The 1963 South African Grand Prix, formally titled the 10th International RAC Grand Prix of South Africa, was a Formula One motor race held at East London on 28 December 1963. It was the tenth and final race in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 85-lap race was won from pole position by Jim Clark in a works Lotus-Climax, the Scottish driver achieving his seventh win of the 1963 Championship. Dan Gurney finished second in a Brabham-Climax, while Graham Hill was third in a BRM. It would be the last Formula One race in December until the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Classification Qualifying PosNoDriverConstructorGapQ1Q2Q31 1 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax1:30.2 1:28.91:29.7—2 8 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax1:30.1 1:29.01:31.3 +0.13 9 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax1:30.2 1:29.11:29.7 +0.24 3 John Surtees Ferrari1:29.8 1:30.21:30.8 +0.95 4 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari1:31.0 1:30.21:31.5 +1.36 5 Graham Hill BRM1:31.2 1:30.41:30.3 +1.47 6 Richie Ginther BRM1:32.6 1:31.21:30.4 +1.58 2 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax1:31.4 1:30.4No time +1.59 10 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax1:31.3 1:31.21:32.2 +2.310 11 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax1:32.4 1:31.5No time +2.611 12 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax1:32.4 No time1:32.0 +3.112 7 Ernie Pieterse Lotus-Climax1:34.5 1:35.01:34.6 +5.613 19 John Love Cooper-Climax1:34.6 No time1:34.6 +5.714 22 David Prophet Brabham-Ford1:46.4 No time1:35.5 +6.615 21 Brausch Niemann Lotus-Ford1:36.4 1:35.61:36.8 +6.716 18 Peter de Klerk Alfa Special-Alfa Romeo1:35.7 1:36.1No time +6.817 20 Sam Tingle LDS-Alfa Romeo1:35.8 No time1:37.3 +6.918 16 Doug Serrurier LDS-Alfa Romeo1:36.4 1:36.81:38.2 +7.519 23 Trevor Blokdyk Cooper-Maserati1:36.5 No time1:41.7 +7.620 14 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche1:37.1 1:36.6No time +7.721 15 Paddy Driver Lotus-BRM1:38.7 1:36.91:37.5 +8.0 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 85 2:10:36.9 1 9 2 9 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax 85 +1:06.8 3 6 3 5 Graham Hill BRM 84 +1 lap 6 4 4 10 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 84 +1 lap 9 3 5 4 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 84 +1 lap 5 2 6 12 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax 83 +2 laps 11 1 7 11 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 82 +3 laps 10 8 2 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 81 +4 laps 8 9 19 John Love Cooper-Climax 80 +5 laps 13 10 14 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 79 +6 laps 20 11 16 Doug Serrurier LDS-Alfa Romeo 78 +7 laps 18 12 23 Trevor Blokdyk Cooper-Maserati 77 +8 laps 19 13 8 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax 70 Spun off 2 14 21 Brausch Niemann Lotus-Ford 66 +19 laps 15 18 Peter de Klerk Alfa Special-Alfa Romeo 53 Gearbox 16 22 David Prophet Brabham-Ford 49 Oil pressure 14 3 John Surtees Ferrari 43 Engine 4 6 Richie Ginther BRM 43 Halfshaft 7 7 Ernie Pieterse Lotus-Climax 3 Engine 12 20 Sam Tingle LDS-Alfa Romeo 2 Halfshaft 17 15 Paddy Driver Lotus-BRM Practice accident 21 17 Neville Lederle Lotus-Climax Driver injured Mike Hailwood Lola-Climax
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for South African drivers Paddy Driver, Peter de Klerk, Brausch Niemann, and Trevor Blokdyk. It was also the debut for Rhodesian driver Sam Tingle and British driver David Prophet. This race marked the first fastest lap for the Brabham team.
Final Championship standings
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Jim Clark 54 (73) 1 2 Graham Hill 29 1 3 Richie Ginther 29 (34) 4 John Surtees 22 2 5 Dan Gurney 19Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Climax 54 (74) 2 BRM 36 (45) 1 3 Brabham-Climax 28 (30) 1 4 Ferrari 26 5 Cooper-Climax 25 (26)Source:
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
References