1977 South African Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season | |||
 |
|||
| Date | 5 March 1977 | ||
| Official name | XXIII South African Grand Prix | ||
| Location |
Kyalami Gauteng, South Africa |
||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.104 km (2.550 mi) | ||
| Distance | 78 laps, 320.112 km (198.908 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:15.96 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 John Watson
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | |
| Time | 1:17.63 on lap 7 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Wolf-Ford | ||
| Third | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
The 1977 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 5 March 1977. The race is principally remembered for the accident that resulted in the deaths of race marshal Frederick 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.
James Hunt continued his streak of pole positions, with Carlos Pace alongside and Niki Lauda next. Hunt led off at the start, with Lauda and local driver Jody Scheckter following him after Pace struggled. The order stayed put until the seventh lap when Lauda took the lead and was never passed again, with Scheckter taking second from Hunt 11 laps later.
During lap 22, two marshals ran onto the track after the Shadow of Renzo Zorzi suffered engine failure. The second marshal, Fredrik Jansen van Vuuren, was hit by the car of Tom Pryce and killed instantly by the collision; the fire extinguisher he was holding flew from his hands and hit Pryce in the face, killing and nearly decapitating him.
The race continued, however, and Lauda won, his first victory since his near-fatal crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix the previous year. South African Scheckter was second, and Patrick Depailler's six-wheeler took third from Hunt in the closing laps.
The eventual race winner was Austrian Niki Lauda, his first win since his near fatal accident during the 1976 German Grand Prix. At first he announced it was the greatest victory of his career, but when told on the victory podium of Pryce's death, he said that "there was no joy after that".
On lap 22, the Shadow car of Italian driver Renzo Zorzi retired from the race with engine failure and moved off the track on the left side. Moments after the car came to a halt on a blind brow, the engine caught fire. Reacting to the emergency, two fire marshals carrying fire extinguishers ran across the track to put out the blaze as the race continued. As they did so, Pryce, in the other Shadow car, and Hans-Joachim Stuck, driving a March-Ford car, crested the rise. Stuck's leading car swerved, narrowly missing the first marshal, but Pryce, who was unsighted behind the German, had no time to react before hitting the second marshal, Frederick Jansen van Vuuren, who was killed instantly.
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