scaled new heights of its own when Albert Park staged the <strong>Australian</strong><strong>Grand</strong> <strong>Prix</strong> for the first time.– finally there was a true road-race course on the Victorianmainland. And nothing less than a superb one, at that: downStrange as it may seem, neither sports-mad Melbourne nor theState of Victoria at that time could boast a motor racing venue of realthe north-western corner of the park itself, and the Light Car Club ofAustralia (LCCA), the inaugural event was a triumph of both militaryThe combined talents of Organising Committee chairman BrigadierElliott, LCCA stalwarts Bill and Jim Leech, and Senator Pat Kennelly,chairman of the Albert Park Trust, meant the 1953 <strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Grand</strong><strong>Prix</strong> was built on extremely solid foundations.Motor racing, in Europe as elsewhere, was still emerging from thenightmare of World War 2. A new series had been inaugurated – onthe “barren airfield” of Silverstone in Northamptonshire – called theFormula One World Championship, but as yet none of the actors in thatinternational drama had ventured as far afield as Australia.So it was a galaxy of local stars who entertained a crowd putvariously at 50,000 or as many as 70,000 around the 3.125-mile track(5.03 kilometres, only 300 metres shorter than the Albert Park circuitin its current state). In those days they raced the ‘wrong’ way, that is,in an anti-clockwise direction.Foremost among the 40-plus entrants were the three men whoended up on the front row for the 64-lap event: Doug Whiteford, StanJones and Lex Davison. Davison was in his own ‘<strong>Australian</strong> Special’;Whiteford’s #1 Lago Talbot was the car which had won the 1949French <strong>Grand</strong> <strong>Prix</strong>; Jones, father of the 1980 World Champion, was inthe extraordinary Maybach Special.After just two hours’ practice on race day, Davison and Jonestook part in a curtain-raiser called the Albert Park Trophy. Lex, in a2.9-litre Alfa Romeo, won after Jones had parked his 1100 Cooper in astraw bale near the end.Davison’s <strong>Grand</strong> <strong>Prix</strong>, though, was a short-lived disaster: theHWM ran its bearings early in the piece. Jones then led the <strong>Grand</strong> <strong>Prix</strong>in grand style: by lap 10 he was half a minute clear of Whiteford andby lap 14 the two of them had lapped the entire field.But a rather chaotic late-race pit stop, during which Whitefordcruised past three times, cost Jones any hope of an historic win. He didcome out again but retired 15 laps later. Whiteford even had time towobble into the pits himself with a missing right rear tyre following apuncture, effect repairs and win by the small margin of five laps.With Curly Brydon second in the MG TC Special and Andy Brownthird in an MG K3, 18 cars were classified.Within three years the cream of Europe’s racing drivers – Moss,Whitehead, Behra – would dominate the second AGP at Albert Park.The locals had another mountain to climb…In the year that saw Everest conquered, motor racing in Australiait was the first time the race had visited a major centre of population.but – <strong>Prix</strong> <strong>Grand</strong> <strong>Australian</strong> 18th the was it 21, November on Heldwrote:outstanding <strong>Australian</strong> motor sport historian Graham Howardthe As– but it was the first time the race had visited a major centre<strong>Prix</strong><strong>Grand</strong> <strong>Australian</strong> 18th the was it 21, November on Heldwindswept Phillip Island in the 1920 and 1930s, then on aremote,on – wilderness the in outstaears the As population. ofsuccession of barren airfields in the years following WW2three miles from the business centre of Melbourne, slightlylawns,mown amongst trees tall with lined avenues gracefulby incorporating the very fast sweeps of a new road aroundimprovedvastly but layout pre-war proposed the than shorteramongst <strong>Australian</strong> circuits, could be rivalled only by Bathurst’swhich,layout a was It lake. the of shore north-eastern theMt Panorama, and a location equal to any in the world.Lex Davison: Larger than Life, Sydney, Turton Armstrong, 2004, p.75<strong>Australian</strong>, this in a period before the birth of the <strong>Australian</strong> Touringwasdriver every cars; 40 comprised race 1953 the for field TheCar Championship and long before V8 Supercars had ever been heard of.years earlier, but as usual it took a small group of committed individuals20 almost raised been had Park Albert in racing of idea The quality.to turn that wish into a reality.Jointly organised by Army Southern Command, whose HQ was atplanning and the sheer enthusiasm that has always driven motor sport.4
No. Driver Car c.c1. Doug Whiteford Lago Talbot 4486cc1953 <strong>Australian</strong>OfFical starting gridA Formule Libre Scratch Race200 Miles – 64 Laps1953 Circuit MapStarting Grid2. Stan Jones Maybach 4300cc3. Lex Davison HWM Jaguar 3446cc5. Jack Brabham (DNS) Cooper Bristol 1971cc6. Cec Warren Maserati 4CL 1496cc7. Frank Kleinig Kleinig Hudson 4375cc8. Tom Hawkes (DNS) Allard 4564cc9. Ern McKinnon Maserati 6C 1494cc10. W. H. Hayes Ford V8 Spl 4375cc11. Ted Gray Alta Ford 4300cc12. Arthur Chick Bugatti T37/T35 1965cc14. Ron Edgerton (DNS) Alfa Romeo 2373cc15. Bill Wilcox Ford V8 Spl 4300cc16. W.J. Craig Allard J2 4375cc17. Julian Barrett BWA 1496cc18. Don McDonald Austin A40 Spl 1280cc19. Arthur Wylie Javelin Spl 1499cc20. Jim Gullan MG K3 1087cc21. Otto Stone (DNS) MG K3 1087cc22. Andy Brown MG K3 1086cc23. Les Murphy MG Q 747cc24. Reg Nutt talbot Darracq 1488cc25. Peter Caitlin Bugatti T35/T51A 1498cc26. Curley Brydon MG TC Spl 1250cc27. Phil Harrison dodge Spl 3999cc28. Les O’Donaghue Ballot Olds 3900cc29. John Cummins (DNS) Bugatti Holden 2200cc5
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