1978 South African Grand Prix

 1978 South African Grand Prix

Racing data
3rd of 16 races of the 1978 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XII Grand Prix of South Africa
Date:	March 4th 1978
Place:	Midrand
Course:	Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit
Length:	320.112 km in 78 laps of 4.104 km
Weather:	hot
Spectator:	~ 90,000
Pole position
Driver:	Niki Lauda	Brabham
Time:	1: 14.65 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Mario Andretti	lotus
Time:	1: 17.09 min
Podium
First:	Ronnie Peterson	lotus
Second:	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell
Third:	John Watson	Brabham

The 1978 South African Grand Prix took place on March 4th at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit and was the third race of the 1978 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

Six weeks lay between the Brazilian Grand Prix and the 300th Grand Prix in World Cup history, which took place in South Africa. During this time, several racing cars were completed, which should replace the previous year's models. These included the Ferrari 312T3 and the Brabham BT46 . In addition, the new Automobiles Martini team , which used an in-house design called the MK23 , made its first appearance. Since Arrows also expanded his engagement to two vehicles with Rolf Stommelen as the second works driver and the Renault team also competed again, a total of 30 pilots fought for one of the 26 possible starting positions.

The hapless Divina Galica was replaced by Eddie Cheever at Hesketh Racing . His place at Theodore Racing was taken by the Finnish debutant Keke Rosberg . Martini driver René Arnoux was another newcomer this weekend.

The fact that Danny Ongais declared his short Formula 1 career over was used at Ensign to reduce the commitment to just one car.

training

By reaching pole position, Niki Lauda impressively demonstrated the potential of the new Brabham . However, it turned out to be the last Pole of his Formula 1 career. Mario Andretti , who competed with last year's Lotus 78, which was still competitive, qualified for second place on the grid ahead of the two McLaren M26s driven by James Hunt and Patrick Tambay . The third row consisted of local hero Jody Scheckter on Wolf and Jean-Pierre Jabouille in the turbo-powered Renault RS01 .

Cheever, who qualified 25th, became at the age of 20 years, one month and 22 days the third youngest driver at the time who was allowed to participate in a Formula 1 GP.

Clay Regazzoni and Hans-Joachim Stuck, both Shadow pilots , were among the four drivers who failed to qualify .

run

Andretti took the lead ahead of Scheckter, Lauda, ​​Hunt and Jabouille. Riccardo Patrese and John Watson followed in sixth and seventh place.

On the fifth lap, Hunt retired due to an engine failure. Patrese had passed Jabouille shortly before and was now in fourth place. By the 27th lap he fought his way forward to the top. As Andretti and Scheckter fell behind due to tire problems, Patrick Depailler , who had previously overtaken Lauda, ​​came in second.

Due to an engine failure on Laudas Brabham on lap 52, Andretti took third place again. The leading Patrese was also the victim of an engine failure, so that Depailler took over the top position on the 64th lap. Its engine also showed signs of imminent engine damage in the form of increased smoke emissions in the final laps of the race. The Frenchman was able to finish the race, but had to admit defeat Ronnie Peterson by less than half a second after a close duel . In the end, Andretti was unable to fight for victory because he had to head to the pits to refuel. Watson was third ahead of Alan Jones , Jacques Laffite and Didier Pironi .

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Parmalat Racing Team	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham BT46	Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12	G
	2	John Watson
Eleven Team Tyrrell	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell 008	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G
	4th	Patrick Depailler
John Player Team Lotus	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus 78		G
	6th	Ronnie Peterson
Marlboro Team McLaren	7th	James Hunt	McLaren M26		G
	8th	Patrick Tambay
ATS Racing Team	9	Jochen Mass	ATS HS1		G
	10	Jean-Pierre Jarier
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari 312T3	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	M.
	12	Gilles Villeneuve
Fittipaldi Automotive	14th	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi F5A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G
Equipe Renault Elf	15th	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault RS01	Renault EF1 1.5 V6 t	M.
Shadow Racing Team	16	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow DN8	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G
	17th	Clay Regazzoni
Durex Team Surtees	18th	Rupert Keegan	Surtees TS19		G
Beta Team Surtees	19th	Vittorio Brambilla
Walter Wolf Racing	20th	Jody Scheckter	Wolf WR1		G
Team Tissot Ensign	23	Lamberto Leoni	Ensign N177		G
Olympus Cameras / Hesketh Racing	24	Eddie Cheever	Hesketh 308E		G
Team Rebaque	25th	Hector Rebaque	Lotus 78		G
Ligier Gitanes	26th	Jacques Laffite	Ligier JS7	Matra MS76 3.0 V12	G
Williams Grand Prix Engineering	27	Alan Jones	Williams FW06	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G
Liggett Group / BS Fabrications	30th	Brett Lunger	McLaren M23		G
Automobiles Martini	31	René Arnoux	Martini MK23		G
Theodore Racing Hong Kong	32	Keke Rosberg	Theodore TR1		G
Arrows Racing Team	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows FA1		G
	36	Rolf Stommelen
Team Merzario	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario A1		G

