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1975 South African Grand Prix

1975 South African Grand Prix
Race details
Date	1 March 1975
Official name	XXI Lucky Strike 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	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Ford
Time	1:16.41[1]
Fastest lap
Driver	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Ford
Time	1:17.20[2] on lap 11
Podium
First	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford
Second	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford
Third	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders [3]

The 1975 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXI Lucky Strike Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 1 March 1975. It was race 3 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 21st South African Grand Prix since the first Grand Prix was held in 1934 and the ninth to be held at Kyalami just outside Johannesburg. It was held over 78 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 320 kilometres.^[4]

Jody Scheckter became the first South African driver to win the race. Driving a Tyrrell 007, he took over the lead of the race from Carlos Pace on lap three and took a three-second win over the Brabham BT44BofCarlos Reutemann. Scheckter's Tyrrell teammate Patrick Depailler finished third.

Ferrari had used the free month of February profitably, producing the new 312T model with a new transverse gearbox. There was also a new face in the persona of female Italian racer Lella Lombardi (the first woman to take part in a World Championship race since Maria Teresa de Filippis in the 1958 Italian Grand Prix).

In practice, Graham Hill's car spun on oil dropped from Ronnie Peterson's car and crashed, destroying his car. He opted to sit out the race. Once the debris had been cleared and holes in the catch fencing mended, there was a second accident as Niki Lauda spun on engine oil, hitting the wall at 120 mph. With further violent accidents to Jody Scheckter and Guy Tunmer, the drivers deemed the circuit not safe and refused to continue until fencing defects were remedied and the track improved, further helped by the support of mechanics who insisted no more practice be carried out.

When the racing got under way, Carlos Pace led from pole in a Brabham 1–2 but was soon passed by Jody Scheckter and Carlos Reutemann after experiencing braking problems, and Patrick Depailler soon climbed to third. James Hunt retired with a broken throttle linkage, Vittorio Brambilla with oil cooler problems and Ian Scheckter crashed. Emerson Fittipaldi was challenging Depailler for 4th place when he suffered a cracked plug lead. Jody Scheckter held on from Reutemann for his only home win.

Pos.	Driver	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	Carlos Pace	Brabham–Ford	1:16.41
2	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham–Ford	+0.07
3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell–Ford	+0.23
4	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	+0.42
5	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell–Ford	+0.42
6	Mario Andretti	Parnelli–Ford	+0.48
7	Vittorio Brambilla	March–Ford	+0.64
8	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus–Ford	+0.73
9	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	+0.75
10	John Watson	Surtees–Ford	+0.76
11	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren–Ford	+0.81
12	James Hunt	Hesketh–Ford	+0.89
13	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow–Ford	+0.91
14	Rolf Stommelen	Lola–Ford	+1.06
15	Arturo Merzario	Williams–Ford	+1.12
16	Jochen Mass	McLaren–Ford	+1.38
17	Ian Scheckter	Tyrrell–Ford	+1.59
18	Mark Donohue	Penske–Ford	+1.87
19	Tom Pryce	Shadow–Ford	+1.95
20	David Charlton	McLaren–Ford	+2.10
21	Jacky Ickx	Lotus–Ford	+2.27
22	Eddie Keizan	Lotus–Ford	+2.60
23	Jacques Laffite	Williams–Ford	+2.74
24	Bob Evans	BRM	+2.76
25	Guy Tunmer	Lotus–Ford	+3.11
26	Lella Lombardi	March–Ford	+3.27
27	Wilson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi–Ford	+3.32
28	Graham Hill	Lola–Ford	+5.04
Source:[5]

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	78	1:43:16.90	3	9
2	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	78	+ 3.74	2	6
3	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	78	+ 16.92	5	4
4	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Ford	78	+ 17.31	1	3
5	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	78	+ 28.64	4	2
6	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren-Ford	78	+ 1:03.64	16	1
7	23	Rolf Stommelen	Lola-Ford	78	+ 1:12.91	14
8	28	Mark Donohue	Penske-Ford	77	+ 1 Lap	18
9	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	77	+ 1 Lap	19
10	5	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	77	+ 1 Lap	8
11	34	Guy Tunmer	Lotus-Ford	76	+ 2 Laps	25
12	6	Jacky Ickx	Lotus-Ford	76	+ 2 Laps	21
13	33	Eddie Keizan	Lotus-Ford	76	+ 2 Laps	22
14	31	Dave Charlton	McLaren-Ford	76	+ 2 Laps	20
15	14	Bob Evans	BRM	76	+ 2 Laps	24
16	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	71	Throttle	9
17	27	Mario Andretti	Parnelli-Ford	70	Transmission	6
NC	21	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Ford	69	+ 9 Laps	23
NC	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	65	+ 13 Laps	11
Ret	32	Ian Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	55	Accident	17
Ret	24	James Hunt	Hesketh-Ford	53	Fuel system	12
Ret	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow-Ford	37	Overheating	13
Ret	10	Lella Lombardi	March-Ford	23	Fuel system	26
Ret	20	Arturo Merzario	Williams-Ford	22	Engine	15
Ret	18	John Watson	Surtees-Ford	19	Clutch	10
Ret	9	Vittorio Brambilla	March-Ford	16	Radiator	7
DNQ	30	Wilson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford
DNQ	22	Graham Hill	Lola-Ford
Source:[6]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Emerson Fittipaldi 15 2 Carlos Pace 12 3 Carlos Reutemann 10 4 Jody Scheckter 9 5 James Hunt 7 Source:[7]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Brabham-Ford 19 2 McLaren-Ford 16 3 Tyrrell-Ford 11 4 Ferrari 8 5 Hesketh-Ford 7 Source:[7]

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