1956 Australian Grand Prix
| 1956 Australian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Formula Libre race[1] | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 2 December 1956 | ||
| Location |
Victoria | ||
| Course | Temporary street circuit | ||
| Course length | 5.03 km (3.125 miles) | ||
| Distance | 80 laps, 402.25 km (250 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver |
Officine Alfieri Maserati | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Stirling Moss |
Officine Alfieri Maserati | |
| Time | 1'52.2 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |
Officine Alfieri Maserati | ||
| Second |
Officine Alfieri Maserati | ||
| Third | Scuderia Ambrosiana | ||
The 1956 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race for
Australian Grands Prix at 402 kilometres. It attracted a crowd of over 120,000 spectators.[2]
The race was the twenty first
Officine Alfieri Maserati racing team, bringing with them Stirling Moss, Jean Behra and a fleet of 250F, and fellow European based racers Ken Wharton, Peter Whitehead and Reg Parnell
, the race became the most important motor racing event held in Australia's history to that point.
Moss and Behra dominated the two-week festival which began the previous weekend with the
Ferrari 625 was another two laps distant. Doug Whiteford's Talbot-Lago was the first non-Italian car home in eighth place. With defending champion Jack Brabham absent the best of the Cooper sourced machinery was Len Lukey
's much modified Cooper-Bristol in ninth. Wharton's European-based Maserati 250F failed to reach the finishing line.
Moss's fastest lap of 1:52.2 (100.25 mph) was a new lap record for the Albert Park Circuit.[3]
Classification
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| Pos[4] | No.[4] | Driver[4] | Car | Entrant[5] | Laps[4] | Time[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Stirling Moss
|
Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L[6] | Officine Alfieri Maserati
|
80 | 2h 36m 15.4s |
| 2 | 1 |  Jean Behra
|
Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L[6] | Officine Alfieri Maserati
|
80 | 2h 38m 27.4s |
| 3 | 3 | Peter Whitehead
|
Ferrari 555 F1 / Ferrari 3.4L | Scuderia Ambrosiana | 79 | |
| 4 | 5 |  Reg Hunt
|
Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L | Reg Hunt Motors P/L | 78 | |
| 5 | 8 | Stan Jones
|
Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L | Stan Jones Motors P/L | 77 | |
| 6 | 2 | Reg Parnell
|
Ferrari 555 F1 / Ferrari 3.4L | Scuderia Ambrosiana | 77 | |
| 7 | 9 | Lex Davison
|
Ferrari 625 F1 / Ferrari 3.0L
|
Ecurie Australie | 75 | |
| 8 | 11 | Doug Whiteford
|
Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L | D Whiteford | 72 | |
| 9 | 25 | Len Lukey
|
Cooper T23 / Bristol 2.0L | RH Hunt Motors P/L | 70 | |
| 10 | 19 | Julian Barrett
|
Alta GP-2 / Alta S/C 1.5L | J St Q Barrett | 70 | |
| 11 | 18 |  Tom Clark
|
HWM / Alta 2.0L | TE Clark | 66 | |
| 12 | 23 | Jack Myers
|
Holden 2.4L
|
J Myers | 66 | |
| Ret | 6 | Kevin Neal
|
Maserati A6GCM / Maserati 2.5L | Reg Hunt Motors P/L | 68 | |
| Ret | 20 | Bill Willcox
|
Alta / Alta 2.0L | W Wilcox | 39 | |
| Ret | 26 | Bill Craig
|
Holden 2.4L
|
WJ Craig | 26 | |
| Ret | 24 | Alec Mildren
|
Cooper T20 / Bristol 2.0L | AG Mildren | 21 | |
| Ret | 4 | Ken Wharton
|
Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L | Ecurie Du Puy | 19 | |
| Ret | 16 | Ted Gray
|
Tornado II / Ford 4.5L
|
LJ Abrahams | 15 | |
| Ret | 22 | Reg Smith
|
Cooper T40 / Bristol 2.0L | Smith's Radio P/L | 13 | |
| Ret | 28 | Harry McLaughlin
|
Ford V8 Special 4.3L
|
H McLaughlan | 6 | |
| Ret | 17 | Tom Hawkes
|
Holden 2.3L
|
TV Hawkes | 5 | |
| Ret | 12 | Owen Bailey
|
Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L | O Bailey | 0 |
References
- ^ FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix preview, www.cams.com.au Archived 5 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 5 May 2015
- ^ Bill Tuckey, The Book of Australian Motor Racing, 1965, page 67
- ^ Jim Shepherd, A History of Australian Motor Sport, 1980, page 29
- ^ ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
- ^ Second Day Programme, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park Circuit, 25 November - 2nd December 1956
- ^ a b Australia and New Zealand's Role in Maserati's 100 Year History, www.ferrarimaseratisydney.com.au Archived 5 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 5 May 2015