Jim Clark

This article is about the racing driver Jim Clark. For namesakes, please see James Clark.

Jim (or Jimmy) Clark OBE (born March 4, 1936 – died April 7, 1968) was a Scottish Formula One (F1) racing driver considered by many as the best and most natural gifted driver in motor sport history. Juan Manuel Fangio said about Clark in 1968 and again in 1995, shortly before his own death: "In my opinion, Jim Clark was by a league the greatest racing driver ever".

Early years

He was born James Clark Jr. into a farming family at Kilmany House Farm, Fife, the youngest child of five, and the only boy. In 1942 the family moved to Edington Mains Farm near the town of Duns in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. He was educated at primary schools, first in Kilmany and then in Chirnside, and then following three years of preparatory schooling at Clifton Hall near Edinburgh he was sent to Loretto School in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh.

Although his parents were opposed to the idea, Clark started his racing career driving in local road rallies and hill climb events driving his own Sunbeam-Talbot, and proved to be a fearsome competitor right from the off. By 1958 Clark was racing for the local Border Reivers team, racing Jaguar D-Types and Porsches in national events, and winning 18 races.

Then on Boxing Day 1958, Clark met the man who would launch him to superstardom. Driving a Lotus Elite, he finished second to Colin Chapman. Chapman was sufficiently impressed to give Clark a run in one of his Formula Junior cars, and the rest, as they say is history.

Clark and Lotus

After Aston Martin's F1 programme fell through, Clark was a free agent. Colin Chapman snapped him up for his F1 squad, and Clark made his debut in the 1960 Dutch Grand Prix. Throughout his F1 career from 1960 to 1968 Clark drove only for the Lotus team. He developed a near telepathic relationship with Chapman, which contributed to their outstanding success together. Chapman's innovative and nimble designs combined with Clark's skills at the wheel made for a nearly unbeatable force. 1962 saw Clark battling Graham Hill who drove for BRM for the World Championship in Chapman's brilliant Lotus 25, but in the final race an oil leak caused him to drop out just as victory seemed a formality.

His first Drivers' World Championship came driving the Lotus 25 in 1963, winning seven out of the ten races and Lotus its first Constructors' World Championship. That year he also competed in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time, and only the oil on the track from winner Parnelli Jones' car prevented him from winning, as he finished in second position and won Rookie of the Year honors. In 1964 Clark came within just a few laps of retaining his crown, but just as in 1962, an oil leak from the engine robbed him of the title, this time conceding to John Surtees. Tyre failure put paid to that year's attempt at the Indianapolis 500. He made amends and won the Championship again in 1965 and also the Indianapolis 500 in the Lotus 38. He had to miss the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix in order to compete at Indianapolis, but made history by driving the first mid-engined car to win at the fabled "Brickyard," as well as becoming the only driver to date to win both that race and the F1 title in the same year.

At the same time, Clark was competing in the Australasia based Tasman series, run for older F1 cars, and was series champion in 1965, 1967 and 1968 driving for Lotus. He won 14 races in all, a record for the series.

The FIA decreed from 1966, new 3-litre engine regulations would come into force. Lotus were less competitive. Starting with a 2-litre Coventry-Climax engine in the Lotus 33, Clark did not score points until the British Grand Prix and a third-place at the following Dutch Grand Prix. From the Italian Grand Prix onward Lotus used the more complex BRM H16 engine in the Lotus 43 car, with which Clark won the United States Grand Prix. He also picked up another second-place finish at the Indianapolis 500, this time behind Graham Hill.

During 1967 Lotus and Clark used three completely different cars and engines. The Lotus 43 performed poorly at the opening South African Grand Prix, so Clark used an old Lotus 33 at the following Monaco Grand Prix, retiring with suspension failure. Lotus then began its fruitful association with Ford-Cosworth. Their first car, the Lotus 49 featuring the most successful F1 engine in history, the Ford-Cosworth DFV, won its first race at the Dutch Grand Prix, driven by Clark. He won with it again at the British, United States and Mexican Grands Prix; and, in January 1968, at the South African Grand Prix. He had established himself as the dominant driver in the dominant car, save for its reliability.

Remarkable performances

Jim Clark's 1967 Italian Grand Prix drive in Monza is regarded one of the greatest drives ever in F1. After starting from pole, he was leading in his Lotus 49 (chassis R2), when a tyre punctured. He lost an entire lap while having the wheel changed in the pits. After rejoining 16th, Clark then showed his genius by driving at his own limit, something which is not required when leading. He ripped back through the field, progessively lowered the lap record, eventually equalling his pole time of 1m 28.5s (233.9 km/h), to regain the lost lap and the lead. He was narrowly ahead of Brabham and Surtees starting the last lap, but his car had not been filled with enough fuel for such a performance - it faltered, and finally coasted across the finish line in third place. This performance is considered unmatched in the long history of F1.

