Jim Clark
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| Nation: |
 United Kingdom
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| Automobile world championship | |||||||||
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| First start: | 1960 Dutch Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last start: | 1968 Grand Prix of South Africa | ||||||||
| Constructors | |||||||||
| 1960–1968 Lotus | |||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
| World Cup balance: | World Champion ( 1963 , 1965 ) | ||||||||
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| World Cup points : | 274 | ||||||||
| Podiums : | 32 | ||||||||
| Leadership laps : | 1,942 over 10,141.1 km | ||||||||
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James "Jim" Clark junior , OBE (born March 4, 1936 in Kilmany , Fife , Scotland , † April 7, 1968 in Hockenheim ) was a British automobile racing driver . Between 1960 and 1968 he competed in 72 Grand Prix races for Lotus in Formula 1 and was twice world champion (1963 and 1965).
life and career
Jim Clark is considered to be one of the best Formula 1 drivers in history and became a role model for many later world champions, including Jackie Stewart , Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna . His 25 victories in Grands Prix, which are part of the drivers' world championship, were a Formula 1 record when he died.
He was born in south east Scotland, in the county of Berwickshire, to a farmer who ran a large sheep farm. After finishing the high school in Edinburgh with a degree that the average maturity is comparable, he did an apprenticeship as a farmer in the family business.
His sporting hobbies in his youth were athletics and hockey . At the age of 18 he got his driver's license and competed in local club races in Scotland. He contested these races with German DKW and Porsche automobiles .
He drove the first major national races in 1958 for a private racing community in a Jaguar D-Type and won straight away. That year he started in 33 races, of which he won 20; eight times he reached second place. He won his first title, the Scottish Speed Championship . He contested the last race of the season on a Lotus Elite and met Colin Chapman , the owner of Lotus . In his last season with the racing community in 1959, he scored 23 wins and nine second places. Clark was already known for his gentle driving style and his talent for adapting to a vehicle.
From 1960 Clark drove in the automobile world championship , exclusively for Lotus under team principal Colin Chapman, with whom he maintained a friendly relationship. In September 1961, Clark was involved in one of the worst accidents in Formula 1 history. At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips collided with Clark in his Ferrari on the second lap when approaching the Parabolica curve. In this accident, known as the "black hour of Formula 1", Berghe von Trips' Ferrari hurled onto the side wall of the straight ahead of the curve and hit the wire fence in front of the grandstand, killing 15 spectators and injuring 60 others. Berghe von Trips was thrown out of the racing car and died of a broken neck.
Clark celebrated his first Formula 1 victory in 1962 at the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps , where his then teammate Alan Stacey had had a fatal accident two years earlier . In the same year he was runner- up on a Lotus 25 world champion. In 1963 and 1965 he became world champion. In between, in 1964, he won three of the first five races, but failed in the remaining five races due to technical defects and was third in the World Championship. In 1965 he won the Indianapolis 500 . The following year he was there second behind Graham Hill .
From the 1966 season , new rules were introduced and the displacement doubled. However, Lotus did not yet have a suitable engine and had to continue to use the Coventry Climax units for the time being. The 16-cylinder engine composed of two eight-cylinders was provided by BRM . Even BRM regular driver Jackie Stewart described the heavy vibrating unit with its immature engine-gearbox coordination as "inaccessible". Nevertheless, Clark won the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen with this BRM H16 in his Lotus 33 . The win in this car was the only F1 win for a 16-cylinder.
In the third race of 1967, the groundbreaking Lotus 49 was introduced, with the equally novel Ford - Cosworth DFV . By 1982, the engine became the most successful engine in Formula 1 history. Clark and his teammate Graham Hill set all of the best practice times this season. In the race, however, the Lotus mostly suffered defects, which did not prevent Clark from winning four of nine races. At the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring , Clark achieved pole position with a lead of more than nine seconds .
