Stephen South
Stephen South | |
Details | |
---|---|
Name | Stephen South |
Born | 19th Feb 1952 |
Nationality | Template:GBR British |
F1 Teams | |
Template:GBR BFORT | |
Template:GBR Hesketh Racing | |
Template:GBR B&S Fabrications |
Stephen South (born 19th February, 1952 in Harrow, Middlesex) is a British former racing driver best known for his appearances in Formula One. South was elected as Chairman of the Grand Prix Driver's Association in 1981.
Formula One
South made his Formula One debut in 1977 for the Penthouse British Formula One Racing Team at the British Grand Prix. He failed to prequalify but he saw fit to return for three more races later in the season with Hesketh - once again failing to make the main sessions. In 1978 South returned with Hesketh, and again in In 1979 with BFORT but failed to pre-qualify for any Grands Prix.
South's fortunes changed ahead of the 1980 season when he was offered (and accepted) a full-time drive for B&S Fabrications for two seasons. Though many in the Formula One paddock were sceptical of the team's prospects before the season started, the new chassis and turbo engine finally gave South the opportunity to qualify for races. 1980 therefore became a breakthrough season for South: he failed to qualify only once in the entire season; this happened at the Monaco Grand Prix when the tricky Hart turbo made the Spartec G71B almost impossible to drive.
South also recorded his team's two best-ever results to date: in the 1980 Race of Champions, he took full advantage of a weak field to finish the race in second place. The following weekend, he brought the Spartec home in 8th place - enough to overtake ATS Kauhsen in the World Constructors Championship, earning his team some valuable prize money.
As a result of his reliable performances, South was retained by the team to drive a full 1981 season. He would do so with a new teammate though, as Rupert Keegan was called up to the Lotus team to drive alongside Nigel Mansell.
Career Results
World Drivers Championship
Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pts | Pos |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Template:GBR Penthouse BFORT | March-Ford | ARG |
RSA |
USW |
ESP |
BEL |
MON |
FRA |
MUG |
SOV |
GBR DNPQ |
NED |
GER |
0 | NC | |||||
Template:GBR Hesketh Racing | Hesketh-Ford | AUT DNPQ |
ITA |
CAN |
USA DNPQ |
JPN DNPQ | |||||||||||||||
1978 | Template:GBR Hesketh Racing | Hesketh-Ford | ARG |
RSA |
USW |
ESP |
BEL DNPQ |
MON |
SUI |
MUG |
GBR DNPQ |
FRA |
NED |
GER |
AUT |
ITA |
CAN |
USA |
0 | NC | |
1979 | Template:GBR British Formula One Racing Team | March-Ford | ARG |
BRA |
RSA |
USW |
ESP |
BEL |
MON |
EUR |
SMR |
FRA |
GBR DNPQ |
GER |
AUT |
NED |
ITA |
CAN |
USA |
0 | NC |
1980 | Template:GBR B&S Fabrications | Spartec-Hart | C |
ARG Ret |
BRA Ret |
USW Ret |
ESP Ret |
BEL |
MON DNPQ |
MEX Ret |
SMR 19 |
FRA 17 |
GBR 11† |
GER Ret |
AUT Ret |
ITA 8 |
CAN Ret |
CPA Ret |
DUB Ret |
0 | NC |
1981 | Template:GBR B&S Fabrications | Spartec-Hart | RSA Ret |
ARG Ret |
BRA Ret |
USW Ret |
ESP Ret |
BEL ENT |
MON ENT |
SMR ENT |
MEX ENT |
FRA ENT |
GBR ENT |
GER ENT |
AUT ENT |
EUR ENT |
ITA ENT |
CAN ENT |
CPA ENT |
0* | NC* |
Non-Championship Formula One
Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Template:GBR Hesketh Racing | Hesketh-Ford | INT Ret |
TDF 10 |
OUL | ||
Template:GBR Penthouse BFORT | March-Ford | TBT 6 |
|||||
1978 | Template:GBR British Formula One Racing Team | March-Ford | CLE |
INT Ret |
|||
Template:GBR Hesketh Racing | Hesketh-Ford | TDF Ret |
ROC 23 |
TBT 8 | |||
1979 | Template:GBR British Formula One Racing Team | March-Ford | INT |
ROC |
TBT Ret |
GNT |
NED |
1980 | Template:GBR B&S Fabrications | Spartec-Hart | RSA Ret |
INT Ret |
ROC 2 |
Sporting Accolades | ||
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Grand Prix Driver's Association | ||
Preceded by: Didier Pironi |
Chairman 1981-1981 |
Succeeded by: Nigel Mansell |