The 1970 South African Grand Prix, formally titled the Fourth AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: Vierde AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix[1]), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 7 March 1970. It was race 1 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was also the 14th and last Formula One victory for triple world champion Jack Brabham, and at age 43, was the last driver to win a Formula One race over the age of 40 until Nigel Mansell at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix.[2]
| 1970 South African Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The Kyalami Circuit (1967–1985) | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 7 March 1970 | ||
| Official name | Fourth AA Grand Prix of South Africa | ||
| Location | Kyalami, Midrand, Transvaal Province, South Africa | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.104 km (2.550 miles) | ||
| Distance | 80 laps, 328.320 km (204.009 miles) | ||
| Weather | Very hot, Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | March-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:19.3 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Jack Brabham[a] | Brabham-Ford | |
| Time | 1:20.8 on lap 71 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Brabham-Ford | ||
| Second | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Third | March-Ford | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
Two time World Champion and five time Monaco Grand Prix winner Graham Hill, driving a Lotus 49C for Rob Walker, made his return to racing after a life-threatening crash in the 1969 United States Grand Prix.[2] Despite extensive knee surgery that left Hill with minimal mobility, he finished sixth. Hill rated this achievement as among his finest. After the race, he could not get out of the car by himself and had to be lifted out.[3]
Qualifying
editQualifying classification
edit| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Jackie Stewart
|
March-Ford | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | 1:19.3 | |
| 2 | 15 |  Chris Amon
|
March-Ford | March Engineering | 1:19.3 | - |
| 3 | 12 | Jack Brabham
|
Brabham-Ford | Motor Racing Developments Ltd | 1:19.6 | +0.3 |
| 4 | 9 |  Jochen Rindt
|
Lotus-Ford | Gold Leaf Team Lotus | 1:19.9 | +0.6 |
| 5 | 17 |  Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | 1:20.0 | +0.7 |
| 6 | 6 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Ford | Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | 1:20.1 | +0.8 |
| 7 | 7 | John Surtees
|
McLaren-Ford | Team Surtees | 1:20.2 | +0.9 |
| 8 | 3 |  Jean-Pierre Beltoise
|
Matra | Equipe Matra Elf | 1:20.2 | +0.9 |
| 9 | 16 |  Jo Siffert
|
March-Ford | March Engineering | 1:20.2 | +0.9 |
| 10 | 5 | Bruce McLaren
|
McLaren-Ford | Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | 1:20.3 | +1.0 |
| 11 | 8 |  Mario Andretti
|
March-Ford | STP Corporation | 1:20.5 | +1.2 |
| 12 | 19 | Jackie Oliver
|
BRM | Owen Racing Organisation | 1:20.9 | +1.6 |
| 13 | 25 |  Dave Charlton
|
Lotus-Ford | Scuderia Scribante | 1:20.9 | +1.6 |
| 14 | 10 | John Miles
|
Lotus-Ford | Gold Leaf Team Lotus | 1:21.0 | +1.7 |
| 15 | 14 |  Rolf Stommelen
|
Brabham-Ford | Auto Motor Und Sport | 1:21.2 | +1.9 |
| 16 | 20 |  Pedro Rodríguez
|
BRM | Owen Racing Organisation | 1:21.3 | +2.0 |
| 17 | 2 | Johnny Servoz-Gavin
|
March-Ford | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | 1:21.4 | +2.1 |
| 18 | 4 | Henri Pescarolo
|
Matra | Equipe Matra Elf | 1:21.5 | +2.2 |
| 19 | 11 | Graham Hill
|
Lotus-Ford | Rob Walker Racing Team | 1:21.6 | +2.3 |
| 20 | 22 | Piers Courage
|
De Tomaso-Ford | Frank Williams Racing Cars | 1:22.0 | +2.7 |
| 21 | 24 | Peter de Klerk
|
Brabham-Ford | Team Gunston | 1:22.7 | +3.4 |
| 22 | 23 |  John Love
|
Lotus-Ford | Team Gunston | 1:23.1 | +3.8 |
| 23 | 21 |  George Eaton
|
BRM | Owen Racing Organisation | 1:24.6 | +5.3 |
Classification
edit| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Jack Brabham
|
Brabham-Ford | 80 | 1:49:34.6 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | 6 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Ford | 80 | +8.1 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | 1 | Jackie Stewart
|
March-Ford | 80 | +17.1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | 3 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise
|
Matra | 80 | +1:13.1 | 8 | 3 |
| 5 | 10 | John Miles
|
Lotus-Ford | 79 | +1 lap | 14 | 2 |
| 6 | 11 | Graham Hill
|
Lotus-Ford | 79 | +1 lap | 19 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | Henri Pescarolo
|
Matra | 78 | +2 laps | 18 | |
| 8 | 23 | John Love
|
Lotus-Ford | 78 | +2 laps | 22 | |
| 9 | 20 | Pedro Rodríguez
|
BRM | 76 | +4 laps | 16 | |
| 10 | 16 | Jo Siffert
|
March-Ford | 75 | +5 laps | 9 | |
| 11 | 24 | Peter de Klerk
|
Brabham-Ford | 75 | +5 laps | 21 | |
| 12 | 25 | Dave Charlton
|
Lotus-Ford | 73 | Engine | 13 | |
| 13 | 9 | Jochen Rindt
|
Lotus-Ford | 72 | Engine | 4 | |
| Ret | 17 | Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari | 60 | Engine | 5 | |
| Ret | 7 | John Surtees
|
McLaren-Ford | 60 | Engine | 7 | |
| Ret | 21 | George Eaton
|
BRM | 58 | Engine | 23 | |
| Ret | 2 | Johnny Servoz-Gavin
|
March-Ford | 57 | Engine | 17 | |
| Ret | 5 | Bruce McLaren
|
McLaren-Ford | 39 | Engine | 10 | |
| Ret | 22 | Piers Courage
|
De Tomaso-Ford | 39 | Accident | 20 | |
| Ret | 8 | Mario Andretti
|
March-Ford | 26 | Overheating | 11 | |
| Ret | 14 | Rolf Stommelen
|
Brabham-Ford | 23 | Engine | 15 | |
| Ret | 19 | Jackie Oliver
|
BRM | 22 | Gearbox | 12 | |
| Ret | 15 | Chris Amon
|
March-Ford | 14 | Overheating | 2 | |
| DNS | 11 | Brian Redman
|
Lotus-Ford | Car raced by Graham Hill | |||
Source:[4]
| |||||||
Championship standings after the race
edit
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Notes
edit- This race marked the 50th podium finish for a New Zealand driver.
- This was Formula One World Championship debut for British constructor March. It also was their first pole position and podium finish.
- This was the third win of a South African Grand Prix by a Ford-powered car. It broke the old record set by Coventry Climax at the 1965 South African Grand Prix.
Additional information
edit- ^ Some sources credit both Brabham and John Surtees with fastest lap. See the discussion page for further information
References
edit- ^ "1970 Formula One Programmes: South Africa". Motor Racing Programme Covers. The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ a b "The Grand Prix of South Africa". Motor Sport: 30. April 1970.
- ^ Graham Hill: Driven Documentary, BBC4, 2011, 43:57
- ^ "1970 South African Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ a b "South Africa 1970 – Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
External links
edit- "chicanef1.com". Retrieved 7 July 2009.
- "South Africa 1970 – Laps Led". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
- "MotorSport". MotorSport. 46 (4): 324–326, 330–331. April 1970. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2016.