1976 South African Grand Prix

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1976 South African Grand Prix
Race 2 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season
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Race details
Date 6 March 1976
Official name XXII The Citizen 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 McLaren-Ford
Time 1:16.10[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari
Time 1:17.97 on lap 6[2]
Podium
First Ferrari
Second McLaren-Ford
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1976 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXII The Citizen Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held on 6 March 1976 at Kyalami in Transvaal Province, South Africa.[3] It was the second round of the 1976 Formula One season. The race was the 22nd 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 teammate, West German driver Jochen Mass, finished third.

Hunt took pole position for the second time in two races, with Lauda alongside. Lauda 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 from two races saw Lauda twelve points clear in the championship over Hunt and Tyrrell's Patrick Depailler. In the constructors' championship, Ferrari were nine points clear of Tyrrell and eleven points ahead of McLaren.

Classification[edit]

Qualifying[edit]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time/Gap
1 11 United Kingdom James Hunt McLarenFord 1:16.10
2 1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari +0.10
3 28 United Kingdom John Watson PenskeFord +0.33
4 12 West Germany Jochen Mass McLarenFord +0.35
5 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla MarchFord +0.54
6 4 France Patrick Depailler TyrrellFord +0.67
7 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce ShadowFord +0.74
8 26 France Jacques Laffite LigierMatra +0.78
9 2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +0.84
10 10 Sweden Ronnie Peterson MarchFord +0.93
11 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann BrabhamAlfa Romeo +0.99
12 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter TyrrellFord +1.08
13 27 United States Mario Andretti ParnelliFord +1.15
14 8 Brazil Carlos Pace BrabhamAlfa Romeo +1.16
15 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier ShadowFord +1.25
16 15 South Africa Ian Scheckter TyrrellFord +1.30
17 34 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck MarchFord +1.34
18 22 New Zealand Chris Amon EnsignFord +1.63
19 20 Belgium Jacky Ickx Wolf-WilliamsFord +2.03
20 18 United States Brett Lunger SurteesFord +2.26
21 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi FittipaldiFord +2.30
22 21 France Michel Leclère Wolf-WilliamsFord +2.72
23 5 United Kingdom Bob Evans LotusFord +3.25
24 24 Austria Harald Ertl HeskethFord +6.01
25 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson LotusFord +6.60

Race[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 78 1:42:18.4 2 9
2 11 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 78 + 1.3 1 6
3 12 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 78 + 45.9 4 4
4 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 78 + 1:08.4 12 3
5 28 United Kingdom John Watson Penske-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 3 2
6 27 United States Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 13 1
7 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 7  
8 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 5  
9 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 6  
10 5 United Kingdom Bob Evans Lotus-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 23  
11 18 United States Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 77 + 1 Lap 20  
12 34 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 17  
13 21 France Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 22  
14 22 New Zealand Chris Amon Ensign-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 18  
15 24 Austria Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 74 + 4 Laps 24  
16 20 Belgium Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford 73 + 5 Laps 19  
17 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 70 Engine 21  
Ret 2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 52 Engine 9  
Ret 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 49 Engine 8  
Ret 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 28 Radiator 15  
Ret 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 22 Oil Pressure 14  
Ret 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 18 Clutch 25  
Ret 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 16 Oil Pressure 11  
Ret 10 Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 15 Accident 10  
Ret 15 South Africa Ian Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 0 Accident 16  
Source:[4]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

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

References[edit]

  1. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 112. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 114. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. ^ "1976 South African Grand Prix Entry list".
  4. ^ "1976 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b "South Africa 1976 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


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