1952 Australian Grand Prix 1952 Australian Grand Prix The 1952 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race held at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst, in New South Wales, Australia on 14 April 1952. The race had 43 starters and was held over 38 laps of the six kilometre circuit, a total distance of 235 kilometres. A crowd of 15,000 watched the race, which was organised by the Australian Sporting Car Club. The race, which is recognised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as the seventeenth Australian Grand Prix, was won by Doug Whiteford driving a Talbot-Lago T26C Formula One car.
1971 Formula One season to the rudimentary facilities of Zandvoort was one of the most modern racing circuits in the world; with a smooth surface and state-of-the-art facilities not seen before in Formula One; this was a sign of things to come over the next decades. It also had a long 1.1 mile straight, typical of French circuits. In the 2 previous years, the French Grand Prix was held at the twisty Charade public road circuit near Clermont-Ferrand; this was a very different type of circuit to Paul Ricard. Stewart took pole ahead of Regazzoni, Ickx and surprisingly Graham Hill in a Brabham. At