1938 Australian Grand Prix

The 1938 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia on 18 April 1938. It was staged over 40 laps of the six kilometre circuit for a total distance of 241 kilometres. The race, which was organised by the Light Car Club of New South Wales, attracted 38 entries, 30 of which started the race.^[1] 33,000 people paid for admission to the circuit on race day.^[2]

1938 Australian Grand Prix
Formula Libre handicap race
Race details
Date	18 April 1938
Location	Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales
Course	Temporary road circuit
Course length	6.12 km (3.84 miles)
Distance	40 laps, 244.8 km (153.6 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Fastest lap
Driver	Peter Whitehead	ERA
Time	3m 23s[1]
Podium
First	Peter Whitehead	ERA
Second	Les Burrows	Terraplane Special
Third	Alan Crago & John Sherwood	MG

The race was the tenth Australian Grand Prix and the first to be held in New South Wales. It utilised the newly completed Mount Panorama Circuit, a dirt surface tourist drive which climbed and descended Mount Panorama in the Bald Hills to the south of the city of Bathurst. The Grand Prix was the feature race at the inaugural meeting at the rural New South Wales venue. With a circuit length of just over 3.8 miles it was the shortest circuit to host the Australian Grand Prix to this time.

The format of the race was the same as that used since the 1932 event. This utilised a handicap start with the slowest car starting first and other cars starting at intervals according to their predicted pace with the winner being the first car to complete the total race distance. The meeting was enlivened by two visiting British drivers, Peter Whitehead and Alan Sinclair who had brought with them supercharged racing machinery, respectively an ERA and an Alta. While Sinclair was unable to start the race, Whitehead did and it was quickly realised that his position as the scratch handicap competitor was too generous and by races end he had driven through the field. Whitehead's main opposition came from Les Burrows driving a 1933 Terraplane-based racing car. However Burrows slowed near the end, his engine reducing in power sufficiently to allow Whitehead to sweep by to take victory despite Burrows starting the race 15 minutes earlier. The MG TA driven by Alan Crago and John Sherwood placed third.

The initial release of official results attracted various protests and led to a recount, with some placings subsequently changed.^[3]

Whitehead was awarded the RAC of Australia Cup and £250 prizemoney for winning the race.^[1] He also received £100, the NRMA Trophy and the title of Australian Road Racing Champion for achieving the fastest time and the Courtney and Bohlsen Cup for setting the fastest lap.^[1]

• 
  Peter Whitehead (ERA B Type) takes the flag to win the 1938 Australian Grand Prix
• 
  Alan Crago & John Sherwood placed third driving an MG TA
• 
  Jack Phillips placed sixth driving a Ford V8 Special

Classification

Results as follows.^[4]

