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. 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 Qualifying Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time/Gap 1 11 James Hunt McLaren–Ford 1:16.10 2 1 Niki Lauda Ferrari +0.10 3 28 John Watson Penske–Ford +0.33 4 12 Jochen Mass McLaren–Ford +0.35 5 9 Vittorio Brambilla March–Ford +0.54 6 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell–Ford +0.67 7 16 Tom Pryce Shadow–Ford +0.74 8 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier–Matra +0.78 9 2 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +0.84 10 10 Ronnie Peterson March–Ford +0.93 11 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham–Alfa Romeo +0.99 12 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell–Ford +1.08 13 27 Mario Andretti Parnelli–Ford +1.15 14 8 Carlos Pace Brabham–Alfa Romeo +1.16 15 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow–Ford +1.25 16 15 Ian Scheckter Tyrrell–Ford +1.30 17 34 Hans-Joachim Stuck March–Ford +1.34 18 22 Chris Amon Ensign–Ford +1.63 19 20 Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams–Ford +2.03 20 18 Brett Lunger Surtees–Ford +2.26 21 30 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi–Ford +2.30 22 21 Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams–Ford +2.72 23 5 Bob Evans Lotus–Ford +3.25 24 24 Harald Ertl Hesketh–Ford +6.01 25 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus–Ford +6.60
Race 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 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 Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford 73 + 5 Laps 19 17 30 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 70 Engine 21 2 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 52 Engine 9 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 49 Engine 8 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 28 Radiator 15 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 22 Oil Pressure 14 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 18 Clutch 25 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 16 Oil Pressure 11 10 Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 15 Accident 10 15 Ian Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 0 Accident 16
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Swedish driver and future Grand Prix winner Gunnar Nilsson. This was the 100th pole position by a British driver.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 18 2 Patrick Depailler 6 13 3 James Hunt 6 2 4 Jochen Mass 5 5 Jody Scheckter 5Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 18 2 Tyrrell-Ford 9 2 3 McLaren-Ford 7 1 4 Shadow-Ford 4 1 5 March-Ford 3Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References