Jump to content

1978 South African Grand Prix

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1978 South African Grand Prix
Race 3 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details
Date 4 March 1978
Official name XXIV Citizen and Asseng Grand Prix of South Africa
Location Kyalami
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)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time 1:14.65
Fastest lap
Driver United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford
Time 1:17.09 on lap 2
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second Tyrrell-Ford
Third Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Lap leaders

The 1978 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Citizen and Asseng Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 March 1978 at Kyalami. It was the third round of the 1978 Formula One season and the 300th World Championship Grand Prix held since the championship began in 1950. This was the debut race of the future world champion Keke Rosberg.

The Ferrari (312T3) and Brabham (BT46) teams had new cars in Kyalami for the race. The event also saw the return of Renault with its unique turbocharged car.

Summary

[edit]

Ronnie Peterson, in the Lotus 78 with its Colin Chapman-inspired ground effect aerodynamics, battled Patrick Depailler in his Tyrrell on the last lap to take a dramatic victory. John Watson finished third for Brabham. Young Italian, Riccardo Patrese got his Arrows into the lead before retiring with a blown engine. Pole sitter and reigning world champion Niki Lauda, in his first season with Brabham, retired with engine failure and the Ferraris of Carlos Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve exited on lap 55. James Hunt, who had qualified third on the grid in his McLaren M26, only lasted five laps when his engine failed, while his new teammate Patrick Tambay, who qualified fourth, crashed out mid race.

Classification

[edit]

Qualifying

[edit]
Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 1 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:14.65
2 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:14.90 +0.25
3 7 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:15.14 +0.49
4 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:15.30 +0.65
5 20 South Africa Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:15.32 +0.67
6 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:15.36 +0.71
7 35 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:15.48 +0.83
8 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:15.50 +0.85
9 11 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:15.52 +0.87
10 2 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:15.62 +0.97
11 6 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:15.94 +1.29
12 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:15.97 +1.32
13 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:16.38 +1.73
14 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:16.40 +1.75
15 14 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:16.47 +1.82
16 9 West Germany Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:16.60 +1.95
17 10 France Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford 1:17.12 +2.47
18 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:17.16 +2.51
19 30 United States Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:17.30 +2.65
20 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:17.32 +2.67
21 36 West Germany Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:17.49 +2.84
22 25 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:17.50 +2.85
23 18 United Kingdom Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 1:17.57 +2.92
24 32 Finland Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford 1:17.62 +2.97
25 24 United States Eddie Cheever Hesketh-Ford 1:17.83 +3.18
26 37 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:18.15 +3.50
27 31 France René Arnoux Martini-Ford 1:18.21 +3.56
28 17 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 1:18.30 +3.65
29 22 Italy Lamberto Leoni Ensign-Ford 1:18.38 +3.73
30 16 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 1:18.45 +3.80

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

[edit]
Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford G 78 1:42:15.767 12 9
2 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford G 78 +0.466 11 6
3 2 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 78 +4.442 10 4
4 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 78 +30.986 18 3
5 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra G 78 +1:09.218 13 2
6 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 77 +1 Lap 14 1
7 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 77 +1 Lap 2
8 10 France Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford G 77 +1 Lap 17
9 36 West Germany Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford G 77 +1 Lap 22
10 25 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford G 77 +1 Lap 21
11 30 United States Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford G 76 +2 Laps 20
12 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford G 76 +2 Laps 19
Ret 35 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 63 Engine 7
Ret 20 South Africa Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford G 59 Spun Off 5
Ret 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford G 56 Accident 4
Ret 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 55 Oil Leak 8
Ret 11 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari M 55 Spun Off 9
Ret 1 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 52 Engine 1
Ret 18 United Kingdom Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford G 52 Engine 23
Ret 9 West Germany Jochen Mass ATS-Ford G 43 Engine 15
Ret 37 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G 39 Suspension 26
Ret 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 38 Engine 6
Ret 32 Finland Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford G 15 Clutch 24
Ret 14 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 9 Transmission 16
Ret 24 United States Eddie Cheever Hesketh-Ford G 8 Oil Leak 25
Ret 7 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford G 5 Engine 3
DNQ 31 France René Arnoux Martini-Ford G
DNQ 17 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford G
DNQ 23 Italy Lamberto Leoni Ensign-Ford G
DNQ 16 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford G
Source:[1][2]

Notes

[edit]
  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Finnish driver and future World Champion Keke Rosberg and for French driver and future Grand Prix winner René Arnoux.
  • This was the Formula One World Championship for French constructor Martini.

Championship standings after the race

[edit]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1978 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  2. ^ "1978 South African Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 4 March 1978. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b "South Africa 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


Previous race:
1978 Brazilian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1978 season
Next race:
1978 United States Grand Prix West
Previous race:
1977 South African Grand Prix
South African Grand Prix Next race:
1979 South African Grand Prix