The 1978 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 4 March 1978 at Kyalami.
Both the Ferrari (312T3) and Brabham (BT46) teams had new cars in Kyalami for the race. The event also saw the return of Renault with their unique turbocharged car.
Ronnie Peterson, in the Lotus 78 with its Colin Chapman-inspired ground effect aerodynamics, battled Patrick Depailler in his Tyrrell on the last lap to take a dramatic victory. John Watson finished third for Brabham. Young Italian, Riccardo Patrese got his Arrows into the lead before retiring with a blown engine. Pole sitter and reigning world champion Niki Lauda, in his first season with Brabham, retired with engine failure and the Ferraris of Carlos Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve exited on lap 55. James Hunt, who had qualified 3rd on the grid in his McLaren M26, only lasted five laps whilst his new team mate Patrick Tambay, who qualified fourth, crashed out mid race.
Classification[]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 |  Ronnie Peterson
|
Lotus-Ford | 78 | 1:42:15.767 | 12 | 9 |
| 2 | 4 |  Patrick Depailler
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 78 | +0.466 secs | 11 | 6 |
| 3 | 2 |  John Watson
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 78 | +4.442 secs | 10 | 4 |
| 4 | 27 |  Alan Jones
|
Williams-Ford | 78 | +30.986 secs | 18 | 3 |
| 5 | 26 | Jacques Laffite
|
Ligier-Matra | 78 | +1:09.218 | 13 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 | Didier Pironi
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 77 | +1 Lap | 14 | 1 |
| 7 | 5 |  Mario Andretti
|
Lotus-Ford | 77 | +1 Lap | 2 | |
| 8 | 10 | Jean-Pierre Jarier
|
ATS-Ford | 77 | +1 Lap | 17 | |
| 9 | 36 |  Rolf Stommelen
|
Arrows-Ford | 77 | +1 Lap | 22 | |
| 10 | 25 |  Hector Rebaque
|
Lotus-Ford | 77 | +1 Lap | 21 | |
| 11 | 30 | Brett Lunger
|
McLaren-Ford | 76 | +2 Laps | 20 | |
| 12 | 19 |  Vittorio Brambilla
|
Surtees-Ford | 76 | +2 Laps | 19 | |
| Ret | 35 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Arrows-Ford | 63 | Engine | 7 | |
| Ret | 20 |  Jody Scheckter
|
Wolf-Ford | 59 | Spun Off | 5 | |
| Ret | 8 | Patrick Tambay
|
McLaren-Ford | 56 | Accident | 4 | |
| Ret | 12 |  Gilles Villeneuve
|
Ferrari | 55 | Oil Leak | 8 | |
| Ret | 11 |  Carlos Reutemann
|
Ferrari | 55 | Spun Off | 9 | |
| Ret | 1 |  Niki Lauda
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 52 | Engine | 1 | |
| Ret | 18 | Rupert Keegan
|
Surtees-Ford | 52 | Engine | 23 | |
| Ret | 9 | Jochen Mass
|
ATS-Ford | 43 | Engine | 15 | |
| Ret | 37 | Arturo Merzario
|
Merzario-Ford | 39 | Suspension | 26 | |
| Ret | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille
|
Renault | 38 | Engine | 6 | |
| Ret | 32 |  Keke Rosberg
|
Theodore-Ford | 15 | Clutch | 24 | |
| Ret | 14 |  Emerson Fittipaldi
|
Fittipaldi-Ford | 9 | Transmission | 16 | |
| Ret | 24 | Eddie Cheever
|
Hesketh-Ford | 8 | Oil Leak | 25 | |
| Ret | 7 | James Hunt
|
McLaren-Ford | 5 | Engine | 3 | |
| DNQ | 31 | René Arnoux
|
Martini-Ford | ||||
| DNQ | 17 |  Clay Regazzoni
|
Shadow-Ford | ||||
| DNQ | 23 | Lamberto Leoni
|
Ensign-Ford | ||||
| DNQ | 16 | Hans Joachim Stuck
|
Shadow-Ford |
Notes[]
- Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:14.65
- Fastest Lap: Mario Andretti - 1:17.09
- Lap Leaders: Mario Andretti 20 laps (1-20); Jody Scheckter 6 laps (21-26); Riccardo Patrese 37 laps (27-63); Patrick Depailler 14 laps (64-77); Ronnie Peterson 1 lap (78).
- Formula One debut for René Arnoux
- Eddie Cheever, who had just switched from Theodore to Hesketh, qualified 25th to become the third youngest driver ever to start a Grand Prix
See Also[]
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