The 1967 Italian Grand Prix is considered Clark's greatest race - although he didn't win it - and perhaps the most impressive in Formula 1 history, even before Fangio's victories at the 1957 German Grand Prix and Moss at the German Grand Prix 1961 . Clark was in the lead with his Lotus 49, chassis R 2, then lost a whole lap in the pits, then caught up with it and took the lead again. He constantly improved the lap record and reached the time of his training best. Shortly before the end of the race, the petrol pumps could no longer deliver the remaining amount of fuel and Clark's car only rolled over the finish line in third place. John Surtees won the race for Honda. Since he otherwise only scored one point for sixth place, he was third in the 1967 World Championship behind the pilots of the reliable Brabham-Repco.
Clark showed a similar demonstration of his talent in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring in 1962 . Clark drove the comparatively weakly motorized Lotus 23 , equipped with a 1.5-liter Ford engine that delivered a maximum of 110 hp. It was initially a rain race and the competition from Ferrari, among others, had brought up a whole armada of 2.5-liter and 4-liter prototypes, with world-class drivers such as Phil Hill , Olivier Gendebien , Willy Mairesse , Mike Parkes , Pedro Rodríguez and Lorenzo Bandini . Their cars developed 270 hp ( Dino 246SP ) or even 390 hp (330 GTO). Clark finished seventh in training. From the first lap he came out with a lead of around 20 seconds, after the sixth lap his lead was almost two minutes. Although it was getting drier, the other drivers had no chance against Clark. But as in Monza in 1967, there was no victorious end here either. The exhaust cracked on the twelfth lap and gases got into the cockpit, which made Clark dazed. He got off the road and had an accident, but was uninjured.
Deadly accident
Then advertising for tobacco was introduced and Jim Clark was also supposed to earn money with the new rolling advertising pillars , also in Formula 2 races. After his F2 car had been damaged in Barcelona the week before and there was no competition for Ford in the sports car race at Brands Hatch , he did compete at the Hockenheimring . The evening before the race, he gave an interview in the current sports studio .
In the rain, Clark had a fatal accident in the Formula 2 race, which was completely insignificant for him, probably as a result of a creeping flat tire and tire damage when he strayed from the track on the straight forest after the Motodrom and hurled his Lotus 48 against a tree. There was no direct eyewitness as there were no spectators at this point. Chris Irwin , who was about 200 meters behind Clark, and the nearest marshals about 500 meters away could only report that the car skidded for no apparent reason and left the track.
The investigation of the accident by Peter Jowitt, an engineer specializing in accident investigations into military aircraft prototypes, commissioned by Lotus boss Colin Chapman, revealed that Jim Clark had no chance. On the forest floor he tried to steer the vehicle in a different direction at maximum speed, but due to the large number of trees there was no space and the fatal side impact occurred. Jowitt came to the conclusion that a puncture was the cause of the accident. It was only later that crash barriers were erected in Hockenheim, safety strips laid and a braking chicane called the Jim Clark chicane was erected near the scene of the accident . A memorial stone was erected at the site of the accident, which was moved in the direction of the Motodrom as part of the extensive renovation work on the Hockenheimring (shortening and changing the route in order to continue to be "Formula 1 suitable").
Clark's death shook the whole of racing and shocked driver colleagues as well as motorsport fans. Juan Manuel Fangio said shortly before his death in 1995 that in his opinion Jim Clark was by far the greatest driver of all time. In his obituary for Clark in April 1968, he stated frankly: "He was better than me." There was only one comparable reaction in the history of Formula 1, 26 years later when Ayrton Senna died .
Those years of racing were overshadowed by a series of fatal accidents in automobile motorsport: between 1967 and 1971 came Lorenzo Bandini (Ferrari, Monaco), Lucien Bianchi (Alfa Romeo, Le Mans), Mike Spence (Indianapolis), Piers Courage (Zandvoort) , Ludovico Scarfiotti ( hillclimb Roßfeld), Bruce McLaren (Goodwood), Jochen Rindt (Monza), Pedro Rodríguez (Norisring) and Jo Siffert (Brands Hatch) in their race cars killed.
legacy
Since 1997, the Jim Clark Memorial Rally has been held in his honor every July in Duns , Scotland , where Clark grew up . From 1969 to 1984, as long as Formula 2 existed, the "Jim Clark Memorial Race", part of the European Championship, was held every April at the Hockenheimring. The annual Jim Clark Revival has been held at the Hockenheimring since 2005 .
