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9 Mar 2003, 01:05 (Ref:529413) | #1 | |
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Clark, Jim
I haven't seen him race, but he sounds like a brilliant driver. How good would you say Jim Clark was in your opinion?
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9 Mar 2003, 02:22 (Ref:529479) | #2 | ||
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My Opinion
I saw Jim Clark race here in Australia in the Tasman series 1964,65,66,67,68 at Sandown and Longford. In the 1968 race (Sandown) he raced Chris Amon they finished a car length apart (in stifling heat) Jim got out of his Lotus and looked as if he could do another 100 laps and poor Chris Amon had to be lifted from the Ferrari. A TOP driver and a Gentleman. To me he is the Best ever. In 2001 I visited his grave in Chirnside Scotland. Last edited by mickj; 9 Mar 2003 at 02:24. |
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9 Mar 2003, 11:20 (Ref:529897) | #3 | ||
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Aaahhh.. but Chris Amon to a party.....
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9 Mar 2003, 12:31 (Ref:529962) | #4 | |
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It's impossible to compare drivers of different eras but suffice to say that he ought to feature on anybody's list of the ten best-ever drivers. Quite a lot of people regard him as THE Best Ever but I think people's judgement on thse things tends to be dictated by their age. Whoever was the best when they were aged 18 - 25 remains fixed in their mind as the greatest ever.
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9 Mar 2003, 15:36 (Ref:530158) | #5 | ||
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Definitely in the top 10 of all time and the benchmark against whom all early 60s drivers were measured. A natural driver who could get into any car and drive it on the limit immediately, simply driving round any problem. Jimmy could handle with ease cars which others considered undriveable - the Lotus 40 for example, a lethally overpowered sports car with evil handling, often described as "the Lotus 30 with ten more problems".
In 1964 Jimmy was invited to try a pre-War ERA at the French GP meeting. He'd never even sat in the thing before, yet managed to better the owner's fastest lap by two seconds: on his first flying lap! Awesome. The previous year he should have won the Indy 500, had Parnelli Jones' team not managed to avoid a rightful disqualification for dropping oil. That was Jimmy's first trip to the Brickyard. He was in contention in 1964 before his car failed, won in 1965 and came second in 1966 (Clark thought he'd won, but as Graham Hill put it: "I drank the milk, mate!") This remarkable ability to drive any car in any condition made him a terrible test driver though - he'd just shrug and get on with it! Graham Hill was hired back by Lotus in 1967 for his testing abilities - Chapman knew that Clark was not the man to develop the 49 to raceworthiness, but nevertheless Jimmy put his car on pole in its first race. Ironically, it may be those very abilities which led to Clark's death at Hockenheim: there is a widely-held belief that one of the rear tyres on his Lotus 48 was slowly deflating. Lesser drivers would have stopped to change the wheel, Jimmy perhaps just drove around the problem, only for the tyre to deflate even more and cause the car to leave the road .... A true Great. |
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9 Mar 2003, 21:47 (Ref:530637) | #6 | ||
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The very best ever.
