The 1952 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race held at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst, in New South Wales, Australia on 14 April 1952. The race had 43 starters and was held over 38 laps of the six kilometre circuit, a total distance of 235 kilometres. A crowd of 15,000 watched the race,Whiteford Wins Grand Prix Again, Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 15 April 1952, page 1, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au which was organised by the Australian Sporting Car Club.

The race, which is recognised by Motorsport Australia as the seventeenth Australian Grand Prix,Australian Grand Prix, motorsport.org.au Retrieved 30 August 2023 was won by Doug Whiteford driving a Talbot-Lago T26C Formula One car. It was Whiteford's second Australian Grand Prix victory.

Classification Results as follows.

Pos No. Driver Car / Engine EntrantOfficial Programme, Bathurst Car Races, 14th April 1952 Laps Time / Remarks 1 1 Doug Whiteford Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot-Lago 4.5L D Whiteford 38 1h 57m 44s 2 3 Stan Jones Maybach Special Mk.1 / Maybach 4.3L SJ Jones 38 2h 02m 04s 3 13 Bill Murray Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alvis 4.4L W Murray 38 2h 05m 08s 4 5 Jack Murray Allard J2 / Cadillac 4.4L JE Murray 38 2h 06m 04s 5 30 Harry Monday Mercury Special / Mercury 4.0L HS Monday 38 2h 09m 34s 6 15 Tom Sulman Maserati 4CL / Maserati 1.5L TN Sulman 38 2h 11m 05s 7 27 Clive Adams Prad / Ford 2.2L CE Adams 38 2h 11m 16s 8 41 David McKay MG TC Special / MG 1.3L D McKay 38 2h 13m 21s 9 43 Peter Critchley MG TB Special / MG 1.3L Better Used Cars NSW 38 2h 15m 27s 10 33 J.S. Moody Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L JS Moody 37 Flagged off 11 19 Arthur Griffiths MG TC Special / MG 1.3L AA Griffiths 36 Flagged off 12 44 Ron Ward MG TC Special / MG 1.3L RS Ward 35 Flagged off 13 35 Bill McLachlan Bugatti Type 37A / Ford 3.6L DA McLachlan 34 Flagged off 14 32 John Calvert Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L J Calvert 34 Flagged off 15 16 Puss CatlinEaster Monday at Bathurst, Australian Motor Sport, May 1952, pages 26-39 Peter Menere Bugatti Type 35B / Bugatti s/c 2.3L P Menere 34 Flagged off 16 11 Jack Saywell Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.0L J Saywell 32 Flagged off 17 40 Silvio Massola HRG Special / HRG 1.5L S Massola 29 Flagged off Ret 42 John Nind MG TB Special / MG 1.3L JP Nind 34 Ret 39 T.G. Humphries HRG Special / HRG 1.5L TG Humphries 33 Ret 46 Phil Harrison MG TD Special / MG 1.3L PC Harrison 27 Ret 18 Curley Brydon MG TC Special / MG s/c 1.3L AH Brydon 27 Split fuel tank Ret 38 Ron Reid Terraplane Special / Terraplane 3.6L RM Reid 24 Engine noise Ret 36 Alec Mildren Riley Nine Imp / Riley 1.5L AG Mildren 24 Black flagged Ret 26 Bill Wilcox Dodge Special / Dodge 4.0L WH Wilcox 24 Black flagged Ret 22 Harry Thompson HRG / HRG 1.5L Redex Products NSW 24 Ret 21 Ian Mountain M.Y.F. Special / Ford 4.2L IK Mountain 24 Ret 34 Frank Roberts Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3.4L FK Roberts 23 Ret 17 Julian Barrett BWA Special / Frazer Nash 1.5L J St. Q Barrett 19 Ret 28 Peter Lowe Bugatti Type 37 / Holden 2.2L PS Lowe 17 DistributorThe official history of the Australian Grand Prix - 80 Years Ret 11 Stan Mossetter Rizzo Riley Special / Riley 1.5L S Mossetter 16 Ret 4 Wally Feltham Alta / Alta 2.0L WD Feltham 15 Ret 7 John Crouch Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L JF Crouch 15 Suspension Ret 25 George Pearse MG TC Special / MG GE Pearse 12 Ret 12 Dick Bland Riley Dixon / Riley 1.5L AG Mildren 11 Ret 20 Jesse Griffiths George Reed Special / Ford 4.0L JJ Griffiths 11 Ret 24 Vin Maloney MG TC Special / MG 1.3L VA Maloney 11 Ret 23 Dick Cobden Cooper Mk.V / JAP 0.5L R Cobden 10 Dropped valve Ret 14 Eldred Norman Maserati 6C / Maserati 1.5L E de B Norman 10 Blow off valve Ret 8 Lloyd HirstHoward uses both Lloyd and Wayne as the first name for Hirst. The Official Programme lists the Entrant and Driver of Car 8 as FL Hirst and makes reference to "Lloyd Hirst" in the Grand Prix Personalities section. Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L FL Hirst 8 Ret 10 Mischa RavdellHoward lists Mischa Randell as the driver of Car 10 however the Official Programme lists the Entrant and Driver as M Ravdell Cooper Mk.V / Vincent 1.0L M Ravdell 7 Ret 6 Bill Craig Cooper Mk.V / JAP 1.1L WJ Craig 6 Ret 9 Frank Kleinig Kleinig-Hudson 8 Special / Hudson 4.4L F Kleinig 4 Valve spring Ret 31 Ken Tubman MG K3 Magnette / MG 1.1L KV Tubman 1 DNS 29 Peter McKenna BMW 328 / BMW 2.0L P McKenna - Practised DNS 45 Ron Feast MG TB Special / MG 1.3L RJ Feast - Practised DNS 2 Lex DavisonVic. Driver Wins Grand Prix, National Advocate, Tuesday 15 April 1952, page 2, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au Alfa Romeo P3John B. Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, pages 20 & 21 AN Davison - Timing gear

Note: Competitors still running when the winner completed the race were allowed to continue racing until the race time limit flag was shown. Nine cars completed the full race distance and a further eight were "flagged off".

Notes Starters: 43 Winner's average speed: 76 mph Fastest lap: Doug Whiteford – 3'02 Fastest speed through quarter-mile: Stan Jones (Maybach), 141.8 mph

Handicap The race incorporated a concurrent handicap award which was won by Harry Monday (Mercury Special), 12 seconds ahead of Doug Whiteford. Minor placings were taken by Bill Murray, Clive Adams and David McKay.John Medley, Bathurst - Cradle of Australian Motor Sport, page 139

This was to be the last Australian Grand Prix to include a handicap section.

References & notes

External links Whiteford Wins Grand Prix Again, Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 15 April 1952, page 1 - via trove.nla.gov.au 1952 Australian Grand Prix, Bathurst, www.youtube.com