The Lobethal Circuit was formed by three country roads arranged in a roughly triangular loop, passing through the town of Lobethal and the nearby village of Charleston in the Adelaide Hills. Its surface was bitumen-sealed, marking the first time the Australian Grand Prix had been held on a sealed road rather than on dirt. The circuit's demanding topography of swoops, dives, and blind corners made it exceptionally challenging: some drivers were on the brakes or trailing throttle through sections where the fastest competitors ran flat out.
The race operated under the standard Australian handicap-start system: the slowest cars left first, the fastest last. The winner was the first to complete 17 laps regardless of starting time. Trophies were awarded to the first three finishers, prize money to the first seven, and a separate award to the driver posting the fastest aggregate time over the race distance.
Allan Tomlinson was 22 years old at the time of his Australian Grand Prix entry. He had begun racing in 1936 at Lake Perkolilli and progressively developed a 1340cc supercharged MG TA Special with fellow mechanically minded Westerners Clem Dwyer and Bill Smallwood. The car, fitted with a Marshall Roots-type supercharger and clad in a light aerodynamic monoposto body painted blue, had been meticulously rebuilt and tested in the weeks before the race. Tomlinson had won the 1938 Albany Grand Prix and the 1938 Bunbury Flying 50, and was known for unusual thoroughness in preparation: in the weeks before the race his team arranged a spare T-type MG specifically for circuit study, and Tomlinson walked the roads on foot to map their gradients and blind crests.
The team shipped the MG by sea from Fremantle to Port Adelaide in early December 1938. Tomlinson spent three weeks at Lobethal learning the circuit and developing race strategies, accumulating substantially more laps in practice than most of his rivals. His starting handicap was 11 minutes and 30 seconds — a large allowance that reflected the car's modest engine capacity relative to the larger-engined Alfa Romeos and specials also entered.
The race drew a field that included Jano-designed Alfa Romeos and other machinery with significantly greater theoretical top speed than Tomlinson's MG. Tomlinson's advantage lay in circuit knowledge and car preparation: where faster cars were cautious through the circuit's blind curves, he ran full throttle. He took the win from Bob Lea-Wright's Terraplane Special in second place, with Jack Phillips' Ford Special third. Tomlinson's average speed of 84.00 mph was achieved at a time when Alfa Romeos capable of 130 mph and more were in the field.
The fastest aggregate time over the race distance was set by Jack Saywell in an Alfa Romeo, who recorded 1 hour 45 minutes 48 seconds — faster than Tomlinson's aggregate but not sufficient under the handicap system. The fastest individual lap was set by Alf Barrett at 5 minutes 40 seconds, a speed of 91.588 mph. One notable entry change occurred before the start: Raymond Curlewis, entered in an MG N Type, competed in the Grand Prix in an MG TB after rolling his original car in a supporting race.
Late in the race, the car of J. O'Dea crashed at the Gumeracha turn. Driver Vern Leech was killed almost instantaneously in the accident, casting a shadow over what had otherwise been a landmark occasion for Australian motorsport.
Allan Tomlinson returned to Western Australia a hero, received at the Albany Council Chambers on 8 January and celebrated in the local press. He continued racing through the year before a serious accident at the same Lobethal circuit during the New Year's Day 1940 South Australian Hundred ended his active career. Later in 1939 Australia entered the Second World War, halting motor racing nationally until the mid-1940s. The Australian Grand Prix did not resume until 1947.
Lord Nuffield met Tomlinson after the race — a significant moment of recognition for a self-funded driver from Perth who had defeated better-resourced eastern state and European machinery through preparation, circuit knowledge, and racecraft.
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