Jim Clark 50 years on...
Discussion
Well I still watch F1 and enjoy it, haloes, 50 place grid penalties, more celebrities than mechanics on the grid, the combustion engine hidden and muted in the midst of all the electronic/hybrid trickery etc etc , yet I'm still there glued to the TV every GP Sunday afternoon.
50 years ago today I was a young kid playing in the garden when my dad called out to tell me that Jimmy Clark had been killed in an F2 race in Germany. My first taste of grief, this modest unassuming all-rounder was gone - so please, today, remember the greatest F1 driver (IMHO inevitably...) of all time.
50 years ago today I was a young kid playing in the garden when my dad called out to tell me that Jimmy Clark had been killed in an F2 race in Germany. My first taste of grief, this modest unassuming all-rounder was gone - so please, today, remember the greatest F1 driver (IMHO inevitably...) of all time.
I was at the BOAC 500 that day, hoping to see him driving the Ford F3L; if only he had........
The recent sad loss of Dan Gurney got me thinking that Jim, Dan and Bruce McLaren are probably the only drivers who I've never read a single critical word of. A long way removed from the 'star' drivers of today.
The recent sad loss of Dan Gurney got me thinking that Jim, Dan and Bruce McLaren are probably the only drivers who I've never read a single critical word of. A long way removed from the 'star' drivers of today.
CanAm said:
I was at the BOAC 500 that day, hoping to see him driving the Ford F3L; if only he had........
The recent sad loss of Dan Gurney got me thinking that Jim, Dan and Bruce McLaren are probably the only drivers who I've never read a single critical word of. A long way removed from the 'star' drivers of today.
So was I. I was standing at Clearways and when the first message came over the tannoy I think everyone assumed that he'd be all right. After all, he was Clark; untouchable. Then the second message to say he'd been taken to hospital with serious injuries. The group I was in began to get concerned. One chap we'd met that day had driven the circuit and said how dangerous it was. The recent sad loss of Dan Gurney got me thinking that Jim, Dan and Bruce McLaren are probably the only drivers who I've never read a single critical word of. A long way removed from the 'star' drivers of today.
Then confirmation he'd died. I'd gone with three friends and we all decided to go home. As we left Clearways we found ourselves in a large group of people walking off slowly with the one topic of conversation. We went to a little cafe and just sat there.
We were all big fans of course. I don't know whether he was the best driver I've ever seen race, but he was the best at the time. And by a long way.
Too young to have been able to see Jim Clark when he was alive but thankfully with footage being posting on sites like YouTube it allows fans to see him in action.
I was very much focused on the racing of my era but over the last few years I have been trying to get more information and clips on the past drivers.
Jim Clark "from what I have read" was a Legend of F1. Any driver from these era's have my total respect but only a few will stand out.
Was it ever established what happened to Clark in that F2 race?
Mechanical issue or was it the weather.
This is a clip of someone visiting the crash site
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z38D1Zm1cMY
I was very much focused on the racing of my era but over the last few years I have been trying to get more information and clips on the past drivers.
Jim Clark "from what I have read" was a Legend of F1. Any driver from these era's have my total respect but only a few will stand out.
Was it ever established what happened to Clark in that F2 race?
Mechanical issue or was it the weather.
This is a clip of someone visiting the crash site
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z38D1Zm1cMY
ELUSIVEJIM said:
......
I was very much focused on the racing of my era but over the last few years I have been trying to get more information and clips on the past drivers.
..............
Glad to hear it. There is some fascinating stuff out there.I was very much focused on the racing of my era but over the last few years I have been trying to get more information and clips on the past drivers.
..............
I first became interested in motor racing (not just F1, as unfortunately seems to be the case with many fans these days) before the days of PCs and the Internet, but was lucky enough to have a City Library with an amazing collection of motoring books and I read anything I could get my hands on, right back to the dawn of racing in the 19th Century. Yes, there was actually racing before Bernie Ecclestone!
Same with me. My local library had a decent selection of motor racing themed books and I used to get them out again and again. Over the past 20 years or so, I've been able to find some of these old books in charity shops.
Watching actual motor sport on TV was not easy in the 1960s and 70s and the only proper motor racing circuit in the whole of the Republic of Ireland was (and still is) at Mondello Park in Co. Kildare - which I couldn't get to as we had no car.
