In the Groove

Statistics will tell you that Jim Clark took 33 pole positions from 72 starts, won 25 Grands Prix and 2 world championships but such numbers do not do justice to a talent and a sportsman the like of which has perhaps not been seen in motor racing before or since.  Shy and introverted out of the car, Clark was next to unbeatable in it.    Following the retirement of Stirling Moss in early 1962, Clark established himself as the yardstick by which all others measured themselves, picked up the world championship in 1963 and only missed out in ’62 and ’64 due to the fragility of the Chapman designed Lotus 25.  Into 1965, Clark won the first round in South Africa but missed the Monaco Grand Prix (won by Graham Hill) due to being otherwise engaged at Indianapolis where he took the first victory for a mid-engined car, first victory at an average above 150 mph and the first victory by a non-American driver at the ‘500 since 1916.....  Back in Europe, Clark won the Belgian, French, British and Dutch Grands Prix, arriving at the Nurburgring for the German Grand Prix on a winning streak.  Clark took pole position by more than 3 seconds and though pursued hard by Graham Hill’s BRM P261 during the race (as shown here), he won as he pleased – his 5th consecutive Grand Prix victory and 6th of the season,  securing his second world title before the end of July.   It was a remarkable performance and during a period in which many drivers (Hill, Surtees, Stewart) became household names Clark was a man who stood head and shoulders above his peers.

16" x 20"
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