Jochen Mass
Niki Lauda took pole by a fraction of a second from Carlos Pace. The two Lotus cars tangled shortly after the start, the incident also involving Jochen Mass and Henri Pescarolo whilst Tom Belsø's race lasted no more than a few hundred yards due to clutch failure. Lauda led a train of cars consisting of Carlos Reutemann, Clay Regazzoni, Jody Scheckter and James Hunt, whose Hesketh was suffering vibration problems.