1975 South African Grand Prix
Race details
Date 1 March 1975
Official name XXI Lucky Strike Grand Prix of South Africa
Location Kyalami
Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.104 km (2.550 miles)
Distance 78 laps, 320.112 km (198.908 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver
Brabham-Ford
Time 1:16.41[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford
Time 1:17.20[2] on lap 11
Podium
First
Tyrrell-Ford
Second
Brabham-Ford
Third
Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1975 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXI Lucky Strike Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 1 March 1975. It was race 3 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 21st South African Grand Prix since the first Grand Prix was held in 1934 and the ninth to be held at Kyalami just outside Johannesburg. It was held over 78 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 320 kilometres.[4]

Jody Scheckter became the first South African driver to win the race. Driving a Tyrrell 007, he took over the lead of the race from Carlos Pace on lap three and took a three-second win over the Brabham BT44B of Carlos Reutemann. Scheckter's Tyrrell teammate Patrick Depailler finished third.

Race summary

Ferrari had used the free month of February profitably, producing the new 312T model with a new transverse gearbox. There was also a new face in the persona of female Italian racer Lella Lombardi.

In practice, Graham Hill's car spun on oil dropped from Ronnie Peterson's car and crashed, destroying his car. He opted to sit out the race. Once the debris had been cleared and holes in the catch fencing mended, there was a second accident as Niki Lauda spun on engine oil, hitting the wall at 120 mph. With further violent accidents to Jody Scheckter and Guy Tunmer, the drivers deemed the circuit not safe and refused to continue until fencing defects were remedied and the track improved, further helped by the support of mechanics who insisted no more practice be carried out.

When the racing got under way, Carlos Pace led from pole in a Brabham 1–2 but was soon passed by Jody Scheckter and Carlos Reutemann after experiencing braking problems, and Patrick Depailler soon climbed to third. James Hunt retired with a broken throttle linkage, Vittorio Brambilla with oil cooler problems and Ian Scheckter crashed. Emerson Fittipaldi was challenging Depailler for 4th place when he suffered a cracked plug lead. Jody Scheckter held on from Reutemann for his only home win.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos. Driver Constructor Time/Gap
1 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham–Ford 1:16.41
2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham–Ford +0.07
3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell–Ford +0.23
4 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari +0.42
5 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell–Ford +0.42
6 United States Mario Andretti Parnelli–Ford +0.48
7 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March–Ford +0.64
8 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus–Ford +0.73
9 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +0.75
10 United Kingdom John Watson Surtees–Ford +0.76
11 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren–Ford +0.81
12 United Kingdom James Hunt Hesketh–Ford +0.89
13 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow–Ford +0.91
14 West Germany Rolf Stommelen Lola–Ford +1.06
15 Italy Arturo Merzario Williams–Ford +1.12
16 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren–Ford +1.38
17 South Africa Ian Scheckter Tyrrell–Ford +1.59
18 United States Mark Donohue Penske–Ford +1.87
19 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow–Ford +1.95
20 South Africa David Charlton McLaren–Ford +2.10
21 Belgium Jacky Ickx Lotus–Ford +2.27
22 South Africa Eddie Keizan Lotus–Ford +2.60
23 France Jacques Laffite Williams–Ford +2.74
24 United Kingdom Bob Evans BRM +2.76
25 South Africa Guy Tunmer Lotus–Ford +3.11
26 Italy Lella Lombardi March–Ford +3.27
27 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi–Ford +3.32
28 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lola–Ford +5.04
Source:[5]

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 78 1:43:16.90 3 9
2 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 78 + 3.74 2 6
3 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 78 + 16.92 5 4
4 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 78 + 17.31 1 3
5 12 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 78 + 28.64 4 2
6 2 Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 78 + 1:03.64 16 1
7 23 Germany Rolf Stommelen Lola-Ford 78 + 1:12.91 14  
8 28 United States Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 18  
9 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 19  
10 5 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 8  
11 34 South Africa Guy Tunmer Lotus-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 25  
12 6 Belgium Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 21  
13 33 South Africa Eddie Keizan Lotus-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 22  
14 31 South Africa Dave Charlton McLaren-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 20  
15 14 United Kingdom Bob Evans BRM 76 + 2 Laps 24  
16 11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 71 Throttle 9  
17 27 United States Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 70 Transmission 6  
NC 21 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 69 + 9 Laps 23  
NC 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 65 + 13 Laps 11  
Ret 32 South Africa Ian Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 55 Accident 17  
Ret 24 United Kingdom James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 53 Fuel system 12  
Ret 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 37 Overheating 13  
Ret 10 Italy Lella Lombardi March-Ford 23 Fuel system 26  
Ret 20 Italy Arturo Merzario Williams-Ford 22 Engine 15  
Ret 18 United Kingdom John Watson Surtees-Ford 19 Clutch 10  
Ret 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 16 Radiator 7  
DNQ 30 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford        
DNQ 22 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lola-Ford        
Source:[6]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  1. ↑ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 71. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. ↑ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 72. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. ↑ "South African Grand Prix 1975". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "1975 South African Grand Prix Entry list".
  5. ↑ "Formula One 1975 South African Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats".
  6. ↑ "1975 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  7. 1 2 "South Africa 1975 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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