Watching actual motor sport on TV was not easy in the 1960s and 70s and the only proper motor racing circuit in the whole of the Republic of Ireland was (and still is) at Mondello Park in Co. Kildare - which I couldn't get to as we had no car.
Eric Mc said:
Same with me. My local library had a decent selection of motor racing themed books and I used to get them out again and again. Over the past 20 years or so, I've been able to find some of these old books in charity shops.
Watching actual motor sport on TV was not easy in the 1960s and 70s and the only proper motor racing circuit in the whole of the Republic of Ireland was (and still is) at Mondello Park in Co. Kildare - which I couldn't get to as we had no car.
You both state good points. Just trying to get the information was so much harder.Watching actual motor sport on TV was not easy in the 1960s and 70s and the only proper motor racing circuit in the whole of the Republic of Ireland was (and still is) at Mondello Park in Co. Kildare - which I couldn't get to as we had no car.
It was hard enough in the 80's so can only imagine the struggles in the 60's and 70's.
You could certainly keep up with events - through TV, radio and reports in the newspapers and the motor sport press. It was getting to watch actual races that was difficult.
In some ways, you could find out MORE about teams back in those days because the sport was nothing like as corporate and as secretive as it later became.
In some ways, you could find out MORE about teams back in those days because the sport was nothing like as corporate and as secretive as it later became.
his mechanic Beaky Sims' thoughts on Hockenheim 50 years on; http://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints/item/148497-j...
I'm currently writing Beaky's autobiogrphy, if you'd like to be kept up to date on progress, search for 'Beaky's Book' on Facebook, we don't have a dedicated website as yet.
I'm currently writing Beaky's autobiogrphy, if you'd like to be kept up to date on progress, search for 'Beaky's Book' on Facebook, we don't have a dedicated website as yet.
My most remarkable memory of Clark was at Brands in a saloon car race. It was raining. There were pools of water on the circuit and where I was standing, at Clearways, there was a river across the corner.
The race went ahead and Clark was in a big 7-litre American saloon. There were a few others driven by those thought pretty good in those days. On the grid there was everything from Mk II Jags, with rear seats and bumpers removed, to Minis and Imps, the latter being tuned by Fraser with Scottish Saltires on the roof. There were great hopes that the appalling weather might mean that the differences in performance between the big and smaller cars, including Lotus Cortinas, would would be eliminated.
The first lap was remarkable. We saw Clark's car emerge from under the bridge onto Clearways, entirely alone. It was like a speedboat, with waves of water and spray coming from the prow. It slid round the bend, seemingly out of control. It went of down the Top Straight, weaving as Clark put down the power. He was approaching Druids Hill Bend by the time the second placed car appeared.
We all thought there'd been an incident that slowed everyone other than Clark, but this proved to be wrong.
It was a great race, with the Minis mixing it with Jags. Lots and lots of overtakes, some based on reality, but not many. Clark slowed after two or three laps. We all thought he had a problem but it was nothing more than wanting someone to challenge him.
I can still see him coming round Clearways that first lap. Brilliant. He seemed to be having so much fun.
The race went ahead and Clark was in a big 7-litre American saloon. There were a few others driven by those thought pretty good in those days. On the grid there was everything from Mk II Jags, with rear seats and bumpers removed, to Minis and Imps, the latter being tuned by Fraser with Scottish Saltires on the roof. There were great hopes that the appalling weather might mean that the differences in performance between the big and smaller cars, including Lotus Cortinas, would would be eliminated.
The first lap was remarkable. We saw Clark's car emerge from under the bridge onto Clearways, entirely alone. It was like a speedboat, with waves of water and spray coming from the prow. It slid round the bend, seemingly out of control. It went of down the Top Straight, weaving as Clark put down the power. He was approaching Druids Hill Bend by the time the second placed car appeared.
We all thought there'd been an incident that slowed everyone other than Clark, but this proved to be wrong.
It was a great race, with the Minis mixing it with Jags. Lots and lots of overtakes, some based on reality, but not many. Clark slowed after two or three laps. We all thought he had a problem but it was nothing more than wanting someone to challenge him.
I can still see him coming round Clearways that first lap. Brilliant. He seemed to be having so much fun.
