1977 South African Grand Prix
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  1977 South African Grand Prix

Race details
Race 3 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season.
Date	March 5, 1977
Official name	XXIIIrd South African Grand Prix
Location	Kyalami Gauteng, South Africa
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.550 mi / 4.104 km
Distance	78 laps, 198.908 mi / 320.112 km
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford
Time	1:15.96
Fastest lap
Driver	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time	1:17.63 on lap 7
Podium
First	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Second	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford
Third	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford

The 1977 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on March 5, 1977. The race is principally remembered for the fatal accident that claimed the lives of race marshal Jansen Van Vuuren and driver Tom Pryce. It was also the last race for Carlos Pace, who was killed in an aircraft accident less than two weeks later.

Race Report

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The accident and its aftermath

On lap 22, a 19 year old marshall, Frederik Jansen Van Vuuren, crossed the track to extinguish a fire on Renzo Zorzi's retired Shadow during racing conditions and was struck by Tom Pryce's Shadow at high speed. The impact killed both Pryce and Van Vuuren instantly: Van Vuuren from the impact of the collision, Pryce due to head injuries inflicted by the fire extinguisher that Van Vuuren was carrying. The impact from the fire extinguisher ripped Pryce's helmet from his head, causing the chin strap to nearly decapitate the unfortunate Welshman. Pryce's car continued on down the main straight with his helmetless body still in the cockpit until it finally left the track at the first corner, taking the Ligier of Jacques Laffite out of the race in the process.

The sport reacted with genuine sorrow at the loss of two young men. Tyrrell mechanic Trevor Foster viewed the incident from a distance, later recalling; "I can remember quite vividly [Pryce's] teammate's car had already pulled off to the side of the track and it had started a small fire. Then the next thing I can remember is seeing Tom's car coming down the straight. I can almost remember now a momentary lift of the throttle much earlier than you would have expected and I looked and I saw something fly up from the car, which tragically turned out to be the marshal." [1] Elsewhere, David Tremayne, a veteran biographer and journalist, recalled the feelings of disbelief and horror following the aftermath of the incident; "The tragedy itself - the sheer randomness of it - is so hard to take and still is. You tend to focus your anger on someone and for a long time it would be focused on a 19 year old kid, called Jansen van Vuuren, who ran across the track."

The event was captured on film and was included in the motor racing film One by One.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	11	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	78	1:42:21.6	3	9
2	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	78	+5.2	5	6
3	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	78	+5.7	4	4
4	1	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	78	+9.5	1	3
5	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren-Ford	78	+19.9	12	2
6	7	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	78	+20.2	11	1
7	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	78	+23.6	14
8	12	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	78	+26.7	8
9	22	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign-Ford	78	+46.2	16
10	28	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	78	+1:11.7	9
11	18	Hans Binder	Surtees-Ford	77	+1 lap	19
12	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus-Ford	77	+1 lap	10
13	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	76	+2 laps	2
14	30	Brett Lunger	March-Ford	76	+2 laps	23
15	14	Larry Perkins	BRM	73	+5 laps	22
Ret	9	Alex Ribeiro	March-Ford	66	Engine	17
Ret	10	Hans Joachim Stuck	March-Ford	55	Engine	18
Ret	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	43	Accident	6
Ret	33	Boy Hayje	March-Ford	33	Gearbox	21
Ret	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	22	Accident	12
Ret	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	22	Fatal Accident	15
Ret	17	Renzo Zorzi	Shadow-Ford	21	Fuel leak	20
Ret	3	Ronnie Peterson	Tyrrell-Ford	5	Fuel system	7

Notes

• Fastest lap: John Watson 1:17.630