Jim Clark Wikipedia. James Clark, Jr. OBE 4 March 1. April 1. 96. 8, known as Jim Clark, was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1. Clark was a versatile driver who competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapolis 5. He was particularly associated with the Lotus marque. He was killed in a Formula Two motor racing accident in Hockenheim, Germany in 1. At the time of his death, he had won more Grand Prix races 2. Grand Prix pole positions 3. In 2. 00. 9, The Times placed Clark at the top of a list of the greatest ever Formula One drivers. 2Early years. James Clark Jr was born into a farming family at Kilmany House Farm, Fife, the youngest child of five, and the only boy. In 1. 94. 2 the family moved to Edington Mains Farm, near Duns, Berwickshire, in the Borders. Download new games for free Get the latest versions of PC games with direct links and without any limit or payment. He was educated at primary schools, first in Kilmany and then in Chirnside, and then following three years of preparatory schooling at Clifton Hall School near Edinburgh he was sent to Loretto School in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh. Although his parents were opposed to the idea, Clark started his racing in local road rally and hill climb events driving his own Sunbeam Talbot, and proved a fearsome competitor right from the start. On 1. 6 June 1. 95. DKW sonderklasse at Crimond, Scotland. By 1. 95. 8, Clark was driving for the local Border Reivers team, racing Jaguar. D types and Porsches in national events, and winning 1. Then on Boxing Day 1. Clark raced against the man who would launch him to superstardom. Driving a Lotus Elite, he finished second to Colin Chapman in a 1. GT race at Brands Hatch. 3 In 1. Lotus Elite, finishing tenth at Le Mans partnered with John Whitmore, and the ex Bruce Halford Lister Jaguar, winning the Boness Hill Climb. 4 Chapman was sufficiently impressed to give Clark a ride in one of his Formula Junior cars. In March 1. Formula Junior took place at Goodwood. The winner was J. Clark Lotus Ford, from J. Surtees Cooper B. M. C with T. Taylor Lotus Ford third. 5Clark had made an earlier FJ appearance in a one off race at Brands Hatch on Boxing Day, 1. Gemini B. M. C. for Graham Warner of the Chequered Flag garage, Chiswick. 6Clark and Lotus. Jim Clark in German GP 1. Jim Clark made his F1 Grand Prix debut, part way through the season, at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on 6 June 1. Lotus had lost Surtees, as he had gone to the Isle of Man to do some serious motorcycle racing, so they had Ireland, Stacey and Clark, the last named being an acceptable substitute. 7 He retired on lap 4. Early in his career in the 1. Belgian Grand Prix, his second ever Formula One race, at the extremely fast and dangerous Spa Francorchamps circuit, he got a taste of reality when there were two fatal accidents at that race Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey. Clark was later quoted as saying in a 1. I was driving scared stiff pretty much all through the race, even though he finished 5th and scored his first points finish. The next year, Jim Clark was involved in one of the worst accidents in the history of Formula 1 racing. In the 1. 96. 1 Italian Grand Prix on 1. September at Monza, Wolfgang von Trips in his Ferrari collided with Jim Clarks Lotus. Von Tripss car became airborne and crashed into a side barrier, fatally throwing von Trips out of the car and killing fifteen spectators. 8His first Drivers World Championship came driving the Lotus 2. Lotus its first Constructors World Championship. Clarks record of seven wins in a season would not be equalled until 1. Frenchman Alain Prost won seven races for Mc. Laren. The record would not be broken until Brazilian Ayrton Senna won eight races in the 1. Mc. Laren ironically, Sennas teammate that year was Prost who again equalled the old record by winning 7 races. However, Clarks record is favourable compared to Prost and Sennas as the 1. Clark a 7. 0 success rate, while 1. Prost a success rate of 4. Senna a 5. 0 winning ratio. In 1. 96. 3 he also competed in the Indianapolis 5. Parnelli Jones and won Rookie of the Year honours. The 1. 96. 3 Indy 5. Before the race United States Auto Club USAC officials had told the drivers that they would black flag any car that was seen to be leaking oil onto the track. Late in the race, Jones front engined roadster developed a crack in the oil tank and began to leak oil. With the track surface already being slippery this resulted in a number of cars spinning and led to popular driver Eddie Sachs crashing into the outside wall. USAC officials were set to black flag Jones after the Sachs crash until his car owner J. C. Agajanian ran down pit lane and somehow convinced them that the oil leak was below the level of a known crack and would not leak any further. Colin Chapman later accused USAC officials of being biased because Clark and Lotus were a British team with a rear engine car. Many, including journalist and author Brock Yates, believed that had it been an American driver and car in second place instead of Clark in the British built Lotus, officials would have black flagged Jones. Despite this neither Lotus or their engine supplier Ford protested the result, reasoning that winning as a result of a disqualification when Jones had led for 1. Clark led for 2. 8 laps and had set the lap record speed of 1. Jim Clark in the Lotus pit at the German GP 1. In 1. 96. 4 Clark came within just a few laps of retaining his World Championship crown, but just as in 1. John Surtees. Tyre failure damaging the Lotuss suspension put paid to that years attempt at the Indianapolis 5. He made amends and won the Championship again in 1. Indianapolis 5. 00 in the Lotus 3. He had to miss the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix in order to compete at Indianapolis, but made history by driving the first mid engined car to win at the fabled Brickyard, as well as becoming the only driver to date 2. Indy 5. 00 and the F1 title in the same year. Other drivers, including Graham Hill, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Jacques Villeneuve have also won both crowns, but not in the same year. At the same time, Clark was competing in the Australasia based Tasman series, run for older F1 cars, and was series champion in 1. Lotus. He won fourteen races in all, a record for the series. This included winning the 1. Australian Grand Prix at the Sandown International Raceway in Melbourne where he defeated the Ferrari 2. T of Chris Amon by just 0. Australian Grand Prix. The 1. 96. 8 Tasman Series and Australian Grand Prix would prove to be his last major wins before his untimely death. According to Australian driver and regular Tasman Series driver Leo Geoghegan, during his time down under for the 1. Clark arrived at the Sydney home that Leo shared with his parents and his younger brother Ian Pete Geoghegan. Neither Leo, Pete or their father Tom were home at the time, however Mrs Geoghean Toms wife was. Not actually knowing who Clark was, Mrs Geoghegan thought that he was there to mow their lawns and told him that the mower was in the shed and he could start at any time. When the trio arrived home a short time later they were surprised to find a shirtless Clark casually mowing their front lawn. Clark outside the Lotus garage at the Nrburgring in 1. The FIA decreed from 1. Lotus were less competitive. Starting with a 2 litre Coventry Climax engine in the Lotus 3. Clark did not score points until the British Grand Prix and a third place at the following Dutch Grand Prix. From the Italian Grand Prix onwards Lotus used the highly complex BRM H1. Lotus 4. 3 car, with which Clark won the United States Grand Prix. He also picked up another second place at the Indianapolis 5. Graham Hill. During 1. Lotus and Clark used three completely different cars and engines. The Lotus 4. 3 performed poorly at the opening South African Grand Prix, so Clark used an old Lotus 3. Monaco Grand Prix, retiring with suspension failure. Lotus then began its fruitful association with Ford Cosworth. Their first car, the Lotus 4. F1 engine in history, the Ford Cosworth DFV, won its first race at the Dutch Grand Prix, driven by Clark. He won with it again at the British, United States and Mexican Grands Prix and, in January 1. South African Grand Prix. Jim Clark at the Nrburgring 1. Jim Clark won the 1. 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.
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