Jim Clark

Interesting facts

Clark grew up on a farm in Fife, Scotland, the only boy among five children; his parents initially disapproved of racing, and he started out in local rallies and hillclimbs in 1956 driving a Sunbeam-Talbot. He won the Formula Junior championship in 1960, beating future motorcycle great John Surtees along the way, a result that caught Colin Chapman's eye and launched his partnership with Lotus. In 1961 he was involved in a collision with Wolfgang von Trips at Monza that killed von Trips and fifteen spectators; Clark faced a manslaughter investigation, but it was ruled unavoidable and the charge was dropped. During the 1963 season he led 71.47 percent of all laps raced, a record that stood for 60 years until Max Verstappen surpassed it in 2023. In 1965 he won the world championship and the Indianapolis 500 in the same calendar year, a feat achieved by no one else; at Indy he led 190 of 200 laps and became the first non-American winner since 1916. On 7 April 1968, on the fifth lap of a Formula Two race (not a championship Grand Prix) at Hockenheim, his Lotus 48 veered off track and hit trees; a deflating rear tyre was suspected as the cause, though it was never conclusively proven, and fellow drivers including Jack Brabham and John Surtees maintained it was not driver error. He is buried in Chirnside, Scotland, where his gravestone lists him as 'farmer' before 'racing driver' at his own request; a life-size statue in his birthplace, Kilmany, marks his memory. Jim Clark made his Formula 1 debut in 1960 and raced until 1968, 9 seasons in total as a British driver. He won the World Championship 2 times, in 1963, 1965. He scored a total of 255 championship points over his career.