1959 Australian Grand Prix
1959 Australian Grand Prix | |||
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Race 3 of 12 in 1959 Australian Drivers' Championship | |||
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Race details | |||
Date | 2 March 1959 | ||
Location | Longford Circuit, Longford, Tasmania | ||
Course | Temporary road circuit | ||
Course length | 7.242 km (4.501 miles) | ||
Distance | 25 laps, 175 km (110 miles) | ||
Weather | Sunny | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Maserati | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver |
| Maserati | |
Time | 2'27 | ||
Podium | |||
First | Maserati | ||
Second | Cooper-Climax | ||
Third | Maserati |
The 1959 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race[1] held at the Longford Circuit in Tasmania, Australia on 2 March 1959.
The race, which had 13 starters, was the twenty fourth Australian Grand Prix and the third race of the 1959 Australian Drivers' Championship. Stan Jones won his only AGP, breaking through after years of trying with the Maybach series of specials to win in his Maserati 250F, in what would be the last Australian Grand Prix victory for a front-engined car.
The grid for the Grand Prix was determined by race times set in two qualifying races on the Saturday prior to the main race. The first heat was won by Doug Whiteford from Arnold Glass and Bill Patterson. The second heat was won by Jones in a race time almost 20 seconds shorter than Whiteford's, giving him the pole position, from Len Lukey and Alec Mildren.
Classification
[edit]Results as follows.[2]
Pos | No. | Driver | Car | Entrant[3] | Laps | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L | Stan Jones Motors Pty Ltd | 25 | 1h 11m 44s | |
2 | 5 | Cooper T45 / Climax FPE 2.0L | Lukey Mufflers Pty Ltd | 25 | 1h 11m 46s | |
3 | 7 | Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L | Capitol Motors | 25 | 1h 13m 21s | |
4 | 4 | Cooper T43 / Climax FPF 2.0L | AG Mildren Pty Ltd | 25 | 1h 13m 50s | |
5 | 6 | Cooper T39 / Climax FPE 1.5L | A Jack | 21 | ||
6 | 14 | Cooper T39 / Climax 1.1L | Ecurie van Diemen | 20 | ||
Ret | 74 | Cooper T40 / Bristol 2.0L | Max Stephens' Palm Grove Car Centre | 18 | ||
Ret | 56 | Cooper T33[4] / Jaguar 3.8L | J & R Phillips | 13 | ||
Ret | 19 | Cooper T41 / Climax 1.5L | Kingsbridge Service | 13 | ||
Ret | 60 | Miller Special / Climax FWB 1.5L | Victorian Amateur Drivers Club Inc | 8 | ||
Ret | 3 | Tornado Mk.II / Chevrolet 4.6L | Lou Abrahams | 4 | ||
Ret | 44 | MG TC Special / MG 1.3L S/c[5] | Victorian Amateur Drivers Club Inc | 0 | ||
Ret | 26 | Maserati 300S / Maserati 3.0L | Doug Whiteford | 0 | ||
DNS | 75[5] | Cooper T43[5] / Climax FPF 1.8L | Bill Patterson Motors Pty Ltd | |||
DNQ[5] | 55[5] | Wylie Javelin[5] / Jowett 1.5L S/c[5] | John C Youl |
Notes
[edit]- Attendance: estimated in excess of 30,000 on both days[6]
- Pole position: Stan Jones – fastest heat time of 17m 18s[6]
- Starters: 13[6]
- Fastest lap: Arnold Glass – 2'27 (97.01 mph, 156.09 km/h),[2] new record[6]
- Fastest Eighth: Arnold Glass – 157.9 mph[7]
References
[edit]- ^ Official Yearbook of Motor Sport in Australia – 1959, published by authority of CAMS, The Australian Grand Prix – page 43
- ^ a b Howard, Graham (1986). "1959". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 248–255. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
- ^ Souvenir Programme, Australian Grand Prix, Longford Circuit, (1959), page 29
- ^ John B Blanden, Cooper Type 33 Jaguar, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 128
- ^ a b c d e f g h 1959 Gold Star Races, dandsshaw, as archived at web.archive.org
- ^ a b c d 1959 Australian Grand Prix, Australian Motors Sports, March 1959, pages 98 to 101, page 118 & page 126
- ^ 1959 Australian Grand Prix, Australian Motor Sport Review 1958–59, pages 86 & 87
Further reading
[edit]- Con Ryan, Jones Does It at Last, Sports Car World, April 1959, pages 58 & 59