The 1932 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Phillip Island circuit in Victoria, Australia on 14 March 1932.[1] It was the fifth Australian Grand Prix and the fifth to be held at Phillip Island.[1]
The race was organized by the Light Car Club of Australia, formerly known as the Victorian Light Car Club, and was limited to cars having an engine with a piston displacement of 2000cc or less.[1] It was the first Australian Grand Prix to be decided on a straight handicap basis,[2] with the winner being the first car to complete the 31 laps.[1] The two "scratch" competitors had to concede starts ranging up to 29 minutes, equating to an advantage of four laps.[3] The previous practice of cars contesting four classes was discontinued.[1] Weather conditions were reported to be "ideal".[3]
The race, in which there were 18 starters,[3] was won by Bill Thompson driving a Bugatti.[1] Thompson was also awarded the Herald Trophy for recording the fastest time of the race.[1]
| Pos[4] | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Handicap | Laps | Handicap time | Actual time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Bill Thompson | Woolworth Tyre Co | Bugatti Type 37A s/c | Scratch | 31 | 3h 15m 11s | 2h 40m 11s |
| 2 | 12 | Geoff Disher | G Disher | Salmson | 16 min | 31 | 3h 19m 11s | 3h 00m 07s |
| 3 | 5 | Cyril Dickason | Austin Distributors P/L | Austin 7 Ulster | 8 min | 31 | 3h 24m 28s | 2h 57m 28s |
| 4 | 9 | Mert Wreford | M Wreford | Bugatti Brescia | 15 min | 31 | 3h 28m 51s | 3h 08m 51s |
| 5 | 3 | Carl Junker | C Junker | Bugatti Type 39 | 4 min | 31 | 3h 34m 27s | 3h 03m 27s |
| 6 | 22 | Bill Northam | J Wall | Austin 7 s/c | 29 min | 31 | 3h 36m 24s | 3h 30m 24s |
| 7 | 20 | Les Jennings | L Jennings | Morris Cowley | 26 min | 31 | 3h 39m 31s | 3h 30m 31s |
| 8 | 18 | Clarrie May | Austin Distributors P/L | Austin 7 s/c | 26 min | 31 | 3h 40m 36s | 3h 31m 36s |
| 9 | 14 | Bill Williamson | W Johnson | 18 min | 31 | 3h 58m 07s | 3h 41m 07s | |
| 10 | 4 | Barney Dentry | G Dentry | 6 min | 31 | 4h 11m 55s | 3h 41m 55s | |
| Ret | 16 | Graham Tucker | Rhodes Motor Co. P/L | Triumph s/c | 20 min | 16 | ||
| Ret | 7 | Harold Drake Richmond | H Drake Richmond | Bugatti Type 37 | 10 min | ? | ||
| Ret | 2 | Arthur Terdich | AJ Terdich | Bugatti Type 37A s/c | Scratch | 8 | ||
| Ret | 15 | Alan Chamberlain | A Chamberlain | Chamberlain Special | 19 min | 4 | ||
| Ret | 11 | Ken Hopkins | K Hopkins | Bugatti Brescia | 15 min | 3+ | ||
| Ret | 6 | Bill Lowe | WH Lowe | Lombard AL3[5] | 10 min | 3+ | ||
| Ret | 19 | Ken McKinney | K McKinney | Austin 7 | 26 min | 2 | ||
| Ret | 8 | Albert Edwards | A Edwards | Alvis FWD s/c | 10 min | 1 | ||
| DNS (#) | 21 | Jack Sidebottom | J Sidebottom | Singer | 28 min | – | ||
| DNS (##) | 17 | Compton Jones | HC Jones | 23 min | – | |||
(#) Sidebottom's Singer was excluded at scrutineering.[2]
(##) The Austin 12 of Compton Jones was withdrawn after its engine suffered a piston failure during practice.[2]
