1972 Australian Grand Prix

1972 Australian Grand Prix
1972 Australian Grand Prix
Race 7 of 8 in 1972 Tasman Series
Race details
Date	20 February 1972
Official name	XXXVII Australian Grand Prix
Location	Sandown Raceway, Melbourne, Victoria
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.1 km (1.92 miles)
Distance	52 laps, 161.2 km (99.84 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Frank Matich;
Time	1'01.3
Fastest lap
Driver	Graham McRae
Time	1'02.4
Podium
First	Graham McRae;
Second	Frank Gardner;
Third	David Hobbs;

The 1972 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race for cars complying with the Tasman Formula, which admitted both Formula 5000 and 2-litre racing cars. It was held at Sandown International Raceway, Victoria, Australia on 20 February 1972.

The race was the thirty seventh Australian Grand Prix and it was held only 3 months after the 1971 race. It was also round seven of the 1972 Tasman Series. The race had 19 starters.

Defending winner Frank Matich started the race on pole in his Repco Holden powered Matich A50 which had won the 1971 race on debut. New Zealand's Graham McRae started alongside Matich on the front row in his Leda GM1-Chevrolet.

Matich led from the start but was out after just 5 laps with a failed scavenge pump. McRae recorded the first of three AGP wins (all won at Sandown) by 3 seconds from the Lola T300-Chevrolet of Frank Gardner who had qualified 3rd. British International driver David Hobbs finished 3rd in his McLaren M18/M22-Chevrolet after starting from 4th on the grid.

McRae's win gave him an unassailable points lead in the 1972 Tasman Series with one round remaining.

Classification edit

Graham McRae won the race driving a Leda GM1, later to be known as the McRae GM1 (pictured above in 2008)

Results as follows:^[1]^[2]

Qualifying edit

Pos	No ^[3]	Driver	Car	Entrant ^[3]	Qual	Gap
1	3	Frank Matich	Matich A50 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Frank Matich Pty. Ltd.	1:01.3	—
2	22	Graham McRae	Leda GM1 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Grid International (N.Z.) Ltd.	1:01.8	+0.5
3	1	Frank Gardner	Lola T300 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Lola Cars Ltd.	1:01.8	+0.5
4	10	David Hobbs	McLaren M22 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Hobbs Racing London	1:02.3	+1.0
5	4	Bob Muir	Lola T300 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Robert Muir Motors P/L	1:02.7	+1.4
6	9	John McCormack	Elfin MR5 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Team Elfin	1:02.8	+1.5
7	2	Mike Hailwood	Surtees TS8A / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Team Surtees	1:03.0	+1.7
8	34	Teddy Pilette	McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Racing Team V.D.S.	1:03.2	+1.9
9	5	Kevin Bartlett	McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Kevin Bartlett Shell Racing	1:03.5	+2.2
10	12	Warwick Brown	McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Pat Burke Racing	1:03.9	+2.6
11	6	Max Stewart	Elfin MR5 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Max Stewart Motors - Seiko Service Centre	1:04.4	+3.1
12	76	John Harvey	Brabham BT36 / Waggott 2.0L I4	Bob Jane Racing	1:05.2	+3.9
13	8	Garrie Cooper	Elfin MR5 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Team Elfin	1:05.3	+4.0
14	50	Frank Radisich	McLaren M10B / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Henderson Central Motors	1:06.5	+5.2
15	30	Dave McConnell	GRD 272 / Hart 2.0L I4	D.W.M. Racing Ltd.	1:07.1	+5.8
16	11	Colin Hyams	Lola T192 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Colin Hyams	1:08.2	+6.9
17	17	Gary Campbell	Elfin 600B / Waggott 2.0L I4	Provincial Motors P/L	1:08.3	+7.0
18	60	Robbie Francevic	McLaren M10A / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Wright Machinery Ltd.	1:10.2	+8.9
19	15	Tony Stewart	Mildren (Rennmax) / Waggott 1.9L I4	Max Stewart Motors - Seiko Service Centre	1:11.5	+10.2

Race edit

Pos	No.^[3]	Driver	Car	Entrant ^[3]	Laps	Time
1	22	Graham McRae	Leda GM1 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Grid International (N.Z.) Ltd.	52	54m 59.4s
2	1	Frank Gardner	Lola T300 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Lola Cars Ltd.	52	55m 02.1s
3	10	David Hobbs	McLaren M18/M22 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Hobbs Racing London	52	55m 11.8s
4	2	Mike Hailwood	Surtees TS8A / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Team Surtees	51
5	12	Warwick Brown	McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Pat Burke Racing	50
6	34	Teddy Pilette	McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Racing Team V.D.S.	50
7	76	John Harvey	Brabham BT36 / Waggott 2.0L 4cyl	Bob Jane Racing	50
8	60	Robbie Francevic	McLaren M10A / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Wright Machinery Ltd.	49
9	8	Garrie Cooper	Elfin MR5 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Team Elfin	49
10	30	Dave McConnell	GRD 272 / Hart 2.0L 4cyl	D.W.M. Racing Ltd.	49
11	17	Gary Campbell	Elfin 600B / Waggott 2.0L 4cyl	Provincial Motors P/L	47
12	15	Tony Stewart	Mildren (Rennmax) / Waggott 1.9L 4cyl	Max Stewart Motors - Seiko Service Centre	44
13	50	Frank Radisich	McLaren M10B / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Henderson Central Motors	26
Ret	11	Colin Hyams	Lola T192 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Colin Hyams	30
Ret	4	Bob Muir	Lola T300 / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Robert Muir Motors P/L	19	engine
Ret	6	Max Stewart	Elfin MR5 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Max Stewart Motors - Seiko Service Centre	16	engine
Ret	5	Kevin Bartlett	McLaren M10B / Chevrolet 5.0L V8	Kevin Bartlett Shell Racing	6	transmission
Ret	3	Frank Matich	Matich A50 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Frank Matich Pty. Ltd.	5	scavenge pump
Ret	9	John McCormack	Elfin MR5 / Repco Holden 5.0L V8	Team Elfin	4	gearbox

Notes edit

Pole position: Frank Matich – 1:01.3
Fastest lap: Graham McRae – 1:02.4

References edit

^ Sergent, Bruce. "1972 Rounds 5–8 Australia". Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
^ Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1972". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 362–368. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Official Programme, 37th Australian Grand Prix, Sandown

Preceded by 1971 Australian Grand Prix	Australian Grand Prix 1972	Succeeded by 1973 Australian Grand Prix

[1] Sergent, Bruce. "1972 Rounds 5–8 Australia". Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.

[2] Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1972". In Howard, Graham (ed.). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 362–368. ISBN 0-9588464-0-5.

[Programme-3] Official Programme, 37th Australian Grand Prix, Sandown

[1]

[2]

[3]