Grand Prix Gold: South Africa 1971
AUTOSPORT relives the legendary race: Kyalami 1971 - Mario Andretti scores his first GP win for Ferrari
Mario Andretti who won last Saturday's South African Grand Prix in a Ferrari, his first Formula 1 drive for Maranello. But for much of the race it was Denny Hulme's new McLaren Ford M19, with its progressive rate suspension and running on Goodyear's latest low- profile tyres, which held the lead.
Clay Regazzoni's Ferrari led at the start, but after 16 laps the charging Hulme forced his way past and began to pull away. John Surtees' new Surtees TS9 moved up to second until a gearbox oil pipe broke, whereupon Andretti took over and began to close on Hulme. With three laps to go, the gap was down to two seconds, but it looked as if Hulme would be able to hold on, until his top right rear radium arm bolt dropped out and he was forced to slow to a crawl, eventually finishing sixth.
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