1976 South African Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season | |||
 | |||
| Date | 6 March 1976 | ||
| Official name | XXII South African Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Kyalami | ||
| Course | permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.104 km (2.550 mi) | ||
| Distance | 78 laps, 320.112 km (198.908 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:16.10[1] | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Niki Lauda | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:17.97 on lap 6[2] | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Third | McLaren-Ford | ||
The 1976 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXII South African Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 6 March 1976 at Kyalami in Gauteng, South Africa. It was the second round of the 1976 Formula One season. The race was the twenty-second South African Grand Prix and the tenth to be held at Kyalami. The race was held over 78 laps of the 4.104-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 320 kilometres.
The race was won by Austrian driver Niki Lauda in a Ferrari 312T. The win was Lauda's third win in succession. He finished 1.3 seconds ahead of British driver and Lauda's season long rival James Hunt in a McLaren M23. Hunt's McLaren team mate, West German driver Jochen Mass finished third.
Hunt took pole position for the second time in two races, with Lauda alongside again. It was Lauda who led into the first corner, with Hunt dropping down to fourth behind Mass and Italian driver Vittorio Brambilla in his March 761. Hunt was waved through by Mass, and passed Brambilla to take second after five laps. Lauda led from start to finish to win. Behind Hunt and Mass, South African driver Jody Scheckter was fourth in his Tyrrell 007. A lap down in fifth was British driver John Watson in a Penske PC3 with Mario Andretti sixth in a Parnelli VPJ4B.
Two wins in season 1976 saw Lauda twelve points clear in the championship over Hunt and Tyrrell's Patrick Depailler. Likewise Ferrari was nine points clear of Tyrrell and eleven points ahead of McLaren.
Classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Niki Lauda |
Ferrari | 78 | 1:42:18.4 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | 11 |  James Hunt |
McLaren-Ford | 78 | + 1.3 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | 12 |  Jochen Mass |
McLaren-Ford | 78 | + 45.9 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 3 | .svg.png){kind=small} Jody Scheckter |
Tyrrell-Ford | 78 | + 1:08.4 | 12 | 3 |
| 5 | 28 | John Watson |
Penske-Ford | 77 | + 1 Lap | 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 27 |  Mario Andretti |
Parnelli-Ford | 77 | + 1 Lap | 13 | 1 |
| 7 | 16 | Tom Pryce |
Shadow-Ford | 77 | + 1 Lap | 7 | |
| 8 | 9 |  Vittorio Brambilla |
March-Ford | 77 | + 1 Lap | 5 | |
| 9 | 4 |  Patrick Depailler |
Tyrrell-Ford | 77 | + 1 Lap | 6 | |
| 10 | 5 | Bob Evans |
Lotus-Ford | 77 | + 1 Lap | 23 | |
| 11 | 18 | Brett Lunger |
Surtees-Ford | 77 | + 1 Lap | 20 | |
| 12 | 34 | Hans-Joachim Stuck |
March-Ford | 76 | + 2 Laps | 17 | |
| 13 | 21 | Michel Leclère |
Wolf-Williams-Ford | 76 | + 2 Laps | 22 | |
| 14 | 22 |  Chris Amon |
Ensign-Ford | 76 | + 2 Laps | 18 | |
| 15 | 24 | Harald Ertl |
Hesketh-Ford | 74 | + 4 Laps | 24 | |
| 16 | 20 | .svg.png){kind=small} Jacky Ickx |
Wolf-Williams-Ford | 73 | + 5 Laps | 19 | |
| 17 | 30 |  Emerson Fittipaldi |
Fittipaldi-Ford | 70 | Engine | 21 | |
| Ret | 2 |  Clay Regazzoni |
Ferrari | 52 | Engine | 9 | |
| Ret | 26 | Jacques Laffite |
Ligier-Matra | 49 | Engine | 8 | |
| Ret | 17 | Jean-Pierre Jarier |
Shadow-Ford | 28 | Radiator | 15 | |
| Ret | 8 | Carlos Pace |
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 22 | Oil Pressure | 14 | |
| Ret | 6 |  Gunnar Nilsson |
Lotus-Ford | 18 | Clutch | 25 | |
| Ret | 7 |  Carlos Reutemann |
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 16 | Oil Pressure | 11 | |
| Ret | 10 | Ronnie Peterson |
March-Ford | 15 | Accident | 13 | |
| Ret | 15 | Ian Scheckter |
Tyrrell-Ford | 0 | Accident | 16 | |
Source:[3] | |||||||
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- ↑ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 112. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
- ↑ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 114. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
- ↑ "1976 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
| Previous race: 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1976 season |
Next race: 1976 United States Grand Prix West |
| Previous race: 1975 South African Grand Prix |
South African Grand Prix | Next race: 1977 South African Grand Prix |
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