1958 Australian Grand Prix

1958 Australian Grand Prix
Race 7 of 9 in 1958 Australian Drivers' Championship
Race details
Date	6 October 1958
Location	Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales
Course	Temporary road circuit
Course length	6.12 km (3.84 miles)
Distance	30 laps, 183.6 km (115.1 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Ted Gray	Tornado-Chevrolet
Fastest lap
Driver	Ted Gray	Tornado-Chevrolet
Time	2:45.4[1][2]
Podium
First	Lex Davison	Ferrari
Second	Ern Seeliger	Maybach-Chevrolet
Third	Tom Hawkes	Cooper-Holden

Lex Davison won the race driving a Ferrari similar to that pictured above

The WM Special was driven to 10th place in the 1958 Australian Grand Prix by its builder, Jack Myer

The 1958 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race for Formula Libre racing cars,[3] held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia on 6 October 1958. The race had 26 starters. It was the first Australian Grand Prix to specifically exclude sports cars from the entry.[4]

The race was the 23rd Australian Grand Prix[5] and the seventh race of the 1958 Australian Drivers' Championship.[6]

The race was won by Lex Davison driving a Ferrari. It was his third Australian Grand Prix win, equalling the record held jointly by Bill Thompson and Doug Whiteford.[5]

Classification

Results as follows.[7][6]

Pos	No.	Driver	Car	Entrant	Laps	Time	Pts
1	12	Lex Davison	Ferrari 625 / Ferrari 3.0L	Ecurie Australie	30	1h 25m 18s	8
2	1	Ern Seeliger	Maybach III / Chevrolet 4.6L	Stan Jones Motors Pty Ltd	30	1h 27m 20s	5
3	46	Tom Hawkes	Cooper T23 / Holden 2.3L	Ecurie Corio	30	1h 27m 26s	3
4	5	Merv Neil	Cooper T45 / Climax 1.7L	M Neil	29		#
5	9	Curley Brydon	Ferrari 125 F1 / Chevrolet 4.7L	AH Brydon	28		1
6	33	Len Lukey	Lukey / Bristol 2.2L	Lukey Mufflers Pty Ltd	28
7	10	Alec Mildren	Cooper T43 / Climax FPE 2.0L	AG Mildren Pty Ltd	28
8	19	Ray Walmsley	Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Chevrolet 4.7L	R Wamsley	28
9	22	Tom Clark	Ferrari 555 Super Squalo / Ferrari 3.4L	T Clark	28
10	3	Jack Myers	WM Special / Holden 2.4L	J Myers	27
11	56	Bill Reynolds	Orlando MG / MG 1.5L	R Orlando	22
12	32	Keith Moy	MG NE / Holden 2.4L	K Moy	19
13	11	Gordon Stewart	MG Special / MG 1.5L	G Stewart	18
Ret	4	Stan Jones	Maserati 250F / Maserati 2.5L	Stan Jones Motors Pty Ltd	26
Ret	21	Syd Negus	Cooper T20 / Bristol 2.0L	Syd Negus	24
Ret	39	Ted Gray	Tornado II / Chevrolet 4.6L	Lou Abrahams	24
Ret	25	Ray Gibbs	Cooper T23 / Holden 2.4L	R Gibbs	18
Ret	20	Alf Harvey	Maserati 4CLT / O.S.C.A. 4.5L	A Harvey	16
Ret	41	Frank Walters	So Cal Special / Ford 4.4L	F Walters	10
Ret	62	John Schroder	Nota Consul / Ford 1.5L	J Schroder	10
Ret	45	Alan Ferguson	MG TC / Holden 2.4L	A Ferguson	8
Ret	15	Barry Collerson	MG TA / MG 1.5L	B Collerson	6
Ret	48	Bill Cooke	Peugeot Special / Peugeot 1.5L	W Cooke	6
Ret	58	Ern Tadgell	Sabakat (Lotus 12) / Climax FPE 1.5L	Tadgell Aviation	4
Ret	14	Jack Robinson	Jaguar Special / Jaguar 3.4L	J Robinson	2
DSQ	44	Jack Neal	Maserati 4C / Maserati 1.5L	J Neal	18
DNS	59	Bill Patterson	Cooper T43 / Climax 1.7L	Bill Patterson Motors Pty Ltd
DNS	71	Noel Hall	Ralt Mk.4 / Vincent 1.0L	O Hall

'# New Zealander Merv Neal was not eligible to score points in the Australian Drivers Championship

1958 Australian Drivers' Championship standings after the race

The top five standings in the 1958 Australian Drivers' Championship after the Australian Grand Prix were:

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Stan Jones	23
2	Len Lukey	20
3	Alec Mildren	18
4	Ted Gray	13
5	Lex Davison	8

Notes & references

1. John Medley, Bathurst - Cradle of Australian Motor Racing, page 230
2. The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix page 246 gives the fastest lap as 2:25.5 and Bathurst - Cradle of Australian Motor Racing, page 230 quotes 2:45.4. The race report in Australian Motor Sports Review 1958-59 page 45 does not mention the fastest lap. The Official Programme, Bathurst 100, 30 March 1959 credits the Mt. Panorama lap record as 2:44.4 for Stan Jones (Maserati), which discredits the 2:25.5 claim.
3. Peter Wherret, Motor Sport, The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, 21 July 1958, page 9
4. Howard, Graham (1986). "1958". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. p. 238. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
5. The Australian Grand Prix, Official Year Book of Motor Sport In Australia, 1959, Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, page 43
6. "The CAMS Gold Star - 1958, as archived at web.archive.org". Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
7. Howard, Graham (1986). "1958". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 236–246. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.

Preceded by 1958 Lowood Trophy	Australian Drivers' Championship 1958 season	Succeeded by 1958 Melbourne Grand Prix
Preceded by 1957 Australian Grand Prix	Australian Grand Prix 1958	Succeeded by 1959 Australian Grand Prix