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
Official name	Nashua Motorcycle Grand Prix[1]
Location	Kyalami
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.014 km (2.494 mi)
500 cc
Pole position Rider Freddie Spencer Time 1:26.600 Fastest lap Rider Freddie Spencer Time 1:26.430 Podium First Freddie Spencer Second Kenny Roberts Third Ron Haslam
250 cc
Pole position Rider Jean-François Baldé Time 1:31.700 Fastest lap Rider Jean-François Baldé Time 1:31.450 Podium First Jean-François Baldé Second Didier de Radiguès Third Hervé Guilleux
125 cc
Pole position Rider No 125cc was held Fastest lap Rider No 125cc was held Podium First No 125cc was held Second No 125cc was held Third No 125cc was held
50 cc
Pole position Rider No 50cc was held Fastest lap Rider No 50cc was held Podium First No 50cc was held Second No 50cc was held Third No 50cc was held

The 1983 South African motorcycle Grand Prix was the first round of the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 18–19 March 1983 at the Kyalami circuit.

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.

Classification

500 cc

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Freddie Spencer	Honda Racing Corporation	Honda	43'58.500	15
2	Kenny Roberts	Marlboro Team Agostini	Yamaha	+7.200	12
3	Ron Haslam	Honda Racing Corporation	Honda	+13.300	10
4	Marc Fontan	Team Sonauto Gauloises	Yamaha	+13.500	8
5	Randy Mamola	HB Suzuki GP Team	Suzuki	+28.400	6
6	Franco Uncini	HB Suzuki GP Team	Suzuki	+37.700	5
7	Raymond Roche		Honda	+41.500	4
8	Eddie Lawson	Marlboro Team Agostini	Yamaha	+42.400	3
9	Marco Lucchinelli	Honda Racing Corporation	Honda	+45.400	2
10	Barry Sheene	Heron Team Suzuki	Suzuki	+1'08.300	1
11	Loris Reggiani	HB Suzuki GP Team	Suzuki	+1'09.700
12	Sergio Pellandini	Carimati-Pezzani Racing	Suzuki	+1'13.800
13	Maurizio Massimiani	HIRT Italia	Honda	+1 lap
14	Fabio Biliotti	Moto Club Condor	Suzuki	+1 lap
15	Virginio Ferrari		Cagiva	+1 lap
16	Marco Greco		Suzuki	+1 lap
17	Jon Ekerold		Cagiva	+1 lap
18	Corrado Tuzii	Beton Bloc Racing	Honda	+1 lap
19	Gary Lingham	Myers Motorcycles	Suzuki	+1 lap
20	Steve Parrish	Team Mitsui Yamaha	Yamaha	+1 lap
21	Alfons Amerschläger	Skoal Bandit Heron Suzuki	Suzuki	+2 laps
22	Wolfgang Schwarz	ES Motorradzubeh Racing Team	Suzuki	+2 laps
Ret	Takazumi Katayama	Honda Racing Corporation	Honda	Accident
Ret	Gustav Reiner		Suzuki	Accident
Ret	Boet van Dulmen		Suzuki	Mechanical
Ret	Christophe Guyot		Suzuki	Mechanical
Ret	Leandro Becheroni		Suzuki	Accident
Ret	Michel Frutschi		Honda	Accident
Ret	Guido Paci		Honda	Accident
DNQ	Wolfgang von Muralt		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Jean-François Baldé		Honda	Did not qualify
DNQ	Frank Kaserer		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Børge Nielsen		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Philippe Coulon		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Andreas Hofmann		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Walter Migliorati	Moto Club Carate	Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Lorenzo Ghiselli		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Bent Slydal		Suzuki	Did not qualify
Sources: [2][3]

References