The 1967 South African Grand Prix, formally the 1st AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: Eerste AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 2 January 1967. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 80-lap race was won by Cooper driver Pedro Rodríguez after he started from fourth position. John Love finished second in a privately entered Cooper and Honda driver John Surtees came in third.
Race report This was the first use of the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg in a World Championship Formula One race. Taking place in the southern hemisphere and no less than five months before the F1 season resumed in May with the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, mostly machinery from 1966 was used, the first year of F1's sudden "return to power", with proper 3 liter engines in short supply. Some teams used old Climax FPF engines of the 2.5 liter era that ended in 1960, or more recent undersized V8 from Coventry Climax.
Ferrari, which was also taking part in the 1967 World Sportscar Championship with V12 and V6 engine cars, and with the Ferrari Dino 166 F2 in Formula Two and Tasman Series downunder, did not attend. There were some changes in the driver line-ups: John Surtees was driving for Honda, and Graham Hill had switched to Lotus were the Ford-sponsored Cosworth DFV was in development. His former place at BRM was taken by Mike Spence, and Pedro Rodríguez was on trial for Cooper.
Brabham had been the dominating team in 1966, and would win in 1967, too. Denny Hulme led Jack Brabham away from the start, but Brabham soon spun, handing second place to Surtees, but by lap 21 had managed to regain second. Further down the field, Rhodesian privateer racer John Love reached third place in a four-cylinder Cooper Climax. On lap 41, Brabham retired, followed by Dan Gurney on lap 44. On lap 59, Hulme had to pit for more brake fluid, handing the lead to Love. Love's drive was halted as with just seven laps left he had to pit to take on more fuel, however it was later discovered that he'd had enough fuel to finish and instead had a misfire caused by electrical issues. Rodríguez took his first win in Formula One for Cooper from Love in second place and Surtees in third. The victory marked the first for a Mexican driver in a World Championship Formula One race.
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap1 1 Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 1:28.3—2 2 Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 1:28.9 +0.63 7 Jim Clark Lotus-BRM 1:29.0 +0.74 4 Pedro Rodríguez Cooper-Maserati 1:29.1 +0.85 17 John Love Cooper-Climax 1:29.5 +1.26 11 John Surtees Honda 1:29.6 +1.37 3 Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 1:30.2 +1.98 19 Dave Charlton Brabham-Climax 1:30.2 +1.99 5 Jackie Stewart BRM 1:30.3 +2.010 14 Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 1:30.6 +2.311 9 Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 1:30.7 +2.412 15 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Maserati 1:31.8 +3.513 6 Mike Spence BRM 1:32.1 +3.814 18 Sam Tingle LDS-Climax 1:32.4 +4.115 8 Graham Hill Lotus-BRM 1:32.6 +4.316 12 Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 1:32.8 +4.517 20 Luki Botha Brabham-Climax 1:33.1 +4.818 16 Piers Courage Lotus-BRM 1:33.8 +5.5 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 4 Pedro Rodríguez Cooper-Maserati 80 2:05:45.9 4 9 2 17 John Love Cooper-Climax 80 + 26.4 5 6 3 11 John Surtees Honda 79 + 1 Lap 6 4 4 2 Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 78 + 2 Laps 2 3 5 14 Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 78 + 2 Laps 10 2 6 1 Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 76 + 4 Laps 1 1 19 Dave Charlton Brabham-Climax 63 + 17 Laps 8 20 Luki Botha Brabham-Climax 60 + 20 Laps 17 18 Sam Tingle LDS-Climax 56 Accident 14 16 Piers Courage Lotus-BRM 51 Fuel System 18 9 Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 44 Suspension 11 12 Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 41 Engine 16 3 Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 38 Engine 7 6 Mike Spence BRM 31 Oil Leak 13 15 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Maserati 30 Engine 12 7 Jim Clark Lotus-BRM 22 Engine 3 8 Graham Hill Lotus-BRM 6 Accident 15 5 Jackie Stewart BRM 2 Engine 9
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for South African driver Luki Botha. This was the only podium for John Love and a Rhodesian driver, the first win and podium for Pedro Rodríguez and a Mexican driver.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Pedro Rodríguez 9 2 John Love 6 3 John Surtees 4 4 Denny Hulme 3 5 Bob Anderson 2Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Cooper-Maserati 9 2 Cooper-Climax 6 3 Honda 4 4 Brabham-Repco 3 5 Brabham-Climax 2Source:
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References