Doug Whiteford is best remembered as a competitor in the Australian Grand Prix which he won three times in four years, in 1950, 1952 and 1953. He was fondly remembered for his Talbot-Lago T26 Formula One car which he used to win his second and third Grands Prix.
Whiteford's third win was at the first Albert Park street circuit which today hosts the modern Australian Grand Prix. Whiteford first contested the Australian Grand Prix in 1939 and continued to compete in the race regularly up to
1961 with a final appearance in the
1964 event. Whiteford also raced touring cars well into the 1970s.
As a regular member of the Datsun Racing Team he was a fixture in small capacity Datsuns, usually as partner to John Roxburgh. Undoubtedly he counts with Lex Davidson, Stan Jones and Len Lukey in the "Hall of Fame." His list of successes was a long one, but the measure of the contribution he made to Australian motor sport is unlikely ever to be assessed fully as it was so diverse.
In
1979 Doug succumbed after a long illness which was kept a secret for nearly a year. During that time he never gave much indication of the extent of the illness, continuing with his motor sport involvement as Clerk of the Course at Calder for quite a while.
It was as late as May of
1978 that he had his last race, winning a historic event at Winton. And only three prior to that he had his last run in the
Hardie Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst, driving a Datsun as usual. After his passing, many thought things would never be quite the same again.
