The 1948 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Point Cook Aerodrome,Programme, Australian Grand Prix, Australia Day 26 January 1948, Point Cook Aerodrome a Royal Australian Air Force base at Point Cook, just outside Melbourne in Victoria, Australia on Australia Day, 26 January 1948. It was staged over 42 laps of a 3.85 kilometre circuit utilizing the runways and service roads of the base. The total race distance was 162 kilometres. The race was organised by the Light Car Club of Australia and was sanctioned by the Australian Automobile Association.Australian Motor Sports, 15 December 1947, page 24 17,000 people attended the event.1948 Australian Grand Prix, Australian Motor Sports, 16 February 1948, pages 26 to 29
The race was the thirteenth Australian Grand Prix and the first not to be held on a public road circuit. It was staged as a handicap event with the first car starting 18 minutes before the last. Conditions were oppressive, with the temperature topping by mid-morning, along with hot winds buffeting the exposed pits on the start/finish straight. The overpowering heat, plus the bumpy concrete-slab surface of the runways, took a heavy toll on the competing cars. As well as mechanical retirements, several drivers had to retire due to heat exhaustion.
Prominent motorcycle racer Frank Pratt won the race driving a BMW 328. Alf Najar finished second driving an MG TB Special with Dick Bland placed third in a George Reed constructed Ford V8 special. Bland was also awarded the prize for setting the fastest time.Motor-cyclist wins Grand Prix in BMW, The Argus, Tuesday, 27 January 1948, page 12, trove.nla.gov.au Retrieved 14 April 2015
Classification
Results as follows.
Pos No. Driver Car / Engine Entrant Handicap Laps Time 1 28 Frank Pratt BMW 328 / BMW 2.0L L. F. Pratt 13-30 42 1h 33m 52s 2 31 Alf Najar MG TB Special / MG 1.3L A. Najar 13-30 42 1h 34m 35s 3 11 Dick Bland G. Reed Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.0L R. Bland 9-30 42 1h 35m 19s 4 12 Granton Harrison Ford V8 Special / Ford 3.6L G. Harrison 9-30 42 1h 35m 58s 5 26 Dennis Curran Willys Ford V8 Special / Ford 3.9L D. Curran 12-30 42 1h 36m 05s 6 30 John Barraclough MG NE / MG 1.3L J. Barraclough 13-30 42 1h 37m 02s 7 27 Bill Ford Hudson Special / Hudson 3.5L W. D. Ford 12-30 42 1h 38m 00s 8 3 John Crouch Delahaye 135 / Delahaye 3.6L J. Crouch 6-30 42 1h 39m 00s 9 10 Alec Mildren Ford V8 Special / Ford 3.6L A. G. Mildren 9-30 42 1h 40m 22s 10 22 Ron Head Riley Imp / Riley 1.1L R. Head 10-30 42 1h 42m 13s NC 41 Cec Warren Morgan / Matchless 0.4L C. R. Warren 18-00 37 NC 23 Jim Skinner Ballot 8 / Ford 3.6L J. Skinner 11-30 36 NC 35 Bill Patterson MG TC / MG 1.3L G. W. Patterson 16-30 34 NCArthur Chick is mentioned as "still running at the finish" in The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, page 132 19 Arthur Chick Bugatti Type 37 / Bugatti 2.3L A. Chick 10-30 16 Ret 4 Doug Whiteford Ford V8 Special / Ford 4.2L D. Whiteford 6-30 34 Ret 5 Hope Bartlett Dixon Riley / Riley 1.8L H. Bartlett 6-30 32 Ret 2 Alf Barrett Alfa Romeo Monza / Alfa Romeo 2.4L A. I. Barrett 3-00 22 Ret 6 Lex Davison Mercedes-Benz 38/250 / Mercedes-Benz 7.4L A. N. Davison 8-30 17 Ret 38 Tom Sulman Singer Special / Singer 1.0L T. Sulman 17-30 16 Ret 20 Jim Gullan Ballot / Oldsmobile 3.9L J. Gullan 10-30 15 Ret 16 Reg Nutt Cadillac Special / Cadillac A. C. Cooper 9-30 14 Ret 14 Charlie Dean Maybach I / Maybach 4.3L H. C. Dean 9-30 12 Ret 21 John Nind MG TB Special / MG 1.3L J. Nind 13-30 10 Ret 18 Tom Luxton Nuttbug Bugatti Type 40 / Ford 3.6L J. McEwan 10-30 7 Ret 1 Tony Gaze Alta / Alta 2.0L F. A.O. Gaze Scratch 5 Ret 7 Norm Andrews Stewand / Lea-Francis 3.5L N. Andrews 8-30 0
Notes Fastest lap: Alf Barrett (Alfa Romeo Monza), 1m 48s, 80.00 mph (128.7 km/h) Fastest time: Dick Bland (G Reed Ford V8 Special), 1h 26m 52s, 69.62 mph (112.02 km/h)
References
External links Motor Cyclist Wins Car Grand Prix, The Age, Tuesday 27 January 1948, Page 4, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au