Jim Clark.. Just watched a brilliant tribute by Hammond on today’s grand tour via Amazon.. really showed especially the younger generation just how incredibly talented the son of a Scottish Shepard was.. He had his Lotus dancing over the tarmac with such balance and to think he won the Indy 500 first time out by an astounding 2 minutes! And all at a time as Hammond and co said when a trip to race in Australia meant about 8 seperate flights without, in flight entertainment etc.. A truly modest, legend of a champion and a true Gentleman at that.. x
180mph no Armco barriers just trees and grass banks... brave lads.. I think I’m correct in saying in the year he died 1968 there was an astounding 127 racing drivers killed that year..
Yep Fangio said Clark was the best, even better than himself.. I think his win ratio was better than Senna’s, MS’s and Hamilton’s..
A win by the small margin of 5 minutes! https://www.motorlat.com/notas/historica/7006/jim-clark-greatest-victory
Another race he won with no oil pressure at all.. so bad that he realised the engine would likely blow on a corner with the oil moving in the sump under G forces.. so, he raced it on the straights and then switched the engine off on the corners coasting through them before switching on again.. he still won obv.. some amazing guy..
The Jim Clark museum up in Duns is worth a ride out. Apparently it’s being refurbished and due to open again this spring. http://jimclarktrust.com/the-new-museum/
I watched it yesterday. A great tribute by The Grand Tour. I felt myself almost welling up a couple of times. He seemed like a real gent from another time. His record was incredible and some of his wins were boy’s own stuff. The story of his car having no oil pressure going through corners, so he turned the engine off on the bends and back on for the straights, winning the race is typical of his talent.
They spoke with one of his mechanics and he said when they stripped the two team cars down after a race they could tell which was Clark’s car as things like wheel bearings had very little wear in them and yet the other team drivers lotus would be worn to destruction..
He was my boyhood hero, his natural talent combined with Colin Chapman at Lotus had a lot to do with there success, the Lotus 38 used to win at Indy 500 was not only the first rear engined car to win but the genius of Chapman built the car with offset suspension, longer suspension arms on the left for better cornering on the oval circuit. Steve
I remember watching him as a teenager at Brands Hatch GP circuit driving a Lotus Cortina beating 7 litre Ford Galaxies, taking Hawthorn's with the inside front wheel about 8 inches off the ground over the grass on the inside of the corner and the outside rear tyre following the line of the kerb and he did it just the same every lap. I was devastated when he got killed in a poxy Formula 2 race at Hockenheim.
Literally just finished watching it myself and was just about to start a thread recommending it. What a superb tribute, hats off to the Grand Tour lads, a really very thoughtful and emotional piece of video. What a racer
My absolute F1 hero..... Too young to remember him racing... Too soon for him to pass.... So many of the worlds best drivers said there was no one like him.... .
It also needs to be remembered the quality of the opposition that he achieved all this against. With the likes of Graham Hill, Sir Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren, Phil Hill and Sir Jackie Stewart.
