The 1972 South African Grand Prix, formally the Sixth AA Grand Prix of South Africa (

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

: ''Sesde AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix''), was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor race held at

Kyalami Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has ho ...

on 4 March 1972. It was race 2 of 12 in both the 1972 World Championship of Drivers and the 1972 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 79-lap race was won by

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

driver

Denny Hulme Denis Clive Hulme (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992), commonly known as Denny Hulme, was a New Zealand racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his ...

after he started from fifth position.

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...

finished second for the Lotus team and

driver

Peter Revson Peter Jeffrey Revson (February 27, 1939 – March 22, 1974) was an American race car driver and heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was a two-time Formula One race winner and had success at the Indianapolis 500. Background Peter Revson w ...

came in third.

Report

Entry

A total of 27 cars were entered for this race. Although there was more than a month between the

Argentine Grand Prix The Argentine Grand Prix (Spanish: ''Gran Premio de Argentina'') was a round of the Formula One championship, held intermittently from to , all at the same autodrome in the Argentine national capital of Buenos Aires. Origins and history The Bu ...

and South Africa, most cars were transported direct to Kyalami from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. There were few changes in the entry. Having missed the trip to Argentina due to a clashing

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...

race,

Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British professional motorcycle racer and racing driver. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle ...

returned to

Team Surtees The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978) as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000. History The team was formed by John Surtees, a four-time 500cc motorcycle champion and the ...

Jean-Pierre Beltoise Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving a single victory, at th ...

also missed Buenos Aires, due to legal problems following an accident that had claimed the life of

Ignazio Giunti Ignazio Francesco Giunti (30 August 1941 – 10 January 1971) was an Italian racing driver. He competed in Formula One as well as in saloon and Sports Car Racing. Giunti was born in Rome. In 1968, driving for Alfa Romeo, he finished second in the ...

in January 1971. Team Williams ran a second March-Cosworth for rising star

Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace (October 6, 1944 – March 18, 1977) was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting at the 1972 South African Grand Prix. He won one race, achieved six podiums, an ...

alongside their regular driver,

Henri Pescarolo Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942) is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the ...

. A new team arrived in South Africa, the Team Eifelland Caravans outfit making its first appearance with

Rolf Stommelen Rolf Johann Stommelen (11 July 1943 – 24 April 1983) was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany. He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points. He also partici ...

down to drive. As usual for Kyalami, the field was bolstered by local entries:

Dave Charlton David William Charlton (27 October 1936 – 24 February 2013) was a racing driver from South Africa. Charlton was born in Brotton, Yorkshire. He participated in 13 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 1 January 1965. He sco ...

in a

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Throughout their 150 year history, Lucky Strike has had fluctuating ...

-sponsored

Lotus 72 The Lotus 72 is a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe of Lotus for the 1970 Formula One season. The 72 was a pioneering design featuring inboard brakes, side-mounted radiators in sidepods (as opposed to the nose-mou ...

D, and pair of cars from Team Gunston for John Love (

Surtees The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978) as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000. History The team was formed by John Surtees, a four-time 500cc motorcycle champion and the ...

TS9) and

Willie Ferguson William Copeland Ferguson (13 February 1901 – 31 August 1960) was a Scottish footballer and manager best known for his time at Chelsea and Dumfries side Queen of the South. His position was usually as a left winger. Early years Ferguson ...

(

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

BT33).

Qualifying

The reigning World Champion, and winner of the opening round,

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...

secured

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

, for Elf Team Tyrrell, averaging a speed of 119.221 mph. Stewart beat

Clay Regazzoni Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni (5 September 1939 – 15 December 2006) was a Swiss racing driver. He competed in Formula One races from 1970 to 1980, winning five Grands Prix. His first win was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his debu ...

(

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

) and

( Lotus) by a few tenth of a second.

was next up on the second row, joined by

in his

McLaren M19A The McLaren M19A is a Formula One racing car built and run by McLaren in three World Championship seasons between 1971 and 1973. The C version (an extension of the A car) was used in the and 1973 seasons. Design With Gordon Coppuck preoc ...

. A pair of

Ferrari 312B The Ferrari 312B is a Formula One racing car designed and built by Scuderia Ferrari. It was the successor to the Ferrari 312 and was used from 1970 until early 1975. The original 312B was developed into the 312B2 and 312B3. History The early 197 ...

2 were on row three, with

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...

ahead of

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...

. They were joined by

François Cevert Albert François Cevert Goldenberg (25 February 1944 – 6 October 1973) was a French racing driver who took part in the Formula One World Championship. He competed in 48 World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one win, 13 podium finishes and 8 ...

in the second Tyrrell.

Race

The race was held over 79 laps of the

circuit. At the start,

briefly held the lead before

moved ahead, meanwhile

had a bad get away and was back in the midfield. The

Tyrrell 003 The Tyrrell 003 is a Formula One (F1) racing car which was designed by Tyrrell's chief designer, Derek Gardner and used in the and F1 seasons. It was driven by Jackie Stewart to the 1971 World Drivers' Championship. The 003 was effectivel ...

of Stewart quickly built a lead while the battle for second between Hulme,

and

detached itself from the rest of the field. The Yardley Team McLaren of Hulme began to overheat and this saw him dropped behind his rivals. Hailwood, a few laps later, was able to pass Fittipaldi to move up to second and began to challenge Stewart for the lead. On lap 28, the rear suspension of Hailwood's Surtees TS9B failed and he retired from the race. Although this left Fittipaldi to attack Stewart, the Tyrrell driver stayed ahead, only to suffer a gearbox failure on lap 45. Fittipaldi inherited the lead, with Hulme right on his tail. The Brazilian now ran into handling problems and this enable Hulme to regain the lead on lap 57, from which he would go to win. Fittipaldi was still in a strong second place as the gap between him and the third place,

Chris Amon Christopher Arthur Amon (20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand ...

was large. The gap became even bigger where Amon's Matra MS120C developed a serious vibration. This saw him drop down the order and finish 3 laps adrift in 15th. Third place thus went to the second McLaren, of

. Hulme won in a time of 1hr 45.49.1mins., averaging a speed of 114.898 mph, and was over 14 seconds ahead of Fititpaldi. Revson was a further 12.7 seconds behind. Only other drivers to complete the full race distance were

(Ferrari) and

Ronnie Peterson Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Peterson began his motor racing car ...

(March). This victory gave Hulme a six-point the lead in the World Championship.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

{{F1GP 70-79

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Richa ...

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

South African Grand Prix March 1972 sports events in Africa