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Birmingham City FC. Founded 1875. League Cup Winners 2011. |
10 Mar 2003, 10:47 (Ref:531133) | #7 | ||
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Quite apart from his Grand Prix successes - 25 wins in 72 starts, Jimmy was quick in anything:
-Won the British Saloon Car Championship in Lotus Cortina (1964?) -Raced an aging DBR1 Aston to third at Le Mans in 1960, having 'done a Moss' to lead the early stages. -Shocked the big teams at the Nurburgring by leading them at the Nurburgring in the little Lotus in the early stages. -Showed all the rally drivers how to do it in the 1966 RAC before sticking it into the scenery (well, nobody is perfect!). He probably should have been 1964 and 1967 World Chmapion to add to '63 and '65 had it not been for car failures and a pants scoring system. |
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19 Dec 2006, 17:17 (Ref:1794902) | #8 | ||
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Quote:
By the end of 1966, more than was ever appreciated at the time, the Mk1 Lotus Cortina had at last become the dominant rally car it could have become 2 or even 3 years earlier. J.Clark was familiar with the car and tested under the instruction of Roger Clark before the 66 RAC. R.Clark took the first 3 stages then went out. Vic Elford had engine problems from the start. Bengt Soderstrom, never the fastest in the team, eventually cruised to an easy victory. BMC, after problems in the snow in 65, ran standard camshafts in all the 6 works Cooper S except Makinen's. Makinen was thus the only serious challenger to the works Fords and led (once R.Clark was out and V. Elford never got going properly) until mechanical failure. J. Clark showed exceptionally well on that event but not that much better than he should have been expected to in that car and with his background. Throwing it into the scenery twice was to be expected of anyone when reaching for that pace without enough forest rally experience - and he did so. Last edited by Anuauto; 19 Dec 2006 at 17:19. |
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10 Mar 2003, 11:10 (Ref:531161) | #9 | |||
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Quote:
If anyone was robbed of the title in 1964 it was Graham Hill. |
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10 Mar 2003, 11:14 (Ref:531166) | #10 | ||
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A magazine in the UK fairly recently (Motorsport?)tried to detemine the best driver ever out of the world champions since 1950. They came up with Clark.
I once enjoyed reading an article by one of the Lotus mechanics of that era. He said that Clarks brake pads would last for ever, whereas they would change Hills' after a meeting. I think the quote went something like "...I mean, we used to change them after a few races 'cos it would get embarrasing..." |
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10 Mar 2003, 16:57 (Ref:531667) | #11 | |
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Clark was IMHO an absolute star. I think the thing I learned from watching him, was that like a truely great conductor, his input was effortless. I was always impressed by those at the front who didn't look as though they were trying.
Certainly a top ten contender. I didn't warm to his character though, because there was little sign of it. His relationship with Chapman was interesting though and I was always surprised when Graham Hill got near or beat him. Last edited by gfm; 10 Mar 2003 at 16:59. |
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10 Mar 2003, 18:10 (Ref:531780) | #12 | |||
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Quote:
1967, however, is different due to the points scoring system. I'm afraid I am one of those people who believes that the point of a race is to find a winner, therefore the point of a championship (ie. a series of races) is to find the car/driver who wins the most often. As a result, Clark's 4 wins in '67 - superior to anyone elses - should have given him the title. I know consistency is important, but it shouldn't overcome actual winning (unless in exceptional circumstances, like loads of 1 or 2-time winners such as in 1982). The worst example of these are Moss in 1958 against Hawthorn - 4 wins should NEVER be beaten by 1 - and the Mansell-Piquet years in 1986-87. One thing is indesputable - we are talking about one of the greatest. Last edited by John Turner; 18 Dec 2006 at 10:15. Reason: Driver Files edit |
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10 Mar 2003, 21:43 (Ref:532055) | #13 | |||
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Quote:
Those who saw his drive at Brands in the Cortina in 1965 when he seemed to take his brain out and really fling the car round the track was something else. If I remember he all but broke the outright saloon lap record that day and the car was hardly ever pointing in a straight line (his namesake Roger Clark would have been proud).He probably saw most of the race that day through the side windows! He wasnt afraid to drive cars that would not win races either, hands up all those who saw him drive the Felday at the 1966 Gaurds trophy meeting, when Surtees, Hill, Mclaren etc were in Group 7 cars. A great driver, sadly missed, but never forgoten. Last edited by John Turner; 18 Dec 2006 at 10:16. Reason: Driver Files edit |
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15 Mar 2003, 19:44 (Ref:537293) | #14 | |||
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Quote:
It was Hill, not Clark, who put the 49 on pole at Zandvoort, though Clark won the race. Lastly, I thought the post-accident investigation concluded that Clark's tyre would have remained fully inflated by centrifugal force until he slowed down. There was no way that even he could have detected that anything was wrong until it was too late. Last edited by Roger Clark; 15 Mar 2003 at 19:44. |
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18 Dec 2006, 10:56 (Ref:1793385) | #15 | ||||
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Driver Files Additions
Copies of a couple of posts taken from an even earlier (1999) thread:-
Quote:
Quote:
Last edited by John Turner; 18 Dec 2006 at 11:04. |
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