1934 Australian Grand Prix Explained

The 1934 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Phillip Island circuit in Victoria, Australia on 19 March 1934.^[1] The 200 mile race, which was organised by the Light Car Club of Australia, was the seventh Australian Grand Prix.^[1] Contested as a handicap race, it was won by Bob Lea-Wright, driving a Singer Nine.^[1]

Race classification

Position[2]	Driver	No.	Car	Entrant	Handicap	Laps
1	Bob Lea-Wright	20	Singer Nine	Lea-Wright Motors	35 minutes	31
2	Bill Thompson	2	MG K3 Magnette	R Lane	Scratch	31
3	Jack Clements	22	MG J2 Midget	J Clements	35 minutes	31
4	Les Jennings	9	MG Magna	L Jennings	15 minutes	31
5	Harold Drake Richmond	12	Bugatti Type 37	H Drake Richmond	17 minutes	31
6	Cec Warren	6	MG J2 Midget	Britannia Motors P/L	12 minutes	31
NC	Arthur Terdich	3	Bugatti Type 37A	AJ Terdich	4 minutes	29
NC	Barnie Dentry	7	Riley Brooklands	GB Dentry	13 minutes	28
DNF	Geoff Disher	16	Salmson L Type	G Disher	19 minutes	28
DNF	Neil Gullifer	15	Ballot	N Gullifer	18 minutes	28
DNF	R Anderson	10	MG Magna	R Anderson	15 minutes	20
DNF	Les Murphy	21	MG J2 Midget	L Murphy	35 minutes	14
DNF	Johnny Summers	8	MG Magna	JH Summers	14 minutes	13
DNF	Bill Williamson	19	Riley 9	JW Williamson	32 minutes	10
DNF	Ernie Nichols	11	Bugatti Type 37	E Nichols	15 minutes	8
DNF	Jack McCutcheon	5	Bugatti Type 37	K MacMeikan	15 minutes	7
DNF	R Johnstone	14	Lombard	HWH Lowe	17 minutes	6
DNF	Arthur Wylie	13	Bugatti Type 37	AJ Wylie	17 minutes	3
DNF	Norman Putt	18	MG K1 Magnette	Britannia Motors P/L	20 minutes	3
DNF	Ken McKinney	17	Austin 7	K McKinney	20 minutes	1
DNS	Jack Edwards	4	Bugatti Type 30	AC Smith	-	-

Of the twenty starters, six completed the course within the prescribed time limit.^[3]

Key:

• NC: Not classified
• DNF: Did not finish
• DNS: Did not start

Notes:

• Race distance: 31 laps, 206 miles, ^[2]
• Winner's race time: 3 hours 12 minutes 10 seconds ^[1]
• Winning margin: 24 seconds^[2]
• Fastest lap: Bill Thompson, 4 minutes 43 seconds^{[1] [4]}
• Fastest time: Bill Thompson, 2 hours 37 minutes and 21 seconds^[4] (Thompson was awarded the prize for the "Fastest time",^[4] this being actual running time,^[1] ignoring handicap.)

References

1. John Blanden, 1934 Australian Grand Prix, A History Of Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, pages 101 to 114
2. The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986, pages 60 to 72
3. Light Car Club race - Grand Prix at Cowes - Victory for Lea-Wright, The Age, Tuesday, March 20, 1934, Page 10
4. News: GRAND PRIX. . . 30,018 . New South Wales, Australia . 20 March 1934 . 22 May 2017 . 10 . National Library of Australia.