1956 Argus Trophy Explained

The 1956 Argus Trophy was a Formula Libre motor race held at the Albert Park Circuit in Victoria, Australia on 18 March 1956.^[1] The race was contested over 48 laps, a total distance of 150 miles.^[1] It was staged by the Light Car Club of Australia^[1] as the feature event on the second Sunday of the two-day "Moomba Meeting", which was held with the co-operation of the Moomba Festival organisers.^[2]

The race was won by Reg Hunt driving a Maserati 250F.^[2]

Results

Position	Driver	No.	Car	Entrant	Laps
1	Reg Hunt	2	Maserati 250F	R. H. Hunt & Co. Pty. Ltd.	48
2	Lex Davison	4	Ferrari Type 500^[3]	Ecurie Australie^[4]	48
3	Kevin Neal	3	Maserati A6GCM^[5]	R. H. Hunt & Co. Pty. Ltd.^[6]	47
4	Tom Hawkes	7	Cooper Type 23 Repco Holden^[7]	T. V. Hawkes	45
5	Bib Stillwell	44	Jaguar D-Type	B. S. Stillwell	45
6	Arthur Griffiths	5	HWM Jaguar		45
7	Ken Wylie	26		K. Wylie	39
8	E. Milthorpe	16	Ford V8 Special	E. C. Milthorpe	39
9	Alex Strachan	80		A. W. Strachan	38
10	H. Thompson	28	HRG	H. Thompson	37
11	Jock Cummins	19		J. K. Cummins	37
12	Harry McLaughlin	14^[8]	Ford V8 Special		29
13	Julian Barrett	10	BWA s/c	J. S. Barrett	28
14	Bruce Walton & Ted Gray	12	Tornado	L. J. Abrahams & L. W. Gray	25
15	Reg Smith	8	Cooper Type 40 Bristol^[9]	R. Smith	24
16	Bill Craig	11		W. J. Craig	21
17	K. McConville	17	Austin Special	K. H. McConville	21
18	Bill Wilcox	9^[10]	Alta s/c		18
19	G. Nankervis	24	NR MG s/c	G. Nankervis	13
20	E. Perkins	25	Volkswagen Special s/c	E. B. Perkins	5
21	Noel Wade	23	Austin A40 Special s/c	N. Wade	2
22	E. Clay	21	HRG	E. A. Clay	0

• Starters: 22^[2]
• Winner's race time: 1:28:32^[2]
• Fastest lap: Reg Hunt, Maserati 250F, 1:59, 94.5 mph^[2]
• Attendance: 70,000^[2]

External links

• Michael Armit, Only one car to pass - and his engine boiled, The Argus, Monday, 19 March 1956, page 14, as archived at trove.nla.gov.au
• 1956 ‘Argus Trophy’ Albert Park: Reg Hunt and Lex Davison: Maserati 250F and A6GCM: Ferrari Tipo 500…, primotipo.com, as archived at web.archive.org

Notes and References

1. Official Programme, 18 March 1956, Second Day, The Argus Moomba Motor Races, Albert Park Circuit
2. JR Horman, Albert Park, Australian Motor Sports, April 1956, pages 136 to 143
3. John B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 146
4. Maserati versus Ferrari at Moomba, Australian Motor Manual, April 1956, pages 58 & 59
5. John B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 221
6. Car 3 is listed in the Official Programme with RH Hunt & Co Pty Ltd as the entrant and no nominated driver. Car 6 is listed in the Official Programme with RH Hunt & Co Pty Ltd as the entrant and KP Neal as the nominated driver. The "Albert Park Lap Times" chart for the Argus Trophy as published in Australian Motor Sports, April 1956, page 140, indicates that Neal drove car 3 and that car 6 did not contest that race.
7. John B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 98
8. Car 14 is listed in the Official Programme as a Ford with W Wilcox as the Entrant & Driver. The meeting report in Australian Motor Sport makes reference to McLaughlin driving the ex-Wilcox Ford V8.
9. John B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 103
10. Car 9 is listed in the Official Programme as an Alta s/c with JH Scorer as the Entrant & Driver. The meeting report in Australian Motor Sport makes reference to the car being bought by Bill Wilcox and being driven by him in the Argus Trophy.