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 cars1955 Australian Grand Prix, Australian Motor Sports, September 1955, page 324 of unlimited capacity.Grand Prix in October, The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848–1957), Wednesday 3 August 1955, page 10, trove.nla.gov.au Retrieved 27 June 2015 The race was promoted by Brooklyn Speedway (SA) Ltd. and was organised by the Sporting Car Club of SA Inc.The Australian 1955 Grand Prix brochure
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 he had assembled himself at the Cooper factory 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
Results as follows.
Pos No. Driver Car EntrantOfficial Souvenir Programme, Australian Grand Prix, Port Wakefield - South Australia, 8th - 10th October 1955 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 76Sporting Car Club of South Australia (Inc) - Lap Score Sheet - Australian Grand Prix 10-10-55 Fuel supply Ret 18 Clem Smith Austin-Healey 100 / Austin-Healey 2.7L C. Smith 65 Suspension Ret 4 Stan Jones Maybach Mk. 3John B Blanden, Maybach Mk. 3, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, pages 230 to 231 / 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 Hunt30,000 see thrilling Grand Prix, The Advertiser, Tuesday, 11 October 1955, page 3 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