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| Jim Clark, 26, after his 1sr GP win at Spa, Belgium |
1960: (Partial season) 5-5-16-3-16
1961: 10-3-12-3-DNF-4-DNF-7
1962: 9-DNF-1-DNF-1-4-DNF-7
1963: 8-1-1-1-1-2-1-3-1-1
1964: 4-1-1-DNF-1-DNF-DNF-DNF-7-5
1965: 1-DNS*-1-1-1-1-1-1-DNF-DNF-DNF * Skipped Monaco to win the Indy 500.
1966: DNF-DNF-DNF-4-3-DNF-DNF-1-DNF
1967: DNF-1-6-DNF-DNF-1-DNF-3-1-1
1968: 1 - (died April, 7, 1968 at Hockenheim, Germany on the fifth lap of an F2 race when his Lotus veered off the track and hit a tree. Clark was thrown from the car and died of a broken neck. Tire failure is the suspected cause of the crash. There were no witnesses.)
Go back and look at 1965, the greatest single season for a driver in Grand Prix history when he won the first seven GPs and took off the 2nd race of the GP season to crush the field at Indy. That's eight straight and undefeated until Sept. 12. Clark was leading the Italian Grand Prix after starting from the pole and having the fastest lap in the race when the winning streak ended after the fuel pump failed and he was a DNF. Clark was just 13 laps from the finish. He was leading the US GP when his engine quit. He did start from the pole in the final race of the year in Mexico, but this was the only race he did not lead a lap and the Lotus only lasted 11 laps of the race won by Ritchie Ginther of the US in a Honda, their first win.
25 wins in 75 races in eight seasons. Two World driving titles. In five starts at Indy he was 2-DNF-1-2-DNF, with one Pole. There is an argument to be made he won in 1966 but lost because of a USAC scoring error. If indeed Clark had actually run 201 laps as alleged, he was still less the 1-mph slower than winner Graham Hill, who he out-qualified by more than 8-mph. It also must be noted that Clark spun TWICE and never made contact with anything or lost a lap.
I am going to add a few more "what if?" questions to his Indy record:
1. What if ... in 1963 Parnelli Jones get black flagged for leaking oil? Clark was in 2nd place at the time and had led 28 laps of the race? Win #1 at Indy
2. What if ... instead of using Dunlop Tyres the Lotus team had mounted Goodyear or Firestone TIRES the suspension might not have collapsed. He was leading after Bobby Marshman retired while leading. Win #2.
3. What if ... in 1965 he had led every lap instead of just 190. He would have been the first driver to do that. Regardless. He did get win #1, but could have been third straight, 1st driver to do that!
4. What if ... USAC had not botched the scoring and made Clark drive an extra lap because they missed him after a crash on the backstraight involving Al Unser in Team Lotus #18 was confused with Jim's #19 and they inadvertently missed Clark's lap. Or they missed him after one of his two spins in turn 4 where he drove directly to the pits for fresh tires and never lost a lap (choose either scenario). He would have beaten Grham Hill, who everyone says never passed a car on the track all day and qualified 8 mph slower than Jimmy. Win #4.
Yes, it is pure conjecture, but it is not totally nuts to think Clark could have won Indy four years in a row.
Although there is no records like this kept, it is said that Clark was leading in virtually every race he did not finish when he retired from the race. Had the Lotus cars not been so flimsy who knows how many of those DNFs would have been wins?
Starting in 1960, until his last full season in 1967 his record championship record was:
10th (1960, 8 pts. 0 wins, 0 poles)
7th (1961, 11 pts. 0 wins, 0 poles)
2nd (1962, 30 pts 3 wins, 4 poles)
1st (1963, 54 pts. 7 wins, 7 poles)
3rd (1964, 32 pts. 3 wins, 7 poles)
1st (1965, 54 pts. 6 wins, 5 poles. Also won Indy leading 190 of 200 laps)
6th (1966, 16 pts. 1 win, 2 poles (finishing only 3 of the races that year))
3rd (1967, 41 pts. 4 wins, 5 poles)
11th, (1968, 9 pts, 1 pole Only start before fatal accident)
He had the fastest lap of the race 21 times in his 75 starts.
He ran one F1 race in 1968 at South Africa before he died - he won the race pole and had the fastest lap!
At the time of his death in 1968 he had 25 wins (33%) and 33 GP Poles (44%) in 75 races and was the all-time leader in both categories.
Colin Chapman said that no one will ever know how fast he could have driven because he only saw Clark drive full out was once in his career, that was the 1967 Monza Grand Prix. Clark started on the pole but suffered a tire puncture and had to pit, dropping to 16th place. He charged back through the field to regain the lead but ran out of fuel because of the unexpectedly fast pace he had to drive. He finished third behind Jack Brabham and John Surtees.
Chapman said, "He never had to push his limits because he was beating everyone at 7-tenths."
Early in his racing career, he asked a teammate, "Why is everyone going so slow?" The teammate answered, "No Jim, it's because you're so bloody fast."
In 1963 he LED 71.4% of all the laps of the races that year.
He also holds the record for most Grand Slams, taking pole, fastest lap, race win and leading every lap of the race in 8 races (1962 British Grand Prix, 1963 Dutch Grand Prix, 1963 French Grand Prix, 1963 Mexican Grand Prix, 1964 British Grand Prix, 1965 South African Grand Prix, 1965 French Grand Prix, 1965 German Grand Prix).
Of all of the 75 races he competed in, he only lost on the track (meaning still running at the end) 24 times in seven years. Twelve of those came before his 1st win in 1962. That means that in five years of F1 races he only got beaten on the track 12 more times!
In 1963, for his career 1st F1 win at Spa, in a downpour, started 8th, took the lead lapped all but Bruce McLaren and won by FIVE MINUTES. At the time, one lap at Spa was 8.761 MILES!
The only F1 track he never won at was Monaco.
He won 19 non-sanctioned Grand Prix. And had one USAC win at Milwaukee.
Mind you, he also raced Saloon cars, too. He once drove a Ford Cortina down the bobsled course in Cortina, Italy as a promotion for Ford.
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| Negotiating his way down the bobsled track in Cortina, Italy in a Ford Cortina |
He was just 32-years old at the times of his death.
That is just a sampling of the accomplishments of perhaps the GREATEST driver of All-Time, anywhere - any car!
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