1979 South African Grand Prix
| Racing data | ||
|---|---|---|
| 3rd of 15 races of the 1979 automobile world championship | ||
|
||
| Surname: | XIII Grand Prix of South Africa | |
| Date: | March 3, 1979 | |
| Place: | Midrand | |
| Course: | Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit | |
| Length: | 320.112 km in 78 laps of 4.104 km
|
|
| Weather: | initially wet, later drying | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver: |
 Jean-Pierre Jabouille
|
Renault
|
| Time: | 1: 11.80 min | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver: |
 Gilles Villeneuve
|
 Ferrari
|
| Time: | 1: 14.41 min | |
| Podium | ||
| First: |
Gilles Villeneuve
|
Ferrari
|
| Second: |
.svg){kind=small} Jody Scheckter
|
Ferrari
|
| Third: |
Jean-Pierre Jarier
|
 Tyrrell
|
The 1979 South African Grand Prix took place on March 3 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit and was the third race of the 1979 World Automobile Championship .
Reports
background
In the dominance of the Ligier team in the first two races of the season, several competitors saw the reason to push ahead with the further development of their own wing cars . For example, Scuderia Ferrari launched the 312T4 for the race in South Africa for the first time, Ensign Racing competed with the N179 and Fittipaldi Automotive with the F6 .
There were no changes in the field of drivers compared to the Brazilian Grand Prix , which took place around a month earlier.
training
The training ended with the surprising result that Jean-Pierre Jabouille reached pole position in the Renault RS01 in front of the two new Ferraris of Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve . Niki Lauda qualified for fourth place on the grid. The two Ligier drivers Patrick Depailler and Jacques Laffite , who had formed the first row in reverse order at the two previous Grand Prix, took third row this time.
run
In rainy conditions on race day, Jabouille initially retained the lead over Scheckter and Villeneuve. Shortly after Villeneuve had fought past both of them to the top on the second lap, the race was interrupted due to a downpour .
The weather continued to change during the restart. Nevertheless, some drivers decided to start the race on slicks . Villeneuve, who was ahead at the time of the crash, started from pole position and was able to build up a lead during the first few laps. However, when the track began to dry out, those drivers who had chosen the dry tires had an advantage.
On lap 15, Villeneuve headed for the pits to have his tires changed. His team colleague Scheckter took over the lead. Villeneuve only lost one position after the pit stop. He stayed ahead of Patrick Tambay and Nelson Piquet .
Aided by engine problems in Piquet's car, Jean-Pierre Jarier and Mario Andretti finished third and fourth, past Patrick Tambay. Jean-Pierre Jabouille took fifth place, but fell out again shortly afterwards due to damage to the Renault turbo engine. Since Jacques Laffite had also spun off due to a puncture, Carlos Reutemann was able to take fifth place ahead of Nelson Piquet.
On the 52nd lap, Scheckter had his tires changed in the pits, which meant that Villeneuve took the lead again. By the end of the race, the South African was able to reduce the Canadian's lead to around three and a half seconds. However , he could not repeat a home win like the one he had in 1975 . Jarier was third ahead of Andretti, Reutemann and Lauda.
Registration list
Classifications
Starting grid
| Item | driver | constructor | time | Ø speed | begin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Jean-Pierre Jabouille
|
Renault
|
1: 11.80 | 205.772 km / h | 1 |
| 2 |
Jody Scheckter
|
Ferrari
|
1: 12.04 | 205.086 km / h | 2 |
| 3 |
Gilles Villeneuve
|
Ferrari
|
1: 12.07 | 205.001 km / h | 3 |
| 4th |
 Niki Lauda
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo
|
1: 12.12 | 204.859 km / h | 4th |
| 5 |
Patrick Depailler
|
Ligier-Ford
|
1: 12.15 | 204.773 km / h | 5 |
| 6th |
Jacques Laffite
|
Ligier-Ford
|
1: 12.26 | 204.462 km / h | 6th |
| 7th |
Didier Pironi
|
Tyrrell-Ford
