1982 South African Grand Prix

The **1982 South African Grand Prix** was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 24th January 1982. It was the first race in both the 1982 Drivers' Championship and the 1982 Constructors' Championship.

Chuck Dingley of McLaren won the race, but the event was overshadowed by the deaths of Nathan Meiri and Rien Cantrell, who both lost their lives on the start/finish straight at the start of both races.

## Background

The grid returned to Kyalami for the opening round of the 1982 Formula One Season, with McLaren, Williams, and Ferrari set to be the favourites for the Constructors' title after Lotus saw a noticeable drop in performance following the departure of Stefan Van Damme.

Fabiano Margheriti and Jurg Scheller both reported feeling unwell after the first practice session. Their symptoms worsened, with Fabiano stating that he was feeling breathless at times. Both drivers withdrew from the event shortly before qualifying.

## Qualifying

Having set the pace in practice, Chuck Dingley carried his form through to qualifying and took pole position by almost half a second over Vivaldo Margheriti and almost 8 tenths over 1981 champion Stefan Van Damme.

Mick Ashcroft qualified 4th in his first qualifying session since 1977, with Dingley's teammate Stanley Robson starting from 5th. James McLean had taken part in practice but an engine failure and subsequent shortage of parts at ATS forced the team to withdraw him from the event.

## Race Summary

The grid got away cleanly before a heavy crash at the end of the first lap between Strip Weathers and Nathan Meiri resulted in Meiri losing his life. The debris was cleared from the track and the race was restarted roughly 40 minutes after the first start.

Dingley got away well from pole position, with Van Damme momentarily taking 2nd from Vivaldo Margheriti before the Italian driver took the position back at Sunset. Just before the end of the lap there was another huge crash; this time between the rookies Rien Cantrell and Dafydd Emrys. Cantrell had moved over on Emrys just after the Kink when Cantrell span into the wall at high speed. He was pronounced dead by the time that marshals arrived to help, but the race continued. The sport almost saw it's third fatality of the weekend when Stanley Robson hit a kerb at the Jukskei Sweep and smashed into an armco barrier to the left of the circuit. His McLaren flipped over the barrier into the crowd of spectators watching the race. Although Robson survived the incident, albeit heavily injured, 9 spectators were killed with 22 injured.

Mick Ashcroft appeared to be faster than his old rival Van Damme and made a move at the start of lap two. In an attempt to cut back on Ashcroft, Van Damme tapped the rear of his Brabham, spinning the Australian. Van Damme almost stalled the car in the process and was passed by the rest of the grid before he got going again.

Meanwhile, Dingley and Vivaldo Margheriti continued to build a gap to the rest of the field as the race progressed. Dingley pitted on lap 16 and Vivaldo pitted three laps later. They were fairly equally matched in pace and traded fastest laps until Dingley was forced to pit again on lap 30 for soft tyres. He emerged six seconds behind Margheriti but brought the gap down to nothing within two laps. On lap 32 the two drivers engaged in a short but memorable battle for the lead of the race and they were side-by-side for the entire first sector until Dingley took advantage of his superiror grip and dived down Margheriti's inside at Clubhouse.

Chuck Dingley went on to win the race by almost eight seconds over Vivaldo Margheriti, with Stefan Van Damme making a comeback to finish on the podium. Nino Tempestini finished 4th, with Mick Ashcroft and William O'Conner rounding out the points.

## Fatal Incidents

Nathan Meiri was battling Strip Weathers at the end of the first lap when his car drifted slightly to the right and caught Weathers' rear left tyre. The contact was small but it span Weathers' Renault directly into the path of Meiri who hit the outside wall at high speed. The impact destroyed the left side of Meiri's Brabham and the front left wheel and suspension bounced back into the cockpit, hitting Meiri's helmet and killing him instantly. His car rebounded across the circuit near the finish line, almost collecting other cars as they flew past. The race was quickly red-flagged whilst the wreckage was cleared. The drivers were not told about Meiri's death as they prepared for the race to be restarted.

Dingley led away on the second race start, followed by Vivaldo Margheriti and Stefan Van Damme. Rookie driver Rien Cantrell was starting his first race this weekend and despite qualifying at the back had made a good start and was battling the fellow rookie Dafydd Emrys of Lotus. Just after the two drivers passed The Kink of the first lap, Cantrell crossed over the front of Emrys, sending his Arrows straight into the wall at high speed. It was an accident that was eerily similar to the crash that had red flagged the first race and cost Nathan Meiri his life. He was pronounced dead by the time that help had arrived at the scene. The front of Cantrell's car was completely smashed and the marshals had some difficulty extracting him from the car following the accident. An autopsy determined that he had died from a basilar skull fracture. Strip Weathers had retired from the race following the incident but was completely unharmed.

There was almost a third driver fatality when Stanley Robson crashed heavily moments later at the Jukskei Sweep. Robson's car flipped over the simple armco barrier into the crowd, resulting in the death of 9 spectators, with 22 injured. Robson fractured his spine and suffered a broken leg and pelvis from the crash. Due to his injuries and the recovery time, he was replaced by McLaren's test driver Santiago Réyes for the rest of the season.

The race continued and the FIA and race organisers came under fire for failing to cancel the event following the deaths of Meiri and Cantrell as well as nine spectators.

## Championship Standings

 2
 3
 4
 5

 2
 3
 4
 5

## Lap Leaders

Chuck Dingley (Laps 1-15, 20-29, 32-36)

Vivaldo Margheriti (Laps 16-19, 30-31)