P. Griffiths 24 6 29  Frank Tobin Rizzo Riley Special / Riley 1.5L Frank Tobin 23 7 4  Charlie Whatmore Jaguar Special / Jaguar 3.4L Chas. Whatmore 23 8 46  Stan Coffey Cooper T20 / Bristol 2.0L S.F. Coffey 23 9 10  Owen Bailey MG Holden Special / Holden 2.4L O. Bailey 23 10 2  Charlie Swinburne Cooper Mk.IV / Norton 0.5L C. Swinburne 23 11 21  Bill Pitt Jaguar XK120 Special / Jaguar 3.4L J. C. Anderson 22 12 1  Fred Zambucka Maserati 8CM / Maserati 3.0L F. Zambucka 22 Ret 16  Snow Sefton Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.2L Snow Sefton 21 Ret 14  Noel Barnes MG TC Special / MG 1.3L N. F. Barnes 19 Ret 92  Doug Whiteford Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.4L D. Whiteford 17 Ret 79  Arthur Griffiths Wylie Javelin / Jowett s/c 1.5L A. Griffiths 15 Ret 87  Stan Jones Maybach Special Mk.II / Maybach 4.3L S.J. Jones 13 Ret 15  John McKinney MG TC Special / MG 1.3L J. McKinney 11 Ret 74  Ian Mountain Peugeot Special / Peugeot 1.5L I. Mountain 11 Ret 49  Dick Cobden Ferrari 125 / Ferrari s/c 2.0L R. Cobden 10 Ret 3  Wal Anderson Holden Special / Holden 2.3L W. S. Anderson 9 Ret 56  Jack Murray Allard J2 / Cadillac 5.3L J.E. Murray 8 Ret 23   Gerald Downing Riley Imp Special / Riley G. J. Downing 8 Ret 78  Rex Taylor Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L R. Taylor 6 Ret 37  Holt Brinnie MG TD Special / MG 1.4L Martin Motors 6 Ret 20  Gordon Greig Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L G. Greig 4 Ret 86  Bill Wilcox Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.0L W. Wilcox 3 Ret 6  Jack Brabham Cooper T23 / Bristol 2.0L Jack Brabham 1* Pole position: Rex Taylor (Allocated by the race organisers prior to the event)* Winner's average speed: 83.7 mph (134.7 km/h)* Fastest lap: Dick Cobden (Ferrari), 3:52s, 88.45 mph, 142.3 km/h* Attendance: More than 60,000
References
External links *  Advertisement, Australian Motor Sports, October 1954, page 11, as saved at photobucket.com