Pos	No.	Driver	Car / Engine	Entrant[5]	Handicap[1]	Laps	Time
1	1	Peter Whitehead	ERA B Type / ERA s/c 1.5L	P.N. Whitehead	Scratch	40	2h 46m 50s
2	22	Les Burrows	Terraplane Special / Terraplane 2.6L	L. Burrows	15 mins	40	2h 48m 21s
3	31	Alan Crago John Sherwood[1]	MG TA / MG 1.3L	F.A. Crago	26 mins	40	2h 49m 20s[2]
4	3	Tom Peters	Bugatti Type 37A / Ford s/c 2.9L	T. Peters	4 mins	40	2h 50m 19s
5	32	John Crouch	MG TA / MG 1.3L	J.F. Crouch	26 mins	40	2h 51m 38s
6	17	Jack Phillips	Ford Special / Ford 3.6L	J.K. Phillips	13 mins	40	2h 52m 28s
7	20	Charles Whatmore	Ford Special / Ford 3.6L	C. Whatmore	14 mins	40	2h 52m 56s
8	39	Ron Uffindell	Austin 7 Special / Austin 0.7L	R.G. Uffindell	34 mins	40	2h 55m 07s
9	37	Les Murphy	MG PB / MG 0.8L	J.H. O'Dea	30 mins	40	3h 02m 40s
10	15	George Bonser	Terraplane Special / Terraplane 3.5L	G. Bonser junior[6]	12 mins	40	2h 56m 47s
11	18	Bob Lea-Wright	Terraplane Special / Terraplane 3.5L	R.A. Lea-Wright	13 mins	40	2h 58m 01s
12	38	Colin Anderson	Morris Cowley / Morris 1.7L	A.I Barrett	30 mins	40	2h 57m 47s
13	19	D. Kerr	Ford Special / Ford 3.6L	D. Kerr	14 mins	40	2h 59m 59s
14	16	Harry Beith	Terraplane Special / Terraplane 3.5L	H.J. Beith	13 mins	40	3h 05m 19s
15	12	George Martin	BMW 328 / BMW 2.0L	G.C. Martin[6]	7 mins	40
16	14	Barney Dentry	Riley Special / Riley 1.1L	G.B. Dentry	12 mins	40
Ret	21	Paul Burton	Alvis / Alvis s/c 1.5L	P.H. Burton	14 mins
Ret	30	Jack Boughton	Morgan 4/4 / Coventry Climax 1.1L	J.S. Boughton	24 mins
Ret	5	Jim Fagan	MG K3 / MG s/c 1.1L	J.H. Fagan	6 mins
Ret	36	John Pike	Singer 9 / Singer 1.0L	J.E. Pike	30 mins
Ret	35	Arthur Beasley	Singer 9 / Singer 1.0L	A. Beasley	28 mins
Ret	23	Fred Foss	Ford Special / Ford 3.6L	F.J. Foss	17 mins
Ret	33	R. Keir[6][5][1]	MG TA / MG 1.3L	R.C. Keir[6][5][1]	26 mins
Ret	9	Tim Joshua	Frazer Nash / Gough [7] 1.5L	C.M. Joshua[6]	7 mins
Ret	24	C. Williamson	Chrysler Special / Chrysler 4.2L	C. Williamson	17 mins
Ret	11	George Reed	Ford Special / Ford 3.6L	N.F. Aubin	7 mins
Ret	2	Frank Kleinig	Kleinig-Hudson 8 Special / Hudson 4.2L	W.A. McIntyre	4 mins	5
Ret	26	Reg Sevil[1]	Singer / Singer 1.5L	R.B. Sevil[6][1]	22 mins	4[2]
Ret	34	George Thame	Riley Nine Imp / Riley 1.1L	G.J. Thame	5 mins	3[2]
Ret	25	Alf Barrett	Lombard AL3 / Lombard 1.2L	A.I Barrett	28 mins	2[2]
DNS	8	Wally James	Frazer Nash / Ford 2.9L	W. James	7 mins
DNS	4	Colin Dunne	MG K3 / MG s/c 1.1L	C.A. Dunne	5 mins
DNS	6	Lyster Jackson	MG K3 / MG s/c 1.1L	L. Jackson	6 mins
DNS	7	Alan Sinclair	Alta / Alta s/c 1.1L	A.J. Sinclair	6 mins
DNS	10	John Barraclough	Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS / Alfa Romeo s/c 1.8L	J.A. Barraclough	7 mins
DNS	27	John Sherwood	MG NE / MG 1.3L	J.O. Sherwood	22 mins
DNS	28	John Summers	MG Magna / MG 1.1L	J.H. Summers	24 mins
DNS	29	C. Frederick	MG Magnette Special / MG 1.3L	C. Frederick	24 mins

References

1. John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, pages 151 to 168
2. The Australian Grand Prix, The Car (magazine), May 1938, pages Ten to Fourteen
3. John Medley, Bathurst - Cradle of Australian Motor Racing, page 27
4. Medley, John (1986). "1952". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 92–103. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
5. John Medley, Bathurst - Cradle of Australian Motor Racing, page 19
6. Record entry for Grand Prix at Easter, The Advocate, Wednesday, April 6, 1938, page 10, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
7. John Medley, Preface - Pity the poor historian, Bathurst - Cradle of Australian Motor Racing, page vii

External links

• 40,000 watch big race, The Bathurst National Advocate, Tuesday, April 19, 1938, page 2, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
• English driver wins first N.S.W. Grand Prix, The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday, April 19, 1938, Page 12, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
• Motoring Grand Prix - Triumph for E.R.A., The Argus, Tuesday, April 19, 1938, page 15, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
• 1938 Australian GP @ Bathurst, www.youtube.com

Preceded by 1937 Australian Grand Prix	Australian Grand Prix 1938	Succeeded by 1939 Australian Grand Prix