Other examples for his skills are his drive in a Lotus 23 sportscar during the 1962 1000km Nürburgring race or the qualifying for the 1967 German Grand Prix, when he took pole position by nine seconds and more.

The 14.2-mile Nürburgring-Nordschleife circuit brought out the very best in Clark. In the 1962 1000km he drove the small Lotus 23, fitted with a 1500 cc Lotus-Ford twin-cam engine. On a patchily damp track, he outperformed the similar-powered Porsche 718 and the more powerful cars from Ferrari, with drivers like Phil Hill, Dan Gurney and Willy Mairesse at the wheel, and led with nearly 2 minutes outright until, affected by fumes from a broken exhaust, he went off course into the bushes.

The fatal crash

On April 7 1968, however, Jim Clark's life and driving career was brought to a premature and tragic end. He was originally slated to drive in the BOAC 1000km sportscar race at Brands Hatch but instead chose to drive in a minor Formula 2 race for Lotus, mostly due to contractural obligations with Firestone. On the fifth lap, his Lotus 48 veered off the Hockenheimring, Germany and crashed into trees. The cause of the crash was never definitively identified, but investigators concluded it was most likely due to a deflating rear tyre. Colin Chapman was devastated and publically stated that he had lost his best friend. The 1968 F1 Drivers' Championship was subsequently won by his Lotus team-mate Graham Hill, who pulled the heartbroken team together and held off Jackie Stewart for the crown, which he later dedicated to Clark.

Legacy

Clark achieved 33 pole positions and won 25 races from his 72 Grands Prix starts in championship races. He is remembered for his ability to drive and win in all types of cars and series, including a Lotus-Cortina, with which he won the 1964 British Touring Car Championship, IndyCar, NASCAR, driving a Ford Galaxie for the Holman Moody team, Rallying, where he took part in the 1966 RAC Rally of Great Britain in a Lotus Cortina, and nearly won the event before crashing, and sports cars. He competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1959, 1960 and 1961, finishing 2nd in class in 1959 driving a Lotus Elite, and finishing 3rd overall in 1960, driving an Aston Martin DBR1.

He was also able to master difficult Lotus sportscar prototypes such as the Lotus 30 and 40. Clark had an uncanny ability to adapt to whichever car he was driving. Whilst other drivers would struggle to find a good car setup, Clark would usually set competitive lap times with whatever setup was provided and ask for the car to be left as it was.

He apparently had difficulty understanding why other drivers were not as quick as himself. After his death, Clark's father told Dan Gurney that he was the only driver his son ever feared. When Clark died, fellow driver Chris Amon was quoted as saying, "If it could happen to him, what chance do the rest of us have?"

Jim Clark is buried in the village of Chirnside in Berwickshire. A memorial stone can be found at the Hockenheimring circuit, moved from the site of his crash to a location closer to the current track.

Awards

F1 World Champion, 1963 and 1965
Indianapolis 500 winner, 1965
British Touring Car Championship Champion, 1964
Tasman Series Cup winner, 1965, 1967 and 1968
Third place overall, 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans
He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.
He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1990 in the open wheel class.

Bibliography

Jim Clark At The Wheel; Jim Clark, Barker, 1964
The Jim Clark Story; Jim Gavin, Frewin, 1967
Jim Clark, Portrait Of A Great Driver; Graham Gauld, Hamlyn, 1968, ISBN 0668018429
Jim Clark Remembered; Graham Gauld, Patrick Stephens, 1984, ISBN 0850597307
Autocourse Driver Profile: Jim Clark; Doug Nye, Hazleton, 1991, ISBN 0905138775
Jim Clark, The Legend Lives On; Graham Gauld, Patrick Stephens, 1994, ISBN 1852601442
Jim Clark; Eric Dymock, Haynes, 1997, ISBN 0854299823
Jim Clark And His Most Successful Lotus; Doug Nye, Haynes, 2004, ISBN 1844250296

External links

Jim Clark, Formula One World Champion
Jimmy Clark at the Grand Prix History Hall of Fame
Jim Clark Memorial at Hockenheim
Jim Clark memorial room at Duns, Scotland
Video clip: Jim Clark breaks records at Brands Hatch (July 1964)
Jim Clark Memorial Rally
Jim Clark statistics

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Jim Clark