I saw Jim Clark at Brands in 1965 in the Daily Mail Race of the Champions competing with the likes of Dan Gurney. He drove a Lotus Cortina in a supporting race and shed a wheel just along the track from where I was standing. He got out of the car and walked along the grass to a marshall's point and he looked really dejected. Drivers competed in just about any event in that time, and had that not been the case he could very well still be alive today because he died in a Formula 2 event while he was, of course, an F1 driver.
I was viewing a house still being finished (which we eventually moved into later in the year) when I heard of the accident in Germany. Standing on the stairs; it's imprinted on my memory. His museum in Duns is very moving to anyone who knew anything of Jim and he achievements.
I was viewing a house still being finished (which we eventually moved into later in the year) when I heard of the accident in Germany. Standing on the stairs; it's imprinted on my memory. His museum in Duns is very moving to anyone who knew anything of Jim and he achievements.
lotus72 said:
his mechanic Beaky Sims' thoughts on Hockenheim 50 years on; http://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints/item/148497-j...
I'm currently writing Beaky's autobiogrphy, if you'd like to be kept up to date on progress, search for 'Beaky's Book' on Facebook, we don't have a dedicated website as yet.
WOW.I'm currently writing Beaky's autobiogrphy, if you'd like to be kept up to date on progress, search for 'Beaky's Book' on Facebook, we don't have a dedicated website as yet.
Amazing insight.
Some lovely recollections and memories of Jim in this thread. As a car-mad kid he was my absolute hero. He had such a delicate touch behind the wheel and such an abundance of natural talent whether it was in a single seater, a Lotus Cortina or a massive Galaxie. I had a huge B&W poster of Jim on my bedroom wall of him in a four-wheel drift in a Cortina just a few feet from the camera. Wonderful.
For me, no driver since has been the measure of him. Rose-tinted spectacles? Perhaps, but he transcended his contemporaries and I’ve not had as much respect for a racing driver since then. I wrote to Colin Chapman after Jim’s death and got a reply from CC himself, on Lotus headed paper. Meant so much; still got it.
For me, no driver since has been the measure of him. Rose-tinted spectacles? Perhaps, but he transcended his contemporaries and I’ve not had as much respect for a racing driver since then. I wrote to Colin Chapman after Jim’s death and got a reply from CC himself, on Lotus headed paper. Meant so much; still got it.
Escort3500 said:
Some lovely recollections and memories of Jim in this thread. As a car-mad kid he was my absolute hero. He had such a delicate touch behind the wheel and such an abundance of natural talent whether it was in a single seater, a Lotus Cortina or a massive Galaxie. I had a huge B&W poster of Jim on my bedroom wall of him in a four-wheel drift in a Cortina just a few feet from the camera. Wonderful.
For me, no driver since has been the measure of him. Rose-tinted spectacles? Perhaps, but he transcended his contemporaries and I’ve not had as much respect for a racing driver since then. I wrote to Colin Chapman after Jim’s death and got a reply from CC himself, on Lotus headed paper. Meant so much; still got it.
Can we see it? Please.For me, no driver since has been the measure of him. Rose-tinted spectacles? Perhaps, but he transcended his contemporaries and I’ve not had as much respect for a racing driver since then. I wrote to Colin Chapman after Jim’s death and got a reply from CC himself, on Lotus headed paper. Meant so much; still got it.
Bebee said:
Escort3500 said:
Some lovely recollections and memories of Jim in this thread. As a car-mad kid he was my absolute hero. He had such a delicate touch behind the wheel and such an abundance of natural talent whether it was in a single seater, a Lotus Cortina or a massive Galaxie. I had a huge B&W poster of Jim on my bedroom wall of him in a four-wheel drift in a Cortina just a few feet from the camera. Wonderful.
For me, no driver since has been the measure of him. Rose-tinted spectacles? Perhaps, but he transcended his contemporaries and I’ve not had as much respect for a racing driver since then. I wrote to Colin Chapman after Jim’s death and got a reply from CC himself, on Lotus headed paper. Meant so much; still got it.
Can we see it? Please.For me, no driver since has been the measure of him. Rose-tinted spectacles? Perhaps, but he transcended his contemporaries and I’ve not had as much respect for a racing driver since then. I wrote to Colin Chapman after Jim’s death and got a reply from CC himself, on Lotus headed paper. Meant so much; still got it.
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