1963 South African Grand Prix

1963 South African Grand Prix
Race details
Date	28 December 1963
Official name	10th International RAC Grand Prix of South Africa
Location	Prince George Circuit East London, South Africa
Course	Temporary road circuit
Course length	3.920 km (2.436 miles)
Distance	85 laps, 333.175 km (207.025 miles)
Weather	Hot, dry and windy
Pole position
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Time	1:28.9
Fastest lap
Driver	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax
Time	1:29.1 on lap 33
Podium
First	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Second	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax
Third	Graham Hill	BRM
Lap leaders

The 1963 South African Grand Prix, formally titled the 10th International RAC Grand Prix of South Africa, ^[1] was a Formula One motor race held at East London on 28 December 1963. It was the tenth and final race in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 85-lap race was won from pole position by Jim Clark in a works Lotus-Climax, the Scottish driver achieving his seventh win of the 1963 Championship. Dan Gurney finished second in a Brabham-Climax, while Graham Hill was third in a BRM. It would be the last Formula One race in December until the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. ^[2]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Gap
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	1	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	1:30.2	1:28.9	1:29.7	—
2	8	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	1:30.1	1:29.0	1:31.3	+0.1
3	9	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	1:30.2	1:29.1	1:29.7	+0.2
4	3	John Surtees	Ferrari	1:29.8	1:30.2	1:30.8	+0.9
5	4	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	1:31.0	1:30.2	1:31.5	+1.3
6	5	Graham Hill	BRM	1:31.2	1:30.4	1:30.3	+1.4
7	6	Richie Ginther	BRM	1:32.6	1:31.2	1:30.4	+1.5
8	2	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	1:31.4	1:30.4	No time	+1.5
9	10	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	1:31.3	1:31.2	1:32.2	+2.3
10	11	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	1:32.4	1:31.5	No time	+2.6
11	12	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Climax	1:32.4	No time	1:32.0	+3.1
12	7	Ernie Pieterse	Lotus-Climax	1:34.5	1:35.0	1:34.6	+5.6
13	19	John Love	Cooper-Climax	1:34.6	No time	1:34.6	+5.7
14	22	David Prophet	Brabham-Ford	1:46.4	No time	1:35.5	+6.6
15	21	Brausch Niemann	Lotus-Ford	1:36.4	1:35.6	1:36.8	+6.7
16	18	Peter de Klerk	Alfa Special-Alfa Romeo	1:35.7	1:36.1	No time	+6.8
17	20	Sam Tingle	LDS-Alfa Romeo	1:35.8	No time	1:37.3	+6.9
18	16	Doug Serrurier	LDS-Alfa Romeo	1:36.4	1:36.8	1:38.2	+7.5
19	23	Trevor Blokdyk	Cooper-Maserati	1:36.5	No time	1:41.7	+7.6
20	14	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	1:37.1	1:36.6	No time	+7.7
21	15	Paddy Driver	Lotus-BRM	1:38.7	1:36.9	1:37.5	+8.0
Source: [3]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	85	2:10:36.9	1	9
2	9	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	85	+1:06.8	3	6
3	5	Graham Hill	BRM	84	+1 lap	6	4
4	10	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	84	+1 lap	9	3
5	4	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	84	+1 lap	5	2
6	12	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Climax	83	+2 laps	11	1
7	11	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	82	+3 laps	10
8	2	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	81	+4 laps	8
9	19	John Love	Cooper-Climax	80	+5 laps	13
10	14	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	79	+6 laps	20
11	16	Doug Serrurier	LDS-Alfa Romeo	78	+7 laps	18
12	23	Trevor Blokdyk	Cooper-Maserati	77	+8 laps	19
13	8	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	70	Spun off	2
14	21	Brausch Niemann	Lotus-Ford	66	+19 laps	15
Ret	18	Peter de Klerk	Alfa Special-Alfa Romeo	53	Gearbox	16
Ret	22	David Prophet	Brabham-Ford	49	Oil pressure	14
Ret	3	John Surtees	Ferrari	43	Engine	4
Ret	6	Richie Ginther	BRM	43	Halfshaft	7
Ret	7	Ernie Pieterse	Lotus-Climax	3	Engine	12
Ret	20	Sam Tingle	LDS-Alfa Romeo	2	Halfshaft	17
DNS	15	Paddy Driver	Lotus-BRM		Practice accident	21
WD	17	Neville Lederle	Lotus-Climax		Driver injured
WD		Mike Hailwood	Lola-Climax
Source: [4]

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for South African drivers Paddy Driver, Peter de Klerk, Brausch Niemann, and Trevor Blokdyk. It was also the debut for Rhodesian driver Sam Tingle and British driver David Prophet.
• This race marked the first fastest lap for the Brabham team.

Final Championship standings

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jim Clark 54 (73) 1 2 Graham Hill 29 1 3 Richie Ginther 29 (34) 4 John Surtees 22 2 5 Dan Gurney 19 Source: [5]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Climax 54 (74) 2 BRM 36 (45) 1 3 Brabham-Climax 28 (30) 1 4 Ferrari 26 5 Cooper-Climax 25 (26) Source: [5]

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1963". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
2. Galloway, James (6 December 2018). "F1 2019 schedule: 21-race calendar and December finish". skysports.com. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
3. "1963 South African GP Qualification". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
4. "1963 South African Grand Prix". Formula One. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
5. "South Africa 1963 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

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