The 1965 South African Grand Prix was a Formula Onemotor race held at East London on 1 January 1965. While originally scheduled to be the last race of the 1964 season, it was moved up by a week and thus became race 1 of 10 in the 1965 Formula One season.[1] This scheduling change meant that the cars which were fielded were 1964 season cars, as no one had had the time to develop their 1965 designs as of yet.[2] The 85-lap race was won by Lotus driver Jim Clark after he started from pole position. John Surtees finished second for the Ferrari team and BRM driver Graham Hill came in third. This was the World Championship debut race of the future world champion Jackie Stewart.
Race report
Jim Clark celebrated Hogmanay by dominating the race, leading from pole and winning by half a minute from Graham Hill and John Surtees who were never able to threaten.[3] He even had time to complete an extra lap after the chequered flag was waved a lap too early. Clark also made the first ever lap of the East London circuit at over 100 mph in practice.[3] Clark's teammate Mike Spence was in second place until he spun on oil on the sixtieth lap; he finished in fourth. Bruce McLaren and Championship débutant Jackie Stewart completed the points positions. Jack Brabham had been in competition for second place but his car broke down with ignition troubles four laps from the end.[3]
Jim Clark won the South African Grand Prix for a record two times. Equally, Lotus was record holder with two South African Grand Prix wins. Also, this was the second time a Coventry Climax-powered car won the South African Grand Prix, a new record.
RE made its Formula One World Championship debut as the first Rhodesian constructor. The car was withdrawn before the start however, and never again made it an appearance.
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
^Hayhoe, David (18 June 2019), Formula 1: The Knowledge (2nd ed.), Veloce Publishing Ltd., p. 35, ISBN9781787112377
^Hutchinson, P.G.M. (1965), Logoz, Arthur (ed.), "Grand Prix Racing for the World Championship 1965", Auto-Universum 1966 (English Edition), IX, Zürich, Switzerland: Verlag International Automobile Parade: 39
^"1965 South African Grand Prix, Pre-Qualifying times". Autosport. 30 December 2016. Brian Raubenheimer is missing from this list, although he is shown as not arriving on most records. He has previously told me that he did briefly participate in the first practice session before the gear linkage broke in the gate in neutral. He believed he had recorded a 1:36.8, but was unable to repair his Lotus 20 and so took no further part.