|
1: 12.33 | 204.264 km / h | 7th |
| 8th |
 Mario Andretti
|
Lotus Ford
|
1: 12.36 | 204.179 km / h | 8th |
| 9 |
Jean-Pierre Jarier
|
Tyrrell-Ford
|
1: 12.55 | 203.644 km / h | 9 |
| 10 |
René Arnoux
|
Renault
|
1: 12.69 | 203.252 km / h | 10 |
| 11 |
 Carlos Reutemann
|
Lotus Ford
|
1: 12.75 | 203.085 km / h | 11 |
| 12 |
.svg){kind=small} Nelson Piquet
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo
|
1: 13.07 | 202.195 km / h | 12 |
| 13 |
James Hunt
|
Wolf-Ford
|
1: 14.21 | 199.089 km / h | 13 |
| 14th |
John Watson
|
McLaren-Ford
|
1: 14.44 | 198.474 km / h | 14th |
| 15th |
Elio de Angelis
|
Shadow Ford
|
1: 14.44 | 198.474 km / h | 15th |
| 16 |
Riccardo Patrese
|
Arrows Ford
|
1: 14.54 | 198.208 km / h | 16 |
| 17th |
Patrick Tambay
|
McLaren-Ford
|
1: 14.58 | 198.101 km / h | 17th |
| 18th |
Emerson Fittipaldi
|
Fittipaldi-Ford
|
1: 14.61 | 198.022 km / h | 18th |
| 19th |
 Alan Jones
|
Williams-Ford
|
1: 14.64 | 197.942 km / h | 19th |
| 20th |
 Jochen Mass
|
Arrows Ford
|
1: 15.00 | 196.992 km / h | 20th |
| 21st |
 Jan Lammers
|
Shadow Ford
|
1: 15.35 | 196.077 km / h | 21st |
| 22nd |
 Clay Regazzoni
|
Williams-Ford
|
1: 15.68 | 195.222 km / h | 22nd |
| 23 |
 Hector Rebaque
|
Lotus Ford
|
1: 16.15 | 194.017 km / h | 23 |
| 24 |
Hans-Joachim Stuck
|
ATS Ford
|
1: 16.31 | 193.610 km / h | 24 |
| DNQ |
 Derek Daly
|
Ensign-Ford
|
1: 16.64 | 192.777 km / h | - |
| DNQ |
Arturo Merzario
|
Merzario-Ford
|
1: 18.14 | 189.076 km / h | - |
run
| Item | driver | constructor | Round | Stops | time | begin | Fastest lap | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Gilles Villeneuve
|
Ferrari
|
78 | 1 | 1: 41: 49.96 | 3 | 1: 14.41 | |
| 2 |
Jody Scheckter
|
Ferrari
|
78 | 1 | + 3.42 | 2 | 1: 14.73 | |
| 3 |
Jean-Pierre Jarier
|
Tyrrell-Ford
|
78 | 0 | + 22.11 | 9 | 1: 14.90 | |
| 4th |
Mario Andretti
|
Lotus Ford
|
78 | 0 | + 27.88 | 8th | 1: 14.67 | |
| 5 |
Carlos Reutemann
|
Lotus Ford
|
78 | 0 | +1: 06.97 | 11 | 1: 15.45 | |
| 6th |
Niki Lauda
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo
|
77 | 0 | + 1 lap | 4th | 1: 15.95 | |
| 7th |
Nelson Piquet
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo
|
77 | 0 | + 1 lap | 12 | 1: 16.01 | |
| 8th |
James Hunt
|
Wolf-Ford
|
77 | 0 | + 1 lap | 13 | 1: 16.18 | |
| 9 |
Clay Regazzoni
|
Williams-Ford
|
76 | 0 | + 2 rounds | 22nd | 1: 17.35 | |
| 10 |
Patrick Tambay
|
McLaren-Ford
|
75 | 0 | + 3 rounds | 17th | 1: 16.54 | |
| 11 |
Riccardo Patrese
|
Arrows Ford
|
75 | 0 | + 3 rounds | 16 | 1: 17.32 | |
| 12 |
Jochen Mass
|
Arrows Ford
|
74 | 0 | + 4 rounds | 20th | 1: 17.93 | |
| 13 |
Emerson Fittipaldi
|
Fittipaldi-Ford
|
74 | 0 | + 4 rounds | 18th | 1: 16.98 | |
| - |
Hector Rebaque
|
Lotus Ford
|
71 | 0 | DNF | 23 | 1: 18.26 | Engine failure |
| - |
René Arnoux
|
Renault
|
67 | 0 | DNF | 10 | 1: 15.31 | Tire damage |
| - |
Alan Jones
|
Williams-Ford
|
63 | 0 | DNF | 19th | 1: 16.84 | Suspension damage |
| - |
John Watson
|
McLaren-Ford
|
61 | 0 | DNF | 14th | 1: 16.92 | defective ignition |
| - |
Hans-Joachim Stuck
|
ATS Ford
|
57 | 0 | DNF | 24 | 1: 17.50 | Brake defect |
| - |
Jean-Pierre Jabouille
|
Renault
|
47 | 0 | DNF | 1 | 1: 15.15 | Engine failure |
| - |
Jacques Laffite
|
Ligier-Ford
|
45 | 0 | DNF | 6th | 1: 14.47 | Tire damage |
| - |
Didier Pironi
|
Tyrrell-Ford
|
25th | 0 | DNF | 7th | 1: 16.23 | defective ignition |
| - |
Elio de Angelis
|
Shadow Ford
|
16 | 0 | DNF | 15th | 1: 17.46 | Brake defect |
| - |
Patrick Depailler
|
Ligier-Ford
|
4th | 0 | DNF | 5 | 1: 22.50 | accident |
| - |
Jan Lammers
|
Shadow Ford
|
2 | 0 | DNF | 21st | 1: 25.28 | collision |
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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Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ "Training" ( Memento of December 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on August 24, 2012)
- ^ "Report" (accessed on August 24, 2012)
- ^ "World Cup stands" ( Memento from December 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on August 24, 2012)
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