1977 South African Grand Prix
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The 1977 Formula One South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami on March 5, 1977 was marred by two deaths. The race is principally remembered for the fatal accident that claimed the lives of driver Tom Pryce and marshal Jansen Van Vuuren.
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[edit] Race Report
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[edit] The accident and its aftermath
On lap 22, Jansen Van Vuuren, a 19 year old student, airline ticket clerk and safety marshal, was struck by Tom Pryce at high speed when crossing the track to extinguish a fire on Renzo Zorzi's retired Shadow. 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 the marshal was carrying. The extreme forces involved in the collision resulted in Van Vuuren leaving no identifiable remains, and he was only recognized by exclusion after the race director gathered all of his colleagues. The impact from the fire extiguisher ripped Pryce's helmet from his head, causing the chin strap to nearly decapitate the unfortunate Welshman.
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 his [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 tragedy there is that he was sent by the guy in charge of the marshals; it wasn't his decision. The tragedy is that a couple of feet either way it would have been a nasty scare for everyone and everyone would have got away with it."
His death is of interest partly because the entire event was captured on film. This notoriously gruesome clip (taken from the motor racing film The Quick And The Dead), previously scarcely available online on an obscure Italian website, is now easily found on popular streaming video site YouTube. As such, it has been now seen by millions of internet users. Also, in the fallout that resulted from this young man's death, changes were made to safety procedures during F1 races which ensured that marshals could no longer endanger themselves by running out onto the track to tend to accidents and stricken cars. Arguably it is accidents such as these which have led to the safety-conscious culture which is such a defining part of modern F1.
[edit] Classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | 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 |
[edit] Notes
- Fastest lap: John Watson 1'17.630
| Previous race: 1977 Brazilian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship, 1977 season |
Next race: 1977 United States Grand Prix West |
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| Previous race: 1976 South African Grand Prix |
South African Grand Prix | Next race: 1978 South African Grand Prix |
