The 1955 South Pacific Championship for racing cars was a motor race staged at the

Gnoo Blas Motor Racing Circuit The Gnoo Blas Motor Racing Circuit was a motor racing circuit at Orange, New South Wales, Orange, New South Wales, Australia. The circuit was formed from rural roads and highways outside the town, around the grounds of Orange Health Service, Blo ...

at Orange in New South Wales,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 31 January 1955.''Whitehead wins at Orange'', Modern Motor, March 1955, page 29 The race, which was a Formula Libre event open to racing cars and stripped sports cars,''Big races for Orange on 31st'', Wheels (magazine), February 1955, page 30 was contested as a scratch race which also incorporated a handicap award.''Orange car races'', Australian Motor Sports, January 1955, page 25 It was held over 27 laps of the 3¾ mile circuit''Sidelights on Orange'', Australian Motor Manual, 1 March 1955, pages 41 & 47 for a total distance of 100 miles. The race, which was the first South Pacific Championship for racing cars, was won by Englishman Peter Whitehead driving a 3 litre

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

. The championship meeting, which was conducted by the Australian Sporting Car Club, was the first FIA sanctioned international race meeting to be staged in

.''Gnoo Blas Classic'', www.gnooblas.com, as archived at web.archive.org
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Race results

Handicap results

Notes: * Attendance: 30,000 * Number of starters: unknown * Number of finishers: unknown * Winner's race time: 65 minutes 1 second * Winner's average speed: 95 mph * Fastest lap: Peter Whitehead, Ferrari 500, 2 minutes 21 seconds * Prince Bira did not start after his

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

suffered an engine failure during practice.

References

{{reflist South Pacific Championship for racing cars Motorsport at Gnoo Blas