Does anyone have a copy of the 1984 Austrian Grand Prix race programme? Which would have been 1984 Grosser Preis von Osterreich, that shows original no of laps/distance.
Race results show result 51 laps (302.042km/188.302ml)
To quote Autocourse Annual - "As Derek Ongaro pressed the button to flick the starting lights from red to green, he saw both Elio de Angelis and Huub Rothergatter fling up their arms to indicate that they would not be moving. Ongaro hit the "abort" button which should switch on flashing orange lights, but an electrical malfunction in the control system meant that the green was displayed briefly before the flashing orange came up. In that split-second half the grid decided to go, seriously - and half realised that the start had been aborted"
"This "first race" was over as quickly as it started. The first lap was discounted, refuelling was permitted and everybody rejoined the grid for another attempt at the full 51-lap distance".
Autocourse Annual,, The International Motor Racing Guide, by Peter Higham, Grand Prix Guide (was Marlboro Guide) by Jacques Deschenaux, Grand Prix Data Book, by David Hayhoe all state as above.
But some confusion as 'A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing, Volume 11' has footnote - originally 52 laps, start aborted, race length shortened by one lap.
Finally I have race statistics (not unfortunately text) from Autocar magazine (which were very good then and I think written by Peter Windsor) which has in statistics: 53 laps of the 3.69 mile circuit . Race shortened by two laps after restart.