The aniversary of Jim Clarks death April 7th 1968.

Once in a generation a driver comes along who was born to drive. Jim Clark was one such driver. He crashed at Hochenheim when I was just 2 years old. Yet I cant help feel sorrow for the loss of a man that I never met. Strange that before I even read about the story of Jim Clark, I instinctively knew that he was the last of the Gentlemen racers. The last of a dying breed of  drivers who showed true sportsmanship. A rare breed of  driver that could drive anything on four wheels, from Rally cars to F1. Strap a modern day F1 driver or Nascar driver into anything but their familiar surroundings and they would be lost, with exception of a few rare and talented wheelmen. Jim Clark was and still is considered to be the best driver of all time. 

Today is the 42nd aniversary of Jims death.  I still feel a little sadness in the pit of my stomach when I read the story of an incredible driver’s life cut short at the age of 32. Gentleman Racer Jim.

Jim Clark won the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in extremely wet, foggy and rainy conditions. After starting eighth on the grid Clark passed all of the cars in front of him, including early leader Graham Hill. About 17 laps into the race, with the rain coming down harder than ever, Clark had not only lapped the entire field except for Bruce McLaren, but he was almost five minutes ahead of McLaren and his Cooper. This would be the first of 7 victories for Clark and Team Lotus that year.

In the 1967 Italian Grand Prix at Monza after starting from pole, Clark 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. Rejoining sixteenth, Clark ripped back through the field, progressively lowering the lap record and eventually equalling his pole time of 1m 28.5s, 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.

In his Indianapolis 500 win, Clark led for 190 of the 200 laps, with an unprecedented average speed of over 150 miles per hour (240 km/h), to become the first non-American in almost half a century to win the famous race.

The fatal crash

On 7 April 1968, Jim Clark’s life tragically ended in a crash. He was originally slated to drive in the BOAC 1000 km sportscar race at Brands Hatch, but instead chose to drive in the Deutschland Trophäe, a Formula Two race, for Lotus at the Hockenheimring in Germany, primarily due to contractual obligations with Firestone. On the fifth lap, his Lotus 48 veered off the track and crashed into the trees. He suffered a broken neck and skull fracture, and died before reaching the hospital. 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 publicly stated that he had lost his best friend. As a sign of respect, Chapman ordered the traditional green and yellow badge found on the nose of all Lotus road cars to be replaced with a black badge for a month following Clark’s death. The 1968 F1 Drivers’ Championship was subsequently won by his Lotus teammate Graham Hill, who pulled the heartbroken team together and held off Jackie Stewart for the crown, which he later dedicated to Jim Clark