Jim Clark secured his seventh win of the 1963 season at this final championship round, the last Formula One race held in December until 2019.
Key Facts
- Race laps
- 85 laps
- Winner
- Jim Clark (Lotus-Climax)
- Clark's 1963 season wins
- 7 wins
- Championship round
- 10th and final race of 1963 season
- Runner-up
- Dan Gurney (Brabham-Climax)
- Third place
- Graham Hill (BRM)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1963 Formula One season concluded with its tenth and final round scheduled at East London, South Africa. Jim Clark had already dominated the championship that year, and this race offered an opportunity to extend his record win tally for the season.
On 28 December 1963, Jim Clark started from pole position and won the 85-lap South African Grand Prix in a works Lotus-Climax, finishing ahead of Dan Gurney in a Brabham-Climax and Graham Hill in a BRM. The event served as the concluding round of both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
Clark's victory gave him seven wins from ten races in the 1963 season, underlining his and Lotus's dominance. The race also marked the end of December Formula One Grands Prix, a scheduling position not revisited until the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix over five decades later.