1974 South African Grand Prix

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1974 South African Grand Prix
Kyalami 1961 - 1988 Layout.png
Kyalami Circuit
Race details
Date30 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 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford
Time 1:18.16 [2] on lap 58
Podium
First Brabham-Ford
Second BRM
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1974 South African Grand Prix

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.

Contents

Pre race notes, practice, and qualifying

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

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

Qualifying

Pos.DriverConstructorTime/Gap
1 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:16.58
2 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace SurteesFord +0.05
3 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario FWRCFord +0.21
4 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann BrabhamFord +0.22
5 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi McLarenFord +0.24
6 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +0.27
7 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck MarchFord +0.40
8 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter TyrrellFord +0.41
9 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLarenFord +0.53
10 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx LotusFord +0.60
11 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM +0.76
12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hailwood McLarenFord +0.76
13 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt HeskethFord +0.83
14 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson BrabhamFord +1.03
15 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler TyrrellFord +1.17
16 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson LotusFord +1.42
17 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass SurteesFord +1.65
18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill LolaFord +1.67
19 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla MarchFord +1.71
20 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg David Charlton McLarenFord +1.79
21 Flag of France.svg Henri Pescarolo BRM +1.81
22 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Ian Scheckter LotusFord +1.98
23 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Richard Robarts BrabhamFord +2.02
24 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Eddie Keizan TyrrellFord +2.42
25 Flag of France.svg François Migault BRM +2.56
26 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Paddy Driver LotusFord +2.91
27 Flag of Denmark.svg Tom Belsø FWRCFord +3.22
Source: [3]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
17 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 781:42:40.9649
214 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 78+ 33.94116
333 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hailwood McLaren-Ford 78+ 42.16124
44 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 78+ 44.19153
59 Flag of Germany.svg Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 78+ 46.2372
620 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario Iso-Marlboro-Ford 78+ 56.0431
75 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 78+ 1:08.395 
83 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 78+ 1:10.548 
96 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 77+ 1 Lap9 
1010 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 77+ 1 Lap19 
1118 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 77+ 1 Lap2 
1226 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Lola-Ford 77+ 1 Lap18 
1329 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Ian Scheckter Lotus-Ford 76+ 2 Laps22 
1432 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Eddie Keizan Tyrrell-Ford 76+ 2 Laps24 
1537 Flag of France.svg François Migault BRM 75+ 3 Laps25 
1612 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari 74Ignition1 
178 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Richard Robarts Brabham-Ford 74+ 4 Laps23 
1815 Flag of France.svg Henri Pescarolo BRM 72+ 6 Laps21 
1923 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Dave Charlton McLaren-Ford 71+ 7 Laps20 
Ret11 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 65Oil Pressure6 
Ret28 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Ford 54Fuel System13 
Ret2 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 31Brakes10 
Ret24 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 13Transmission14 
Ret19 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 11Suspension17 
Ret30 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Paddy Driver Lotus-Ford 6Clutch26 
Ret1 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 2Collision16 
Ret21 Flag of Denmark.svg Tom Belsø Iso-Marlboro-Ford 0Clutch27 
WD16 Flag of the United States.svg Peter Revson Shadow-Ford Fatal Accident 
WD17 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford Entry Withdrawn 
WD22 Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford  
WD25 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg John McNicol Lotus-Ford  
WD27 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Edwards Lola-Ford  
Source: [4]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

References

  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. 1 2 "South Africa 1974 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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1974 Brazilian Grand Prix
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