1931 Australian Grand Prix

The 1931 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Phillip Island Circuit in Victoria, Australia on 23 March 1931.^[1] The race, which was the fourth Australian Grand Prix and the fourth to be held at Phillip Island, had 19 entries^[1] and 14 starters.^[2] It was organised by the Victorian Light Car Club.^[1]

The race was staged using a handicap format with the first car starting 35 minutes before the two "Scratch" cars.^[1] Prize money was paid for both handicap and overall results^[1] with the principle prize of £100 awarded to the fastest car to complete the distance.^[3]

Carl Junker was awarded the Grand Prix win,^[4] having set the fastest time driving a Bugatti Type 39.^[1] The Handicap Section was won by Cyril Dickason,^[4] driving an Austin 7.^[1]

Classes

Carl Junker set fastest time and was awarded the Grand Prix win, driving a Bugatti Type 39

Cyril Dickason (Austin 7) recorded second fastest time and won the Handicap award

Harold Drake-Richmond (Bugatti Type 37) set the third fastest race time

Barney Dentry (Riley Brooklands) set the fourth fastest race time

Car competed in four classes:^[5]

• A – 850cc^[5]
• B – 1100cc^[5]
• C – 1500cc^[5]
• D – 2000cc^[5]

Classification

Pos[6]	No.[1]	Class[1]	Driver[6]	Car[6]	Laps[6]	Time[6] / Reason for ret.	Handicap (mins)[1]	Handicap Pos.[6]
1	16	C	Carl Junker	Bugatti Type 39	31	2h 54m 50s	10	2
2	1	A	Cyril Dickason	Austin 7 Ulster s/c[1]	31	3h 02m 24s	30	1
3	12	C	Harold Drake-Richmond	Bugatti Type 37	31	3h 03m 19s	10	3
4	10	B	Barney Dentry	Riley Brooklands	31	3h 09m 39s	11	4
5	13	B	Joan Richmond	Riley Nine	31	3h 34m 00s	22	6
6	3	A	Cec Warren	Austin 7 Ulster[1]	31	3h 35m 21s	35	5
Ret	15	C	Hope Bartlett	Bugatti Type 37A s/c[1]	29	Engine[3]	Scratch
Ret	19	D	Les Jennings	Morris Oxford	28	Connecting rod[7]	22
Ret	2	A	Clarrie May	Austin 7 s/c[1]	18		30
Ret	4	A	Ian Russell	Morris Minor	15	Engine[7]	32
Ret	20	D	Jack Clements	Bugatti Type 30	14	Crankshaft[3]	9
Ret	18	D	Jack Sidebottom	Singer	12		24
Ret	14	C	Arthur Terdich	Bugatti Type 37A s/c[1]	8	Connecting rod[3]	Scratch
Ret[8]	9	B	Bill Lowe[1]	Lombard AL.3 s/c[9]	0[8]	Gearbox[8]	11
DNS[1]	5	A	Eric Armstrong[1]	Triumph s/c[1]	–		29
DNS[1]	6	B	Alan Chamberlain[1]	Chamberlain[1]	–		23

Notes

• Weather: Fine & mild^[1]
• Race time limit: 4¼ hours from the commencement of the race, i.e., from the first car to start^[10]
• Fastest lap: Hope Bartlett – 4'45.00 (79.90 mph)^[1]
• Average speed of winning car: 69.87 mph^[1]