1975 South African Grand Prix

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.[3]

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 mi)
Distance 78 laps, 320.112 km (198.908 mi)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver
Brabham-Ford
Time 1:16.41[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford
Time 1:17.20[2] on lap 11
Podium
First
Tyrrell-Ford
Second
Brabham-Ford
Third
Tyrrell-Ford

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

Lap leaders

Laps led:[5]

  • Carlos Pace (1–2)
  • Jody Scheckter (3–78)

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
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gollark: ↑
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gollark: As planned.
gollark: (1366x768, I'd expect you to have FHD)

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. "1975 South African Grand Prix Entry list".
  4. "1975 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  5. "South African Grand Prix 1975". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  6. "South Africa 1975 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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1975 Brazilian Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1975 season		 Next race:
1975 Spanish Grand Prix
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1974 South African Grand Prix		 South African Grand Prix Next race:
1976 South African Grand Prix
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