Jim Clark - Why was he taken so young?? (Other Drivers)

Member Name: MichaelR

Product:	Other Drivers
Date:	29/01/01 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Probably the most naturally gifted driver ever.

Disadvantages: His loyalty to Lotus (it indirectly got him killed)

I was quite surprised not to see a section here for Jim Clark.

The man was, to my mind, one of the greatest drivers ever to sit in a Grand Prix car. He could have been the best there ever was. Unfortunately, we lost him in his prime. He died racing a Formula Two car, in a race that really meant nothing, on a very wet Hockenheim track.

Back then; Hockenheim was not the facility it is today. It was nothing more than a national class circuit really.

Why did I think so highly of Clark?

Well, for many reasons. Firstly, he was possibly the most naturally gifted driver there ever was. He had a phenomenal record during his tragically short career. He has one of the highest start/win ratios in history, and also won the World Drivers Championship twice. It surely would have been more if he had not raced at Hockenheim that day in a race he did not have to take part in.

He shouldn't have even been driving in that race. He was down to drive in a BOAC 500 race at Brands, but there was something of a mix up, and Lotus wanted him to drive this F2 race, which he had agreed to do some time before, and Clark, being the man he was, honoured the commitment.

He was a truly great gentleman as well as a great, dedicated, and skilled racing driver.

The thing that did more to endear Clark to me than anything else though was the 1967 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

If ever you need proof of the mans superhuman ability to race, see if you can dig out a film of that race. It was amazing.

It was Jim's greatest race, though he did not win it. Let me tell you the story of that race:

Clark started from pole, and quickly started to pull away from everyone else. He even found time to shake his finger at Jack Brabham, who had jumped the start. Clark led until lap 14, when he was forced to pit, with a cut tyre.

Now in those days, changing a tyre wasn't quite the quick and easy procedure that it i
s today. It took some time, cars did not make scheduled stops during the race - they went all race on one set of tyres without refuelling. (And the races were often even longer than they are today)

Anyway, to continue the story - by the time the flat had been fixed, Clark was a lap down.

He then produced what surely must rank as the best drive by any Grand Prix driver, in the history of the sport - ever. I know there must be a lot of contenders for that title, but I have no hesitation awarding that title to Clark for his performance in this race.

He drove like a man possessed, to recover from 15th place, passing the leaders to unlap himself and then passing the entire field again to sweep into the lead. But then, cruelly (Formula One is a cruel sport though isn't it?) his Lotus coughed and stuttered and died on the final lap.

That was the only weakness of Colin Chapman's creation, it was very unreliable, but this time, it was not the car itself. (See on)

Clark's Lotus coasted towards the flag, Jim banging his fists on the steering wheel in fury. He felt robbed. He more than had a point.

John Surtees and Jack Brabham roared past him as he coasted towards the line. (Surtees incidentally taking Honda's first and only win under the 3-litre Grand Prix formula)

Jim rolled to a halt just beyond the finish line. He was out of fuel....

If for that performance alone, I would put Jim Clark amongst the greats of Formula One, but adding that to his unrivalled natural speed, skill, and ability, and the fact that he was one of the nicest people ever to race a Grand Prix car.... I would put him amongst the top three of all time.

If he were not taken at the height of his career, (he had won three in a row after that Italian GP and leading up to his death by the way) I have no doubt that he could and probably would have been the best driver of all time. By some margin....

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Jim Clark - Grand Prix Record

Grand Prix - 72
Wins - 25
Win Ratio - 34.7%
Poles - 33
Fastest Laps - 28
Points Scored - 274
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