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1: 14.65	197.916 km / h	01
02	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	1: 14.90	197.255 km / h	02
03	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	1: 15.14	196.625 km / h	03
04th	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	1: 15.30	196.207 km / h	04th
05	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	1: 15.32	196.155 km / h	05
06th	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1: 15.36	196.051 km / h	06th
07th	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	1: 15.48	195.739 km / h	07th
08th	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1: 15.50	195.687 km / h	08th
09	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	1: 15.52	195.636 km / h	09
10	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1: 15.62	195.377 km / h	10
11	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus Ford	1: 15.94	194.554 km / h	11
12	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	1: 15.97	194.477 km / h	12
13	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	1: 16.38	193.433 km / h	13
14th	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	1: 16.40	193.382 km / h	14th
15th	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	1: 16.47	193.205 km / h	15th
16	Jochen Mass	ATS Ford	1: 16.60	192.877 km / h	16
17th	Jean-Pierre Jarier	ATS Ford	1: 17.12	191.577 km / h	17th
18th	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1: 17.16	191.477 km / h	18th
19th	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	1: 17.30	191.131 km / h	19th
20th	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	1: 17.32	191.081 km / h	20th
21st	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows Ford	1: 17.49	190.662 km / h	21st
22nd	Hector Rebaque	Lotus Ford	1: 17.50	190.637 km / h	22nd
23	Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford	1: 17.57	190.465 km / h	23
24	Keke Rosberg	Theodore Ford	1: 17.62	190.343 km / h	24
25th	Eddie Cheever	Hesketh-Ford	1: 17.83	189.829 km / h	25th
26th	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	1: 18.15	189.052 km / h	26th
DNQ	René Arnoux	Martini Ford	1: 18.21	188.907 km / h	-
DNQ	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow Ford	1: 18.30	188.690 km / h	-
DNQ	Lamberto Leoni	Ensign-Ford	1: 18.38	188.497 km / h	-
DNQ	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow Ford	1: 18.45	188.329 km / h	-

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus Ford	78	0	1: 42: 15.767	11	1: 17.35
02	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	78	0	+ 0.466	12	1: 17.29
03	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	78	0	+ 4.442	10	1: 17.39
04th	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	78	0	+ 30.986	18th	1: 17.48
05	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	78	0	+1: 09.218	14th	1: 17.96
06th	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	77	0	+ 1 lap	13	1: 18.45
07th	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	77	1	+ 1 lap	02	1: 17.09
08th	Jean-Pierre Jarier	ATS Ford	77	0	+ 1 lap	17th	1: 17.93
09	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows Ford	77	0	+ 1 lap	21st	1: 17.86
10	Hector Rebaque	Lotus Ford	77	0	+ 1 lap	22nd	1: 19.53
11	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	76	0	+ 2 rounds	19th	1: 18.11
12	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	76	0	+ 2 rounds	20th	1: 19.34
-	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	63	0	DNF	07th	1: 17.15	Engine failure
-	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	59	0	DNF	05	1: 17.51	accident
-	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	56	0	DNF	04th	1: 17.89	accident
-	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	55	0	DNF	09	1: 18.13	accident
-	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	54	0	DNF	08th	1: 18.29	Oil loss
-	Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford	53	0	DNF	23	1: 19.29	Engine failure
-	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	52	0	DNF	01	1: 17.43	Engine failure
-	Jochen Mass	ATS Ford	42	0	DNF	16	1: 18.63	Engine failure
-	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	40	0	DNF	26th	1: 20.27	Suspension damage
-	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	38	0	DNF	06th	1: 18.13	Misfires
-	Keke Rosberg	Theodore Ford	15th	0	DNF	24	1: 19.55	Clutch damage
-	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	09	0	DNF	15th	1: 18.72	broken PTO shaft
-	Eddie Cheever	Hesketh-Ford	08th	0	DNF	25th	1: 18.50	Oil loss
-	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	05	0	DNF	03	1: 17.49	Engine failure

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Mario Andretti lotus 12 02  Ronnie Peterson lotus 11 03  Patrick Depailler Tyrrell 10 04th  Niki Lauda Brabham 10 05  Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 9 06th  Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi 6th 07th  John Watson Brabham 4th

Item driver constructor Points 08th  James Hunt McLaren 3 09  Alan Jones Williams 3 10  Clay Regazzoni Shadow 2 11  Didier Pironi Tyrrell 2 12  Jacques Laffite Ligier 2 13  Patrick Tambay McLaren 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  lotus 21st 02  Brabham 14th 03  Tyrrell 11 04th  Ferrari 9 05  Fittipaldi 6th

Item constructor Points 06th  Williams 3 07th  McLaren 3 08th  Shadow 2 09  Ligier 2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Training"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on August 5, 2012)  
2. ^ "Report" (accessed on August 5, 2012)
3. ↑ "World Cup stands"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on August 5, 2012)  

Web links

• Race result on the official Formula 1 website