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1974 South African Grand Prix

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1974 South African Grand Prix
Kyalami Circuit
Kyalami Circuit
Race details
Date 30 March 1974
Official name XX Lucky Strike Grand Prix of South Africa
Location Midrand, 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)
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:16.58[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford
Time 1:18.16[2] on lap 58
Podium
First Brabham-Ford
Second BRM
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1974 South African Grand Prix (formally the XX Lucky Strike Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 30 March 1974. It was race 3 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. This was Carlos Reutemann's first win, the first for an Argentinian driver since Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1957 German Grand Prix, and Brabham's first since the 1970 South African Grand Prix.

Pre race notes, practice, and qualifying

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It was initially uncertain that the South African Grand Prix would go ahead due to the 1973 oil crisis, but it did so, albeit at the end of March rather than at the start of the month. Lotus stunned the paddock with an innovative car which used four pedals and an electric clutch.[citation needed]

However, practice was overshadowed by an accident which killed Peter Revson. While driving his Shadow-Ford in a test session before the race, Revson suffered a front suspension failure on the outside of Barbecue Bend and crashed heavily into the Armco barrier, the car bursting into flames. Revson died instantly, and the Shadow team withdrew from the race. Niki Lauda took pole by a fraction of a second from Carlos Pace.[citation needed]

Race summary

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The two Lotus cars of Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx tangled shortly after the start with the incident also involving Jochen Mass and Henri Pescarolo whilst Tom Belsø's race lasted no more than a few hundred yards due to clutch failure. Lauda led a train of cars consisting of Carlos Reutemann, Clay Regazzoni, Jody Scheckter and James Hunt, whose Hesketh was suffering vibration problems.

Mike Hailwood caught and passed Scheckter when he missed a gear, and then passed Reutemann on lap 9. On lap 75, nearly at the finish, Lauda was forced to retire with ignition problems and low oil pressure, handing the lead to Reutemann. Jean-Pierre Beltoise fought his way up through the field to 2nd, holding off a determined challenge from Hailwood who took the final podium place. Beltoise's 2nd place would turn out to be the last podium finish for a BRM.

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos. Driver Constructor Time/Gap
1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:16.58
2 Brazil Carlos Pace SurteesFord +0.05
3 Italy Arturo Merzario FWRCFord +0.21
4 Argentina Carlos Reutemann BrabhamFord +0.22
5 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLarenFord +0.24
6 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +0.27
7 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck MarchFord +0.40
8 South Africa Jody Scheckter TyrrellFord +0.41
9 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLarenFord +0.53
10 Belgium Jacky Ickx LotusFord +0.60
11 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM +0.76
12 United Kingdom Mike Hailwood McLarenFord +0.76
13 United Kingdom James Hunt HeskethFord +0.83
14 United Kingdom John Watson BrabhamFord +1.03
15 France Patrick Depailler TyrrellFord +1.17
16 Sweden Ronnie Peterson LotusFord +1.42
17 West Germany Jochen Mass SurteesFord +1.65
18 United Kingdom Graham Hill LolaFord +1.67
19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla MarchFord +1.71
20 South Africa David Charlton McLarenFord +1.79
21 France Henri Pescarolo BRM +1.81
22 South Africa Ian Scheckter LotusFord +1.98
23 United Kingdom Richard Robarts BrabhamFord +2.02
24 South Africa Eddie Keizan TyrrellFord +2.42
25 France François Migault BRM +2.56
26 South Africa Paddy Driver LotusFord +2.91
27 Denmark Tom Belsø FWRCFord +3.22
Source:[3]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 78 1:42:40.96 4 9
2 14 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 78 + 33.94 11 6
3 33 United Kingdom Mike Hailwood McLaren-Ford 78 + 42.16 12 4
4 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 78 + 44.19 15 3
5 9 West Germany Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 78 + 46.23 7 2
6 20 Italy Arturo Merzario Iso-Marlboro-Ford 78 + 56.04 3 1
7 5 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 78 + 1:08.39 5  
8 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 78 + 1:10.54 8  
9 6 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 9  
10 10 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 19  
11 18 Brazil Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 2  
12 26 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lola-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 18  
13 29 South Africa Ian Scheckter Lotus-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 22  
14 32 South Africa Eddie Keizan Tyrrell-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 24  
15 37 France François Migault BRM 75 + 3 Laps 25  
16 12 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 74 Ignition 1  
17 8 United Kingdom Richard Robarts Brabham-Ford 74 + 4 Laps 23  
18 15 France Henri Pescarolo BRM 72 + 6 Laps 21  
19 23 South Africa Dave Charlton McLaren-Ford 71 + 7 Laps 20  
Ret 11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 65 Oil Pressure 6  
Ret 28 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Ford 54 Fuel System 13  
Ret 2 Belgium Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 31 Brakes 10  
Ret 24 United Kingdom James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 13 Transmission 14  
Ret 19 West Germany Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 11 Suspension 17  
Ret 30 South Africa Paddy Driver Lotus-Ford 6 Clutch 26  
Ret 1 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 2 Collision 16  
Ret 21 Denmark Tom Belsø Iso-Marlboro-Ford 0 Clutch 27  
WD 16 United States Peter Revson Shadow-Ford Fatal Accident  
WD 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford Entry Withdrawn  
WD 22 Liechtenstein Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford  
WD 25 South Africa John McNicol Lotus-Ford  
WD 27 United Kingdom Guy Edwards Lola-Ford  
Source:[4]

Notes

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  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Italian driver Vittorio Brambilla and South African driver Ian Scheckter.
  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British constructor Hesketh.

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  1. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 22. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 24. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. ^ "Formula One 1974 South African Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats".
  4. ^ "1974 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b "South Africa 1974 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


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