The "Jim Clark Room" in Duns, Scotland, not far from his Edington Mains farm in the Scottish Borders , is still visited annually by many thousands of fans from all over the world. Also Ayrton Senna visited this showroom to learn undisturbed by the press and curious about his idol, and held in a former school Clarks in Edinburgh a lecture.
In Jim Clark's birthplace, Kilmany, Fife , south of Aberdeen, a very small village, Jackie Stewart and other celebrities unveiled a life-size bronze statue in the late 1990s. The sculptor used the favorite photo of Clark's mother, which Jim shows walking through the pit lane on the occasion of the Belgian GP in Spa in 1967.
Private
Clark's hobbies included photography , hunting and jazz music, especially those of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald . His modest manner was underlined by the fact that he was very attached to his homeland, drank little alcohol and was a non-smoker. Clark remained a bachelor, but never behaved - although not averse to the female gender - like a playboy .
Numbers, data, facts - Formula 1
In 1968, Clark won the first F1 race of the season in Kyalami in January, overtaking Juan Manuel Fangio with 25 GP victories .
In 72 GP starts, Clark achieved 25 wins, 33 best times in practice and 28 fastest laps. Plus 13 hat tricks, i.e. pole, victory and fastest lap in the same race. Only Fangio has a better starting pole rate and next to Ascari a better starting victory rate. Clark's hat trick rate is unmatched to this day. Schumacher reached and exceeded the total number, but needed around three times the number of starts. With eight Grand Slams he is the record holder in Formula 1.
At that time, many Formula 1 races that were not part of the World Championship were held. If you add these in, Clark has over 50 Formula 1 victories. There are also successes in sports cars and even touring cars on the Lotus Cortina.
statistics
Statistics in the automobile world championship
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general overview
| season | team | chassis | engine | run | Victories | Second | Third | Poles | nice Race laps |
Points | WM-Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Team Lotus | Lotus 18 | Climax 2.5 L4 | 6th | - | - | 1 | - | - | 8th | 10. |
| 1961 | Team Lotus | Lotus 21 | Climax 1.5 L4 | 8th | - | - | 2 | - | 1 | 11 | 7th |
| 1962 | Team Lotus | Lotus 25 | Climax 1.5 V8 | 9 | 3 | - | - | 6th | 5 | 30th | 2. |
| 1963 | Team Lotus | Lotus 25 | Climax 1.5 V8 | 10 | 7th | 1 | 1 | 7th | 6th | 54 (73) | 1. |
| 1964 | Team Lotus | Lotus 25 | Climax 1.5 V8 | 6th | 3 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 32 | 3. |
| Lotus 33 | 4th | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 1965 | Team Lotus | Lotus 33 | Climax 1.5 V8 | 8th | 5 | - | - | 5 | 5 | 54 | 1. |
| Lotus 25 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 1966 | Team Lotus | Lotus 33 | Climax 2.0 V8 | 5 | - | - | 1 | 2 | - | 16 | 6th |
| Lotus 43 | BRM 3.0 H16 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | ||||
| 1967 | Team Lotus | Lotus 43 | BRM 3.0 H16 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 41 | 3. |
| Lotus 33 | BRM 2.1 V8 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | ||||
| Lotus 49 | Ford-Cosworth 3.0 V8 | 9 | 4th | - | 1 | 6th | 4th | ||||
| 1968 | Team Lotus | Lotus 49 | Ford-Cosworth 3.0 V8 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 | 9 | 11. |
| total | 72 | 25th | 1 | 6th | 33 | 28 | 274 | ||||
Single results
| season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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| 1960 |
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| DNF | 5 | 5 | 16 | 3 | 16 | |||||||
| 1961 |
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| 10 | 3 | 12 | 3 | DNF | 4th | DNF | 7th | |||||
| 1962 |
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| 9 | DNF | 1 | DNF | 1 | 4th | DNF | 1 | DNF | ||||
| 1963 |
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| 8th | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 1964 |
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| 4th | 1 | 1 | DNF | 1 | DNF | DNF | DNF | 7th | 5 | |||
| 1965 |
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| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | DNF | DNF | ||||
| 1966 |
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| DNF | DNF | DNS | 4th | 3 | DNF | DNF | 1 | DNF | ||||
| 1967 |
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| DNF | DNF | 1 | 6th | DNF | 1 | DNF | DNF | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1968 |
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| Legend | ||
|---|---|---|
| colour | abbreviation | meaning |
| gold | - | victory |
| silver | - | 2nd place |
| bronze | - | 3rd place |
| green | - | Placement in the points |
| blue | - | Classified outside the point ranks |
| violet | DNF | Race not finished (did not finish) |
| NC | not classified | |
| red | DNQ | did not qualify |
| DNPQ | failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify) | |
| black | DSQ | disqualified |
| White | DNS | not at the start (did not start) |
| WD | withdrawn | |
| Light Blue | PO | only participated in the training (practiced only) |
| TD | Friday test driver | |
| without | DNP | did not participate in the training (did not practice) |
| INJ | injured or sick | |
| EX | excluded | |
| DNA | did not arrive | |
| C. | Race canceled | |
| no participation in the World Cup | ||
| other | P / bold | Pole position |
| SR / italic | Fastest race lap | |
| * | not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered |
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| () | Streak results | |
| underlined | Leader in the overall standings | |
Le Mans results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 |
Border Reivers
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Lotus Elite Mk.14 |
John Whitmore
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Rank 10 | |
| 1960 |
Border Reivers
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Aston Martin DBR1 / 300 |
Roy Salvadori
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Rank 3 | |
| 1961 |
Border Reivers
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Aston Martin DBR1 / 300 |
