1983 South African motorcycle Grand Prix

  1983 South African Grand Prix

Race details
Race 1 of 12 races in the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	19 March 1983
Location	Kyalami
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.014 km (2.551 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
Rider	Freddie Spencer	Honda
Time	1:26.600
Fastest lap
Rider	Freddie Spencer	Honda
Time	1:26.430
Podium
First	Freddie Spencer	Honda
Second	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha
Third	Ron Haslam	Honda
250 cc
Pole position
Rider	Jean-François Baldé	Chevallier-Yamaha
Time	1:31.700
Fastest lap
Rider	Jean-François Baldé	Chevallier-Yamaha
Time	1:31.450
Podium
First	Jean-François Baldé	Chevallier-Yamaha
Second	Didier de Radiguès	Chevallier-Yamaha
Third	Hervé Guilleux	Kawasaki

The 1983 South African motorcycle Grand Prix^[1] was held at Kyalami on March 19, 1983. It was the first race of the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.

This race marked the beginning of a new season, as a hot and humid day saw Freddie Spencer leading from pole position on a Honda NS500. Despite an early battle with Kenny Roberts, Spencer pulled out a lead and won the race. Roberts was second riding a Yamaha YZR500, and Ron Haslam finished third for Honda. Jean-François Baldé won the 250cc class riding a Yamaha. The Frenchman would ironically fail to qualify for the 500cc race with a Honda entry.

500 cc classification

Pos	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Freddie Spencer	Honda	30	43:58.500	1	15
2	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha	30	+7.200	4	12
3	Ron Haslam	Honda	30	+13.300	5	10
4	Marc Fontan	Yamaha	30	+13.500	10	8
5	Randy Mamola	Suzuki	30	+28.400	8	6
6	Franco Uncini	Suzuki	30	+37.700	7	5
7	Raymond Roche	Honda	30	+41.500	12	4
8	Eddie Lawson	Yamaha	30	+42.400	2	3
9	Marco Lucchinelli	Honda	30	+45.400	6	2
10	Barry Sheene	Suzuki	30	+1:08.300	13	1
11	Loris Reggiani	Suzuki	30	+1:09.700	18
12	Sergio Pellandini	Suzuki	30	+1:13.800	16
13	Maurizio Massimiani	Honda	29	+1 Lap	21
14	Fabio Biliotti	Suzuki	29	+1 Lap	14
15	Virginio Ferrari	Cagiva	29	+1 Lap	19
16	Marco Greco	Suzuki	29	+1 Lap	20
17	Jon Ekerold	Cagiva	29	+1 Lap	27
18	Corrado Tuzii	Honda	29	+1 Lap	23
19	Gary Lingham	Suzuki	29	+1 Lap	28
20	Steve Parrish	Yamaha	29	+1 Lap	26
21	Alfons Amerschläger	Suzuki	28	+2 Laps	29
22	Wolfgang Schwarz	Suzuki	28	+2 Laps	30
Ret	Takazumi Katayama	Honda	26	Accident	3
Ret	Gustav Reiner	Suzuki	15	Accident	22
Ret	Christophe Guyot	Suzuki	10	Mechanical	15
Ret	Boet van Dulmen	Suzuki	10	Mechanical	25
Ret	Leandro Becheroni	Suzuki	9	Accident	11
Ret	Guido Paci	Honda	8	Accident	17
Ret	Michel Frutschi	Honda	8	Accident	9
DNS	Wolfgang von Muralt	Suzuki		Did not start	24
DNQ	Jean-François Baldé	Honda
DNQ	Frank Kaserer	Suzuki
DNQ	Børge Nielsen	Suzuki
DNQ	Philippe Coulon	Suzuki
DNQ	Andreas Hofmann	Suzuki
DNQ	Walter Migliorati	Suzuki
DNQ	Lorenzo Ghiselli	Suzuki
DNQ	Bent Slydal	Suzuki

References