# List of Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit fatalities

This is a list of fatal accidents to competitors, officials and public at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit during the South African Grand Prix and other national and international motor-sport events.

## List of fatal accidents involving competitors

| No. | Competitor | Date of incident | Location of incident on track | Vehicle type | Race | Incident description |
| 1 | Zunia Leibavicius | 13 Sep 1965 | The Kink | Lotus 11 | Kyalami Club races | Leibavicius suffered extensive burns during a sports-car club race after being doused with fluid from a leaking fuel cap. He stopped the car but fire marshals were to slow in coming to his assistance. He was badly burned and died the next day in a Johannesburg hospital. |
| 2 | Paul Richards | 28 May 1966 | Jukskei Sweep | Porsche 550 Spyder | 1966 South African Sports Car Championship round no. 6 | Richards was driving a famous Porsche 550 Spyder and stalled at the start. Once he got started he was at the back of the field and lost control of the Porsche at the Jukskei Sweep. He crashed into a pole, killing him on impact. |
| 3 | Douglas Norton | 15 April 1972 | First Esses bend | Honda 350 | Club production motorcycle races | On first lap of the race, he was hit by a fellow competitor as they entered the first of the Esses, causing him to lose control of his Honda 350cc motorcycle. He hit the earth bank on the inside of the track and was killed instantly. |
| 4 | Brian Ferreira | 3 Sep 1972 | Crowthorne Corner | Mini Cooper S | 1972 RDM 9 Hour race Practice | During practice for the race, Ferreira spun his Mini Cooper S when he hit a sudden downpour. The car hit the Armco in Crowthorn Corner after which Ferreira got out of the car and was then hit by a fellow competitor caught by the same downpour. He died from his injuries later that night. |
| 5 | Peter Revson | 22 March 1974 | Barbecue Bend | Shadow DN3 - Cosworth | Testing Session prior to 1974 South African Grand Prix | Revson lost control of his car on the approach to Barbecue Bend and crashed into the barriers at around 220 kilometres per hour (140 mph). The Shadow caught fire on impact and was totally destroyed, with Revson being unable to exit the car. Graham Hill, Eddie Keizan, Emerson Fittipaldi and Denny Hulme stopped their cars and vainly tried to retrieve Revson from the burning wreckage. It was reported that a possible cause of the crash was the left front titanium suspension upright having collapsed. |
| 6 | Tom Pryce | 5 March 1977 | Pit-Straight/Crowthorne Bend | Shadow DN8 - Cosworth | 1977 South African Grand Prix | The Shadow DN8 of Renzo Zorzi had stopped opposite on the main straight and was on fire. Two marshals ran across the track with fire extinguishers to put out the fire. Pryce was slipstreaming Hans Joachim Stuck down the straight to a crest opposite the pit area and on cresting the hill, Stuck saw the fire marshals and had adequate time avoid them while Pryce was unable to do so. Pryce hit the one marshal, flailing him into the air and killing him instantly. The 18.2 kilograms (40 lb) fire extinguisher carried by the marshal struck Pryce on his helmet, killing him upon impact as well. |
| 7 | Johan Boshoff | 11 June 1977 | Jukskei Sweep | Yamaha 0W31 | Practice for 1977 Republic Trophy Races | Boshoff crashed his works Yamaha during early morning practice. He was rushed to hospital with a badly broken leg as his worst injury but was later impacted by an embolism that affected his heart. He died six days later in hospital. |
| 8 | Keith Petersen | 10 Oct 1982 | Leeukop | Ducati Pantah 500cc | Superbike Race | On a wet day, Petersen lost control of his bike while attempting to avoid a collapsed rider. He crashed at Leeukop bend after colliding with another rider. Petersen was awarded the South African Championship title posthumously. |
| 9 | John Martin Sneesby | 28 Jan 1984 | Barbecue Bend | Honda 750 | Production motorcycle race | Sneesby died after crashing into a guardrail in Barbeque Bend. Jan Dirksen was killed in a separate race on the same day. |
| 10 | Jan Dirksen | 28 Jan 1984 | Esses | | Production motorcycles race | Injured in crash during same race as John Sneesby above. Unknown if he died in the crash or afterwards. |
| 11 | Mark Welthagen | 25 May 1990 | Arwa Corner | Yamaha FZR 750 | Practice for Yellow Pages Challenge of 26 May 1990 | Welthagen lost control of his bike entering the corner and hit the inside curb before crashing into straw bales on the outside of the track. Welthagen was flown to Johannesburg General Hospital and died several hours after being admitted. |
| 12 | George Jeroudis | 29 Aug 1992 | Total Corner (end of pit straight) | Kawasaki ZX | 1992 Kyalami Spring Meeting Superbike Race | Jeroudis' bike left the circuit on lap two of the race going into Total Corner at an estimated speed of 260 kilometres per hour (160 mph) and crashed into a concrete retaining wall. |
| 13 | Brett MacLeod | 28 March 1999 | Gestetner Corner | Suzuki 600 | 1999 FIM World Supersport Championship race | MacLeod was leading the race when his bike stalled and then restarted as he came out of the final chicane. MacLeod fell into the path of an oncoming rider, who couldn't avoid impact. MacLeod was rushed to hospital, where he died shortly after admission. |
| 14 | Warren Banfield | 9 February 2013 | Start line | Kawasaki ZX10 | Festival of Speed Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit: Zwartkops Brunch Run Challenge | 48-year-old bike rider Warren Banfield was killed in a pile-up at the open of the day's second Brunch Run Challenge. Banfield was hit by a number of other bikes. Six other riders were also injured, one of them in critical condition. |
| 15 | Marco Pugi | 9 February 2013 | Mineshaft | Suzuki GSXR 1000 | Festival of Speed Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit: Thunderbike Series | Pugi touched wheels with another competitor at high speeds, resulting in both riders crashing. He was taken to a hospital in Sunninghill, Gauteng, where he died the following morning. |

## List of fatal accidents involving officials

| No. | Official | Role | Date of incident | Race | Location of incident on track | Vehicle involved | Driver involved | Incident description |
| 1 | Frederick Jansen van Vuuren | Marshal | 5 March 1977 | 1977 South African Grand Prix | Pit-Straight | Shadow DN8 | Tom Pryce | van Vuuren was a junior fire marshal in the pit lane. While crossing the track with another marshal to extinguish a fire that had engulfed Renzo Zorzi's vehicle, he was struck by Tom Pryce, who was unable to see van Vuuren. The impact killed van Vuuren instantly, while his fire extinguisher smashed into Pryce, killing him as well. |

## List of fatal accidents involving spectators

| No. | Person | Date of incident | Race | Location of incident on track | Vehicle involved | Driver involved | Incident description |
| 1 | Name unknown | 8 November 1969 | 1969 Nine Hours of Kyalami | Clubhouse Corner | Porsche 908/02 | Willi Kauhsen | About 21h30 spectator climbed the safety fence and ran onto the track in the dark, where they were subsequently fatally struck by Kauhsen's 908. |