1978 South African Grand Prix
Racing data | ||
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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
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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
Classifications
Starting grid
Item | driver | constructor | time | Ø speed | begin |
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1 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1: 14.65 | 197.916 km / h | 1 |
2 | Mario Andretti | Lotus Ford | 1: 14.90 | 197.255 km / h | 2 |
3 | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | 1: 15.14 | 196.625 km / h | 3 |
4th | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | 1: 15.30 | 196.207 km / h | 4th |
5 | Jody Scheckter | Wolf-Ford | 1: 15.32 | 196.155 km / h | 5 |
6th | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 1: 15.36 | 196.051 km / h | 6th |
7th | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows Ford | 1: 15.48 | 195.739 km / h | 7th |
8th | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 1: 15.50 | 195.687 km / h | 8th |
9 | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari | 1: 15.52 | 195.636 km / h | 9 |
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 |
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1 | Ronnie Peterson | Lotus Ford | 78 | 0 | 1: 42: 15.767 | 11 | 1: 17.35 | |
2 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | 78 | 0 | + 0.466 | 12 | 1: 17.29 | |
3 | John Watson | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 78 | 0 | + 4.442 | 10 | 1: 17.39 | |
4th | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | 78 | 0 | + 30.986 | 18th | 1: 17.48 | |
5 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra | 78 | 0 | +1: 09.218 | 14th | 1: 17.96 | |
6th | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | 77 | 0 | + 1 lap | 13 | 1: 18.45 | |
7th | Mario Andretti | Lotus Ford | 77 | 1 | + 1 lap | 2 | 1: 17.09 | |
8th | Jean-Pierre Jarier | ATS Ford | 77 | 0 | + 1 lap | 17th | 1: 17.93 | |
9 | 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 | 7th | 1: 17.15 | Engine failure |
- | Jody Scheckter | Wolf-Ford | 59 | 0 | DNF | 5 | 1: 17.51 | accident |
- | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | 56 | 0 | DNF | 4th | 1: 17.89 | accident |
- | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari | 55 | 0 | DNF | 9 | 1: 18.13 | accident |
- | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 54 | 0 | DNF | 8th | 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 | 1 | 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 | 6th | 1: 18.13 | Misfires |
- | Keke Rosberg | Theodore Ford | 15th | 0 | DNF | 24 | 1: 19.55 | Clutch damage |
- | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 9 | 0 | DNF | 15th | 1: 18.72 | broken PTO shaft |
- | Eddie Cheever | Hesketh-Ford | 8th | 0 | DNF | 25th | 1: 18.50 | Oil loss |
- | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | 5 | 0 | DNF | 3 | 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
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Constructors' championship
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Individual evidence
- ↑ "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)
- ^ "Report" (accessed on August 5, 2012)
- ↑ "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)