1935 Australian Grand Prix Explained

The 1935 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Phillip Island circuit in Victoria, Australia on 1 April 1935.^[1] The 200 mile race was organised by the Light Car Club of Australia and was open to cars with an engine capacity not exceeding 2000cc. It was the eighth Australian Grand Prix and the last to be staged at the Phillip Island circuit.^[1]

Contested as a handicap race, it was won by Les Murphy, driving an MG P Type.^[2] Murphy started the race 29 minutes and 27 seconds ahead of the last starter, Bill Thompson, who finished second. Murphy's winning margin was 27 seconds.^[3] Thompson completed the race in the fastest actual time and set the fastest lap of the race.^[1]

Race classification

Position^[4]	Driver	No.	Car	Entrant	Handicap	Laps
1	Les Murphy	12	MG P Type	L Murphy	29:27	31
2	Bill Thompson	1	MG K3 Magnette	RT Lane	Scratch	31
3	Les Jennings	5	MG Magna	L Jennings	15:30	31
4	Roy McKay	14	MG P Type	R McKay	33:35	31
5	Barney Dentry	3	Riley Special	GB Dentry	8:47	31
6	Tom Hollinrake	9	MG J3	H Randall	23:15	31
7	Ernie Nichols	7	Bugatti Type 37	E Nicols	21:42	31
DNF	Colin Keefer	15	MG J2	C Keefer	33:35	22
DNF	Bernie Horsley	10	MG J3	B Horsley	24:17	16
DNF	Bob Lea-Wright	18	Singer Le Mans Sports	RA Lea-Wright	34:37	15
DNF	Jack Sidebottom	17	Singer Le Mans Sports	J Sidebottom	34:37	11
DNF	Harold Drake-Richmond	6	Bugatti Type 37	H Drake-Richmond	20:40	8
DNF	Bill Williamson	2	Riley Imp	BL Cohen	8:47	8
DNF	Jack McCutcheon	4	Bugatti Type 37	K MacMeikan	12:56	5
DNF	Merton Wreford	11	Riley Brooklands	BL Cohen	26:52	4
DNF	Jim Skinner	16	MG J2	J Skinner	33:35	4
DNS	Les Cramp	8		L Cramp	23:15	-
DNS	Ted Miller	19	Diatto	T Miller	37:12	-

The Team Prize was awarded to Lane's Motors which nominated Murphy, Thompson and McKay.^[1]

Key:

DNF: Did not finish
DNS: Did not start
Handicap: The interval between the driver's designated start time and the start time of the scratch car.

Notes

Race distance: 31 laps, 206 miles^[4]
Race time limit: 3½ hours^[1]
Winner's race time: 3 hours 10 minutes and 13 seconds (67.83 mph)^[4]
Fastest time: 2 hours 33 minutes 28 seconds (80.53 mph) – Bill Thompson^[4]
Fastest lap: 4 minutes 45 seconds (82.1 mph) – Bill Thompson^[4]

References

John Blanden, 1935 Australian Grand Prix, A History Of Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, pages 115 to 126
The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986, pages 74 to 80
The official history of the Australian Grand Prix - 80 Races, page 72
http://www.dlg.speedfreaks.org/archive/book/beyond_1918.pdf Darren Galpin, A Record of Motorsport, Racing 1919 - 1950, (excluding the USA), pages 17 & 18, www.dlg.speedfreaks.org