50 years ago today....

[GeezerButler]

RIP Jim Clark. Still for me the greatest, alongside Fangio.

 

[JRS]

A favourite anecdote is of a time Stewart was telling of a terrifying moment he had had when his throttle stuck open at Monza's Curva Grande - now just a bend in a straight and easily flat out; then a properly challenging high-speed corner.

Stewart related to his audience how he had somehow just made it around. There was a chorus of appreciation. Then, with immaculate timing, Clark said: "Are you saying, Jackie, that you normally lift off there?"

On a more sombre note, I think Chris Amon said it just about the best: "If it could happen to him, what chance did the rest of us have?"

 

[this_is_gav]

Remember reading about the race at Monza in 67 when he went a lap down after a puncture, caught and passed the slip-streaming front-runners, caught and passed them again to lead, only to slow on the last lap with a fuel pump failure.

Easy argument that he's the greatest driver in motorsport history, considering not just dominating F1 but also leading the way in other categories too.

Quiet and nice bloke by all accounts too.

 

[Ryan-3]

A major talent who was also idolised by another, Senna. I remember listening to a story of Ayrton going to visit the Jim Clark museum and how excited he was to visit it. That's how good Clark was. And as already said, he was not just dominant in F1 either.

To think what either of those two could have achieved had they not been taken by such accidents.

 

[LizardKing]

The guy could drive fast in anything he put his hand to. A talent we are robbed of seeing in todays world of contractual obligations etc.
Him and Colin Chapman were a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Ninco!]

My old man handed down his sixties Scalextric collection when I was much younger. I first discovered the legend of Jim Clark when riffling through the various period books; reading his descriptions of the various circuits you could recreate in 1/32 scale. A real F1 driver who was a genuine enthusiast of a toy was so cool.

It left an enormous impression on me. After all these years (the slot car collection is surviving well) Jim Clark remains one of the greatest.