Jim Clark

[silverfoxcc]

Programme on BBC4 next Thurs at 20.00

Probably the greatest all round driver ever F1, F2,Saloon Cars, Indy 500

Dont know if it a repeat though

[Eric Mc]

Don't forget rallying as well.

It is a repeat.

[silverfoxcc]

Eric,
Clean forgot!!!

Still will watch it again.

One of the few times i have cried at the death of a non family member.

Voisited Duns in 1975 and did bucket loads again... my hero



Lewis H ?????? sits in a car that is operated by someone else

Must get T shirt that says

'I may be old but i saw all the great drivers'

[CanAm]

And don't forget Sports Cars too, especially the Lotus 23 at the Nurburgring! It's a shame that he had a Lotus 30/40 in Group 7 racing - I'd love to have seen him in a Lola T70.

[Eric Mc]

And sports cars - although strangely he wasn't that successful in that category.

[Halmyre]

Clark was third at Le Mans in 1960 with Roy Salvadori in an elderly Aston Martin DBR1. By the time he joined Lotus a year or so later, Colin Chapman had thrown a strop with the Le Mans organisers and it's possible he discouraged Clark from taking part at Le Mans, or anywhere else in anything other than a Lotus. Clark and Gurney at Le Mans in 1967 is a great what-if of mine.

[Eric Mc]

Indeed. Clark was so tied in with Lotus and Chapman that it really did affect what and when he drove. Indeed, the fact that he raced at Hockenheim that fateful day in 1968 instead of the big sports car race at Brands Hatch was partly down to that situation.

[mikecassie]

He was simply the greatest of all time. I have no doubt as an overall driver he won't be bettered and if he is, we should all agree it's the next messiah that's arrived.

The current mania surrounding Lewis Hamilton, ugh. He is such a tt, veganism, the ste he gushes after every win, his snide remark about Nico running away after winning the WDC, seems to me Nico is the more balanced person. JB also comes across as a more normal person these days.

You can't see Lewis ever moving back to Stevenage, I could imagine Jim being very happy being back on the farm. I'd a few tears in my eyes when I visited the Museum at Duns and I was too young to see him race.

[Eric Mc]

Don't forget that Jim Clark moved abroad to avoid taxes too.

[E34-3.2]

Great driver but comparing a driver from the old days to a modern one is a little pathetic.
Should we compare their lap time to see who is the Fastest???

[Eric Mc]

We do it all the time - and not just with racing drivers.

I will always have much higher regard for the drivers of my youth - chiefly because they drove in so much more dangerous times.

And the modern drivers do come across as petulant children sometimes.

So, yes, nothing wrong with comparing.

[E34-3.2]

Eric Mc said:

We do it all the time - and not just with racing drivers.

I will always have much higher regard for the drivers of my youth - chiefly because they drove in so much more dangerous times.

And the modern drivers do come across as petulant children sometimes.

So, yes, nothing wrong with comparing.

Let's not forget that the drivers of our time didn't have to deal with the social media platform that we have today. Drivers of today are scrutinise constantly. They have so many press obligations and other publicity contracts that drivers didn't have in the old days. I am sure than Fangio, Clark and all that lot weren't angels and perfect like we like to paint them.

Look at some of S.Moss or J.stewart comments in the last few years and suddenly you realise that they can be total idiots as well but in their A days we didn't hear much of them, and maybe that was better for some of them...

[Halmyre]

E34-3.2 said:

Eric Mc said:

We do it all the time - and not just with racing drivers.

I will always have much higher regard for the drivers of my youth - chiefly because they drove in so much more dangerous times.

And the modern drivers do come across as petulant children sometimes.

So, yes, nothing wrong with comparing.

Let's not forget that the drivers of our time didn't have to deal with the social media platform that we have today. Drivers of today are scrutinise constantly. They have so many press obligations and other publicity contracts that drivers didn't have in the old days. I am sure than Fangio, Clark and all that lot weren't angels and perfect like we like to paint them.

Look at some of S.Moss or J.stewart comments in the last few years and suddenly you realise that they can be total idiots as well but in their A days we didn't hear much of them, and maybe that was better for some of them...

Moss, Clark and Stewart didn't whinge and moan, at least not in public, or barge into each other. Jackie Stewart must (rightly) be royally pissed-off at the way drivers behave in such cavalier fashion.

What have Moss or Stewart been commenting on in such an idiotic manner?

[Eric Mc]

Hmm - which is the more testing of character or bravery -driving a 1967 F1 car with no downforce in or having to attend a televised press conference in 2017.


I may need some time to work that conundrum out......

1967



2017

[E34-3.2]

Halmyre said:

Moss, Clark and Stewart didn't whinge and moan, at least not in public, or barge into each other. Jackie Stewart must (rightly) be royally pissed-off at the way drivers behave in such cavalier fashion.

What have Moss or Stewart been commenting on in such an idiotic manner?

As you said, they didn't moan in public because they hardly had any public others than on the race days. They didn't have a camera or a mic planted in front of them 24/7 like today. So we basically know very little of them or what they were thinking of other racers.

Have a look on the net for J.Stewart and S.Moss. They are not the brightest out there. A few examples:

http://www.dailycarblog.com/2016/12/after-calling-...

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/22083547

As I said, we know very little of the drivers of the past and their behaviours. They weren't angels...

Edited by E34-3.2 on Monday 30th October 11:19

[aeropilot]

Eric Mc said:

Don't forget rallying as well.

And NASCAR.

[aeropilot]

Eric Mc said:

Don't forget that Jim Clark moved abroad to avoid taxes too.

Can't really blame him given the Govt of the day put the tax rate at 90-something percent for high earners......!!

[hunter 66]

In the future the new greatest Driver from Formula E ( the new pinacle of motorsport then ) would not even have a gearbox let alone having to heel and toe ......cars now are a lot more about understanding computers systems and system management

[Gad-Westy]

Eric Mc said:

Hmm - which is the more testing of character or bravery -driving a 1967 F1 car with no downforce in or having to attend a televised press conference in 2017.


I may need some time to work that conundrum out......

1967



2017

This is all a little unfair on the modern drivers. The sport has changed. Even if the drivers wanted to ditch the wings, seatbelts and wide tyres, they couldn't, so they could never prove they're amongst the 'when men were men' generation. That is no reason to assume they couldn't or wouldn't. They compete in the sport in front of them.

I think we can all reflect on JC's glittering career without using it as grounding to belittle modern driver's achievements.

[E34-3.2]

Eric Mc said:

Hmm - which is the more testing of character or bravery -driving a 1967 F1 car with no downforce in or having to attend a televised press conference in 2017.


I may need some time to work that conundrum out......

1967



2017

or driving on the fastest track in the world (Monza) in a pouring rain with one of the fastest car in the world with hardly any grip in 2017... not sure which one, 1967 or 2017?