Ron Flockhart
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failure | Clutch damage |
Sebring results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 |
Robert Scott Jr.
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Ford Cortina Lotus |
Ray Parsons
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Rank 20 |
Individual results in the sports car world championship
| season | team | race car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Border Reivers Ecurie Ecosse |
Lotus Elite Tojeiro |
SEB
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TAR
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ONLY
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LEM
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RTT
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| 10 | DNF | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1960 | Border Reivers | Aston Martin DBR1 |
BUA
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SEB
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TAR
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ONLY
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LEM
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| DNF | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1961 | Essex Racing Team | Aston Martin DBR1 |
SEB
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TAR
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ONLY
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LEM
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PES
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| DNF | DNF | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1962 | Peter Berry Essex Racing Team |
Lotus Elite Lotus 23 Aston Martin DB4 |
DAY
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SEB
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SEB
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MAY
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TAR
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BER
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ONLY
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LEM
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TAV
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CCA
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RTT
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ONLY
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BRI
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BRI
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PAR
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| 29 | DNF | DNF | DNF | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1964 | Robert Scott Lotus |
Ford Cortina Lotus 30 |
DAY
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SEB
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TAR
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MON
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SPA
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CON
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ONLY
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ROS
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LEM
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REI
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FRE
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CCE
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RTT
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 SIM
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ONLY
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MON
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TDF
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BRI
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BRI
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PAR
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| 20th | 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1965 | lotus |
Lotus 30 lotus 38 |
DAY
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SEB
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BOL
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MON
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MON
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RTT
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TAR
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SPA
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ONLY
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MUG
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ROS
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LEM
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REI
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BOZ
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FRE
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CCE
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OVI
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ONLY
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BRI
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BRI
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| DNF | DNF |
literature
- Helmut Zwickl: Beyond fast. The life of Jim Clark. 3. Edition. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1969.
- Motor revue. Europe engine. Issue 39, 1961, ISSN 0027-1969 .
Web links
- Grand Prix Hall of Fame: Jimmy Clark
- Jim Clark
- Racing legend Jim Clark at one day on SpiegelOnline
- YouTube: On-board with Jim Clark - Brands Hatch : Contemporary report with on-board recordings (en)
- YouTube: Jim Clark - The Quiet Champion - BBC4 Documentary 2009 : Very detailed report on Jim Clark's career path (en)
Individual evidence
- ^ Motorsport accident statistics
- ^ List of Autodromo Nazionale Monza people who died in an accident
- ↑ auto motor and sport. Issue 9, 1968, ISSN 0005-0806 , p. 84.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Clark, Jim |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Clark, James (maiden name); Clark, Jimmy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British racing car driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 4, 1936 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kilmany |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 7, 1968 |
| Place of death | Hockenheim |