The 1st Natal Grand Prix was a motor race, run to South African Formula One-style rules, held on 17 December 1961 at Westmead Circuit, South Africa. The race was run over 89 laps of the circuit, and was won by British driver Jim Clark, in his Lotus 21.
There were no great differences between the local rules to which this race was run and the international Formula One rules, but for example sports car bodies were permitted, such as the Porsche special driven by Jennings.
Clark led the race from start to finish, with only Stirling Moss, who had started from the back of the grid, able to stay on the same lap by the end. The local South African entrants were outclassed, with the first of them finishing three laps down on Clark."The Formula One Record Book", John Thompson, 1974, pp.64-65
Results Pos No. Driver Entrant Constructor Time/Retired Grid 1 8 Jim Clark Team Lotus Lotus-Climax 2.13:58.4 1 2 7 Stirling Moss UDT Laystall Racing Team Lotus-Climax + 31.9 s 22 3 4 Jo Bonnier Porsche System Engineering Porsche 88 laps 2 4 5 Edgar Barth Porsche System Engineering Porsche 87 laps 8 5 1 Syd van der Vyver Syd van der Vyver Lotus-Alfa Romeo 86 laps 7 6 11 Doug Serrurier Scuderia Lupini Cooper-Maserati 86 laps 10 7 25 Adrian Pheiffer Adrian Pheiffer Cooper-Alfa Romeo 86 laps 9 8 26 Trevor Blokdyk Trevor Blokdyk Cooper-Ford 19 9 19 Bruce Jennings Bill Jennings Jennings-Porsche 18 10 20 John Guthrie Ecurie Rhodes Cooper-Alfa Romeo 13 Ret 2 Bruce Johnstone Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper-Climax Accident 6 Ret 14 Don Philp Don Philp Quodra-Climax Engine 12 Ret 16 Helmut Menzler Ecurie Wolman Lotus-Borgward 14 Ret 29 Neville Lederle Neville Lederle Lotus-Ford 15 Ret 27 Bob van Niekerk Equipe Judette Lotus-Ford 16 Ret 10 Ernie Pieterse Scuderia Alfa Heron-Alfa Romeo Suspension 11 Ret 23 Fanie Viljoen G.E. Mennie LDS-Climax 17 Ret 15 Sam Tingle Sam Tingle LDS-Alfa Romeo 20 Ret 17 Dave Wright Dave Wright Cooper-Climax 21 Ret 3 Tony Maggs Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper-Climax Overheating 5 Ret 9 Trevor Taylor Team Lotus Lotus-Climax Accident 3 Ret 6 Masten Gregory UDT Laystall Racing Team Lotus-Climax Cylinder head gasket 4 DNS 12 John Love A.H. Pillman LDS-Porsche Practice accident - WD 18 Clive Trundell Clive Trundell Cooper-Climax Car not ready - WD 21 Bill Dunlop Bill Dunlop Cooper-Alfa Romeo Car not ready - WD 22 Gordon Henderson Gordon Henderson Cooper-Alfa Romeo Car not ready - WD 24 Gene Bosman Scuderia Alfa Lotus-Alfa Romeo Car not ready - WD 28 Bernard Podmore Bernard Podmore Lotus-Ford Car damaged - WD 30 Jack Holme Jack Holme Lotus-Climax Car damaged -
References
"The Grand Prix Who's Who", Steve Small, 1995. "The Formula One Record Book", John Thompson, 1974. Race results at www.silhouet.com